We've all been there. It's 1 AM. Your eyes are dry, your thumb aches, and you're three hours deep into a TikTok rabbit hole that started with a recipe for pasta and has somehow ended on a video of a capybara taking a bath. We call it "doomscrolling," a term that feels a little too real these days. The internet has a phrase for the cure: "Go touch grass." It's a snarky, dismissive comeback, but honestly? It's pretty solid advice.
So, when I stumbled upon an app that takes this advice literally, my interest was piqued. An app that actually, physically blocks your phone until you prove you’ve touched real, living grass. My first thought? "That's ridiculous." My second thought? "I have to try this."
As someone who spends their days neck-deep in SEO, analytics, and digital trends, my screen time is... well, let's just say it's a number I'm not proud of. I’ve tried all the usual digital wellbeing tools. Timers. App limits. Grayscale mode. They work, for a bit. But the temptation is always just a tap away. The Touch Grass app promised something different. Something more aggressive.
So, What Exactly is This Touch Grass App?
At its core, Touch Grass is an app blocker, but with a wonderfully weird twist. You choose which apps are your biggest time-sinks—think Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), Reddit, you know the culprits. The app then puts them in a digital lockdown. To get them back, you can't just enter a password or wait out a timer. Nope. You have to go outside, find a patch of actual grass, and take a photo of your hand touching it.
But here's the kicker, and the part that made me grin: it uses AI to verify your submission.
You can't just show it a picture of your green carpet or a fuzzy green sweater. The AI is apparently smart enough to look for the real deal, preventing you from cheating the system. It’s like having a very specific, nature-loving bouncer for your phone. The entire premise is to short-circuit the mindless scrolling habit by forcing a physical, real-world action.
Visit Touch Grass App
How It Works: The AI Gatekeeper to Your Digital Life
The process is deceptively simple. Once installed, you grant it the necessary permissions (which, yes, always gives me a slight pause, but that's the price of admission). Then you go through your phone and select the apps you want to restrict. For me, the choice was easy: X, Instagram and YouTube were the first to go on the list.
From there, the app just… works. The next time muscle memory had my thumb hovering over the Instagram icon, I was met not with a feed of filtered photos, but with a simple screen: Go touch some grass.
It’s a pattern interrupt unlike any other. You’re forced to make a conscious choice. Is checking my notifications really worth putting on shoes and walking outside? Most of the time, the answer is a resounding no. But when you do need access, you open the Touch Grass app, hit the verification button, and snap a picture of your hand on the nearest lawn. The AI chews on it for a second, and if it's satisfied, poof! Your apps are free. For a while, anyway.
The Good, The Bad, and The Grassy
No tool is perfect, especially one that sounds like it was conceived as a joke. After using it for a bit, the pros and cons became pretty clear.
The Upside: A Literal Breath of Fresh Air
Let's be honest, the biggest advantage is that it actually works. The sheer inconvenience of it is a powerful deterrent. I found myself picking up my phone far less for no reason. When I did need to break the cycle, it forced me to get up, walk outside, and take a few deep breaths. There’s a ton of research out there, like a 2019 study from Scientific Reports, linking just 120 minutes of nature exposure a week with better health and wellbeing. This app tricks you into getting a small dose of that, and I felt the difference. It's a simple, brute-force solution to a complex problem, and I kind of respect that.
The Obvious Downsides and Frustrations
Okay, so what happens when you live in a high-rise apartment in the middle of a concrete jungle? What about in the dead of winter when everything is covered in snow? Or if it's pouring rain outside? This is the app's Achilles' heel. It's built on the assumption that a patch of grass is always readily accessible, which just isn't reality for a lot of people.
There’s also the potential for the AI to just… be wrong. Imagine you genuinely need your banking app for an urgent transfer, you’re standing on your lawn, and the AI keeps rejecting your photo. The potential for frustration is immense. It turns a helpful tool into a genuine obstacle. This isn't just an inconvenience; it could be a real problem in an emergency if you've locked a critical app. It’s a pretty significant design flaw, if you ask me.
My Honest Take: Is It a Gimmick or a Game-Changer?
So, where do I land on the Touch Grass app? It's brilliant and flawed, all at the same time.
For years, we've approached digital wellness with soft tools: mindfulness prompts, usage stats, and gentle reminders. Touch Grass throws all that out the window. It’s not your therapist; it’s your tough-love personal trainer. It's less about building better habits through introspection and more about forcing them through physical barriers.
Is it a gimmick? Yes, a little. The name and the concept are designed to grab attention in a crowded market of app blockers and productivity tools. But sometimes, a gimmick is what you need to break a deeply ingrained habit. It's for the person who has tried the Freedom app, set the iOS Screen Time limits, and still finds themself scrolling at 2 AM. It's a last resort, but a strangely effective one.
For me, it served as a powerful reminder of how automatic my phone usage has become. And while I probably won't use it every single day (especially come winter), it's a tool I'm glad to have in my back pocket for when I need a hard reset.
What's the Price for This Digital Detox?
This is where things get a bit hazy. Looking at their website and the app store page, there's no clear pricing model. Right now, it’s available on the Apple App Store, and there's a waitlist for Android users. This lack of transparency usually means one of a few things: it might be free with ads, operate on a 'freemium' model with a paid Pro version, or they're still figuring it out. For now, it seems you can download and try it on iOS without an upfront cost. I’ll be keeping an eye on this.
Your Questions Answered: The Touch Grass FAQ
Can you trick the Touch Grass app?
From my attempts, no. I tried showing it a photo of a green shag rug, a picture of grass on my computer screen, and even a high-quality artificial plant. The AI verification rejected all of them. It seems pretty decent at its one job, which is identifying real grass. Though I'm sure someone, somewhere, is trying to train a GAN to defeat it as we speak.
What if I live in a city or it's winter?
This is the app's biggest weakness. If you don't have easy access to a lawn or park, the app becomes more of a punishment than a tool. For seasonal changes, you might have to disable it during the snowy months, which kind of defeats the purpose of building a consistent habit.
Is the Touch Grass app free?
Currently, it appears to be free to download and use on iOS. However, the company hasn't been explicit about its long-term pricing strategy, so a subscription or a one-time purchase could be introduced later.
What apps should I block with Touch Grass?
I'd suggest starting with your "junk food" apps. These are the ones you open out of boredom, not necessity. For most people, this includes social media (TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X), news aggregators, and mobile games. I would strongly advise against blocking essential apps like your banking app, maps, or communication tools like WhatsApp or Messages, unless you are absolutely sure you wont need them urgently.
Is Touch Grass available for Android?
Not yet. According to their website, it's currently only on the Apple App Store for iOS devices. However, they have a waitlist that Android users can join to be notified when it becomes available.
Final Verdict: Should You Go Touch Grass?
The Touch Grass app is a fascinating, funny, and deeply modern solution to a deeply modern problem. It’s not for everyone. It’s inconvenient by design and has some major accessibility flaws depending on your living situation and the climate.
But if you’re at your wit’s end with your screen time, if you’ve tried the gentle nudges and they haven’t worked, this app's tough-love approach might be the shock to the system you need. It’s a tool that doesn’t just ask you to change your digital habits; it forces you to engage with the physical world to earn back your digital one. And in that, there’s something pretty powerful.
Whether you use the app or not, the message holds true. Maybe we could all benefit from putting the phone down and getting a little fresh air. Go on. Go touch some grass.
References and Sources
- White, M.P., Alcock, I., Grellier, J. et al. Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing. Scientific Reports 9, 7730 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44097-3
- Touch Grass on the App Store. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/touch-grass/id6447661648
