With evolving technology and high phone usage, much content has reached our devices. However, not all of it fits our eyes and our kids. Fortunately, tech experts have introduced ways to limit adult content as well.
Thankfully, device manufacturers like Apple have made parental control a permanent feature in their products, especially iPhone. This helps create a safer internet for adults and children who frequently use iPhones and iPad.
However, with more and more parental controls being introduced, it feels confusing to grasp the concept and use it well. In addition, not all of us are tech-savvy, so it can be pretty overwhelming to understand all the new features being introduced.
It can be quite a hassle to protect your kids from differing settings in various apps to putting privacy restrictions on every device. Moreover, if you don’t know the ins and outs of parental controls, you can easily make the wrong choice.
Luckily, we are here to make the task of keeping your kids safe online accessible for you. This article will show you how to apply parental controls on most ios apps and browsers. We will also show you how to block websites on your iPhone and determine which settings to limit adult websites work best for you.
So, if you and your kids use iPhones, this one’s for you!
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Is it possible to block websites on iPhone?
Great news, yes, it is pretty easy to block specific websites on your iPhone and iPad! Moreover, you can even password-protect blocking settings so that your child cannot disable them. So read along, and we will show you exactly how easy it is to protect your child’s device.
But first things first. Each iPhone has a different software version (from iOS 8 to iOS 14), so it will require a slightly different way to block sites. But most of the time, ways to set up a website blocker are pretty much the same.
So let us walk you through the basics of blocking explicit and inappropriate content.
Blocking Explicit Content
Blocking explicit content allows you to block the majority of the adult sites blanketly. In addition, it will limit adult content from reaching your kids through explicitly inappropriate websites.
However, it cannot block certain websites that slip through the restriction and can reach your kids. The steps for enabling restrictions are:
- Tap Settings on the iPhone Home screen.
- Tap the Screen Time app.
- Pick the tab Content & Privacy Restrictions.
- You will be instructed to add a four-digit passcode. Choose something your kids can’t guess.
- Turn on the Content and Privacy Restrictions switch.
- You will be instructed to enter your system passcode.
- Tap Content Restrictions.
- Select Web Content.
- Tap Limit Adult Websites.
- Exit Settings so that the Screen Time options can be saved.
- However, if you wish to restrict ALL sites except for certain allowed apps, you can do that too on your children’s iPhone devices.
Limit access to approved sites only.
You can do this if you have a very young kid and want to make sure nothing is accessible to them except for the approved sites you specifically allow. You can whitelist only specific sites and disable everything else by using the Content & Privacy Restrictions in the Settings App.
Using these features allows your kids access to only pre-loaded kid-friendly websites you consider permissible, such as Disney, National Geographic Kids, PBS Kids, and others. If you want to find this list and add more sites to it, follow these steps:
- Go to Settings
- Press Screen Time
- Tap Content & Privacy Restrictions
- Go to Content Restrictions
- Tap Web Content and go to Allowed Websites Only
- At the bottom, you will find the option to add or subtract websites.
How to add websites to the approved list:
- At the bottom of the given site list, tap Add Website.
- Put the name of the website in the Title text box.
- Next, put the website address in the URL text box.
- Press Web Content, and you will be directed to the previous screen.
- Repeat the above three steps to add as many websites as you want
- Once you exit the settings App, the added websites get automatically saved.
Inevitably, your children will try to surf a website that is not on the allowed websites list once in a while. If this happens, they will be directed away with a message saying that the website is blocked and has restricted access.
Then an Allow Website link will appear, which will require the screen time passcode, which only you will have. So your kids will have to approach you to reach the site. You can then add the site’s URL to the approved list if you find it appropriate. However, your kids cant add it themselves.
Individually Block Websites
Remember that some specific websites and apps sometimes have mobile sites, which you need to block separately. So, if you find some blocked websites passing through parental controls even after attempting to block them, you need to block individual websites separately.
Visit these sites and check in the Address Bar that you are blocking the correct website URL. Then, copy it and paste it into the Restrictions Setting in the Screen time App to ensure you are not making typo errors.
Using Circle Parental Controls to Block Websites on an iPhone
In theory, the settings we have mentioned above so far seem solid. However, in reality, our kids are smart and tech-savvy. So they can easily bypass these parental controls. Moreover, as iPhone is a trendy gadget, kids these days can find a lot of info on the internet to get around parental controls.
Additionally, it is not only the iPhone that will require parental restriction. Many other Internet-connected devices in your home will need the same amount of parental attention, such as computers, iPads, streaming services, and gaming systems. So for a comprehensive blocking schedule for all devices in your home, you will require a robust family sharing system.
This is where Circle parental controls come to the rescue. It is a third-party ios app that provides you the ability to set up App and website blocking for all family members. In addition, it allows you to create a unique, customized profile that will apply to every device in your house. As a result, all your family members will face the same parental control settings and access the same sites.
Even though this is not a free app, it is beneficial as it filters websites and apps for all devices that are connected to its profile. Adding such kind of protection to your iPhone is a great idea. Moreover, unlike Iphone’s built-in content restriction settings, Circle Parental Control cannot be easily bypassed.
Circle Parental Control offers More than Basic Content Filters.
Apart from blocking sites, Circle also requires you to enter the age of all your family members during setup. This allows it to set each family member’s profile and place content restrictions based on their age.
Moreover, Circle Apps is not just a website blocker but also a tracker. Amongst its many highly-rated features which come with Wi-Fi controls is a tracking option that informs you about your child’s online usage, sets screen time limits, views their history, and more.
Can You Limit Adult Websites in Safari Browser on iPhone?
If your children frequently use Safari on iPhone and you want to control what they browse for in Safari, you’re in luck. iPhone lets you do that too. The restriction you ut via the screen time app automatically applies to Safari.
Other Blocking Options
Limiting adult websites isn’t the only restriction setting you can put on your child’s iPhone. You can also block music with inappropriate lyrics and prevent in-app purchases by using the built-in features available in the Settings App under the Screen Time and Restrictions Tab.
Keeping an Eye on Web Content
Remember, blocking websites isn’t just for parents. It is beneficial for adults as well as it allows you to have more control over the content you and your family can access on your iPhones.
Even though the ways mentioned above are often used for kids, they protect you from illicit content as well. So don’t forget to try these helpful tools on your iPhone and let us know how it turns out!
You can try other third-party apps, too, but Iphone’s built-in restrictions are enough to protect you and your family most of the time. Once your kids are of a certain age, they will inevitably learn to bypass them, and then you will require something more robust.
