My screen time on my phone is sky high. It's so high that I wince every week when I get my screen time report and refuse to state the number here. There are plenty of reasons for that: I use my phone for work to test different apps, I use it to read ebooks and, the greatest contributor, I'm something of an expert at doomscrolling.
But there's really no way to escape the fact that an ungodly amount of screen time is bad for you, full stop. A 2024 report from the American Optometric Association and Deloitte Economics Institute found that about 104 million US adults (or about one in two) are exposed to "excessive" screen time, defined as seven or more hours per day. That includes about 70% of office workers. About 30% of adults reach that "excessive" threshold solely from recreational (non-work) activity. Excessive screen time can come with physical health risks, like digital eye strain.
Between the GRWMs and the constant onslaught of news, it's important to find time to go touch grass (an internet-popular expression that took off during the pandemic that means to log off and go outside to regain some perspective and protect your wellbeing). Now there's an app that will quite literally not let you log on until you prove you went outside and touched some grass.
The app, aptly named Touch Grass, is a passion project of British app developer Rhys Kentish. It was born out of a familiar concern that he was spending too much time on his phone.
"My reflex in the morning was to reach over, grab my phone and start scrolling. I knew this wasn't healthy and on top of that, I needed an incentive to get outside more especially in the winter months," Kentish said in an email interview. "I also love apps that merge the digital world with the real world and I found the concept of touching grass funny, so I thought, why not create an app that forces me to do so?"
Once you download the Touch Grass app, you'll select your two most distracting or time consuming apps, and Touch Grass will block them. You'll only be able to unlock all your apps by uploading a picture of yourself outside, literally touching grass. Then, you can choose the amount of time you want to allot yourself to use each app.
The app will be available on Friday, March 14 for iPhone users. You can preorder the app now. Touch Grass is free, but upgrading to pro tier ($6 per month or $50 annually) will let you block an unlimited number of apps and give you more detailed screen time reports. Each user also gets one free skip per month — access to your apps without having to go outside — but you can also buy more skips as needed. Kentish said he plans to donate 50% of the profits from purchased skips to UK wildlife conservation.
Touch Grass isn't the same as an app timer, which kicks you off after a certain amount of time. An app timer can still be a great option if you're looking for a way to limit your scrolling time while you're using the app. They're fairly popular and included in most Apple and Google phones in their digital wellness settings.
The app already has more than 28,000 preorders, according to early stats from Kentish. YouTube shorts and X posts about the app have racked up millions of views. Kentish said he plans to release an Android app in the future. He's also exploring ways to let users touch snow, sand and other kinds of environments. The point is to get outside, in the hope of clearing your head and improving your mood, before you start scrolling.
Kentish is aware it's a bit of a funny concept, but there's real intention behind it: "I hope it first gives [users] a good laugh, but more importantly I hope it offers them a chance to disconnect from the shackles of the digital world and allow them to connect with nature more."
English (US) ·