Going grey could curb kids' urges to reach for devices

Mobile phones feature addictive colours. Photo / AP file

For parents who fear their children are spending too much time on their mobile phones, there could be a simple answer: turn the screen black and white.

A feature called "greyscale" makes the colour disappear from an iPhone screen and could prevent users from incessantly reaching for their devices, psychologists claim.

Looking at screen without colourful apps and notifications may block emotional attachments - a key element of breaking addiction.

"It is certainly a short-term way to curb phone use," said Dr Martin Sinclair, psychologist and author of Mindfulness for Busy People.

"When we go on smartphone apps they use all sorts of attention-grabbing colours which make them more engaging. Limiting the colour might be effective for some," he told the Daily Telegraph.

Smartphone addiction is becoming a worrying trend among adults and children.

"You can tell if you are suffering from a smartphone addiction if you stop everything you are doing to pick up your phone after sensing a vibration or hearing a 'ping"' said Dr Emma Russell, a psychology lecturer at Kingston University.

She added that along with sound, colour may also play an important role in forming habits. "Certainly, if someone has an emotional attachment to a certain colour, perhaps switching that off will stop them feeling that habit-forming emotion when they see a notification," she said.

Companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the most popular gaming apps invest heavily in specialists who calculate the colours, shapes and push alerts that force people to keep coming back. Removing colours from notifications could stop users' brains associating emotions with them.

"It may be the case that we tend to look out for colours that prompt us to react more quickly than others, for example red, can signify urgency because of danger and desire, or romance," said Berni Good, psychologist and founder of Cyberpsychologist.

However, Dr Ben Carter, from King's College London said that switching your phone to black and white "is unlikely to make a difference".

Years of research into the effect smartphones have on children has led him to believe the problem is more deep-rooted.

"Immediate interaction with peer-groups and social media has been shown to be addictive, and this is exaggerated in children who suffer bullying online and via social media. Removing potential exposure reduces the need to engage," he said.

Sinclair added that the cure may just be short term because it serves as a cue to remind users that they are meant to be limiting time on the phone.