Gray-Switch (Grayscale)

Easily switch your display between full color and grayscale mode.

Gray-Switch: Easy Color to Grayscale Toggle

"Gray-Switch (Grayscale)" is an Android app that allows users to easily toggle their device's display between full color and grayscale. Designed for both rooted and non-rooted devices, it offers features like a quick settings tile, launcher icon, automatic activation based on battery levels, and customizable scheduling. The app also includes an option to exclude certain apps from grayscale mode using AccessibilityService, ensuring a tailored experience.

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App stats

By: Vegard IT GmbH

Users: 343,601

1.42K

Rating: 3.68

(1,452)

0.01

Version: 2.4.4 (Last updated: 2023-08-25)

Creation date: 2019-02-25

Email: an*****@vegardit.com

URLs: Website ,Privacy policy

Permissions

Other:

modify secure system settings
run at startup
modify system settings

Ranking

# 106,877 ▲ 9

Other platforms

Grayscale Tool (v2.0)

2.54

(46) 2,000

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App summary

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IMPORTANT If your phone is not rooted, you need to manually grant the WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS permission to the app. Detailed instructions on how to do so are provided within the app and in this video https://youtu.be/Rf3WndFgftI

Gray-Switch allows you to conveniently switch your device's display mode between full color and grayscale either using a quick settings tile (Android 7 or newer), a launcher icon, automatically when the battery charge has fallen below a configured value, and/or during a configurable time schedule (e.g. at night time).

If you are running Android 9 (Android P) or newer you don't necessarily need this app. You can also use the built-in Digital Wellbeing/Wind Down setting. However, it does not allow you to exclude applications from grayscale mode nor automatically enables grayscale mode on low battery.

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Declaration of AccessibilityService-API Usage

The optional feature to exclude certain apps from grayscale mode requires the usage of the AccessibilityService-API. The AccessibilityService-API is only used to determine the ID of current foreground application to automatically enable or disable the grayscale mode. No data is collected.

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Setup:

Connect your phone to a PC with Android SDK Platform Tools installed and execute the following command after you installed the app on the phone:

adb shell pm grant com.vegardit.grayswitch android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS

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Provider Identification:

Vegard IT GmbH
Ziegelhüttenstraße 33
63768 Hösbach
Germany

Represented by: Sebastian Thomschke, Patrick Spielmann

e-Mail: [email protected]

Register Entry in Handelsregister:
Register Court: Amtsgericht Aschaffenburg
Register Number: HRB 16384

V.A.T. Identification Number: DE284087225

User reviews

These summaries are automatically generated weekly using AI based on recent user reviews. Google Play Store does not verify user reviews, so some user reviews may be inaccurate, spammy, or outdated.

Pros

Easy setup once configured, even for non-tech savvy users.
Ability to toggle between grayscale and color quickly from the notification menu.
No ads or intrusive permissions required.
Useful for reducing distractions and extending battery life.
Clear and concise setup instructions provided.

Cons

Initial setup can be challenging and requires following detailed instructions.
Limited scheduling options and issues with app exclusions.
Malfunctions reported after some time, leading to difficulties in switching modes.
Requires root permissions which some users find invasive.
No option to automatically re-enable grayscale after being turned off.

Most mentioned

Setup process can be difficult or confusing.
Desire for more customizable scheduling options.
Need for better exclusion/inclusion feature for specific apps.
Users appreciate having an easy toggle for grayscale mode.
Concerns about the app malfunctioning or getting stuck in grayscale mode.

User reviews

Been looking for a way to do this for a while and this makes it easy! It's a little annoying that you have to use the computer to set it up but its not the devs fault and they made an extremely clear how to guide on setting it up. It took me less than 5 minutes and that was only that long because I had to look up how to turn off apps that were drawing over other apps. (You might also want to add that info to guide devs) After it's set up it's just a click between grey and color.

Rebecca Lawrence, 2024-10-30

I would very much like the option to make specific apps gray rather then have to exclude ones. This is not only a hussle to exclude many apps, it's even wors then that since, for example, Android auto makes the car screen gray and there is no option to stop it (other then to stop the app all together). Morover, I would really like an option disable for a specific amount of time, and to allow redshift even when gray (though I guess its impossible)

gil aharoni, 2024-09-06

I wish there was a feature to turn the grayscale mode back on automatically. Sometimes I need color for something and turn grayscale off, and then forget to turn it back on. I wish this app would either give me a button to temporarily pause grayscale for X minutes instead of just on/off, or automatically turn on if it's currently off every X minutes. I know there's scheduling and exclusions, but there isn't as many options as I'd like to get the above effect that forces me back into grayscale.