How to Weigh Yourself Without Seeing the Number
There are two routes to weighing yourself without seeing the number. Buy a new scale that hides the reading, or use an app with the scale you already own. Shapa sells a scale with no display at all, and Withings scales have a mode that keeps the figure off the screen. Ori takes the app route, using your phone camera to read your existing bathroom scale so you never have to look. Your phone can’t weigh you on its own, but it can read a scale for you.
You’re not alone in wanting this. Weighing regularly is linked to better weight outcomes in the research. A 2014 trial in adults trying to lose weight found it didn’t increase depressive symptoms or disordered eating. But a 2023 trial in young women found daily weighing brought more mood swings, more weight-related stress and lower body satisfaction.
In brief
- There are two routes, a scale built to hide the number, or an app that hides it on the bathroom scale you already have.
- Shapa's Numberless Scale has no display. Withings' Eyes Closed Mode keeps the reading off the scale and in the app.
- No app can weigh you through your phone alone. Ori's Look Away Weighing reads the bathroom scale you already have, so you need no new hardware.
- Weighing regularly helps, but for some people seeing the number does harm.
Can your phone weigh you without a scale?
No. A phone has no sensor that can measure your body weight, so an app or video that claims to weigh you through the screen can’t do what it says. What your phone can do is work with a scale you already have.
- Smart scales, like those from Withings, send each reading to their own app.
- Ori’s Look Away Weighing reads an ordinary bathroom scale through your phone camera. It still needs a scale, as we explain below.
If you don’t own a scale and would rather not buy one, these can give you a rough sense of direction over a few weeks:
- A tape measure around your waist, measured the same way each time.
- How a familiar pair of trousers fits.
- Photos taken in the same spot and light every couple of weeks.
- A scale somewhere else, like a gym, used the same way each time. Look Away Weighing can read that one too, so you still don’t see the number.
The first three don’t tell you what you weigh, but together they show which way things are going.
Scales that hide the number for you
Shapa makes what they call the Numberless Scale. There’s no display on it at all. You stand on it and get a colour-coded reading in their app, positioned against your own recent range rather than an absolute weight. It’s the most complete version of the idea, because there’s no digit anywhere to catch by accident. You buy the scale and subscribe to the service behind it.
Withings scales have a setting called Eyes Closed Mode. With it on, the scale hides “weight and Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) values on the scales.” Their documentation states that “though your measurements won’t be seen on the scale screen itself, be assured that you will see all of your measurements and data in the Withings app.” So the number is still there in the app, and you choose later whether to look.
Both are good answers for the right people. However, both also mean buying that company’s scale and retiring the one you may already have.
Apps that hide the number on the scale you already own
If you’d rather not buy a scale, then the app route uses either the bathroom scale you have now, or another cheap digital scale you can pick up from many stores.
This is what Ori does, with a feature called Look Away Weighing. Open the app, point your phone down at the scale, step on, and simply wait. The camera reads the display, Ori stores the figure, and you don’t see it unless you choose to.
The downside is that it needs your phone in your hand, and it depends on the display being readable, so a dim bathroom or a low-contrast LCD gives it more trouble than a scale that sends the number electronically. A dedicated smart scale doesn’t have that problem.
Where Ori fits
If the number on the scale is the thing you want to avoid, there’s usually a second one close behind it: the calorie figure. Often, people who want one hidden want the other hidden too. If it’s mainly the calorie numbers you want gone, we compared the options in calorie apps that let you hide the numbers.
Ori is built for both. Look Away Weighing keeps the weigh-in figure out of sight, and a setting called Stealth Health hides calorie and weight numbers across the whole app, replacing them with plain language (whether there’s room for a snack, rather than how many calories are left). Your personal weekly guidance arrives as food suggestions rather than only a target to hit in numbers.
Look Away Weighing is part of Ori Premium. Stealth Health is free.
How to choose
| If… | Then |
|---|---|
| You want no chance of glimpsing the number, and don’t mind buying a scale | Shapa |
| You want a good smart scale that can hide the reading on demand | Withings |
| You’d rather use the scale you have, and want the calorie numbers hidden too | Ori |
Sources
- Shapa - Numberless Scale - checked 10 September 2026
- Withings - Body Smart: Using Eyes Closed Mode - checked 10 September 2026
- Daily Self-Weighing and Adverse Psychological Outcomes: A Randomized Controlled Trial - American Journal of Preventive Medicine (Steinberg et al., 2014)
- Daily Self-Weighing Compared With an Active Control Causes Greater Negative Affective Lability in Emerging Adult Women: A Randomized Trial - Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being (Pacanowski, Dominick, Crosby, Engel, Cao & Linde, 2023)
- Is It Bad to Weigh Yourself Every Day? - our summary of the self-weighing research, with primary sources
A gentle safety note
Ori supports general wellness. It is not medical care. If you have a history of disordered eating, are pregnant or breastfeeding, take medicines that affect weight or appetite, or have a clinical nutrition need, speak with a qualified healthcare professional before changing your intake or weight goal.
Read Ori's Health Disclaimer