If you are trying to restrict access to adult content on an iPhone, you've probably found that downloading a blocking app wasn't effective. 

Rather than relying on a single porn blocker app, I recommend multi-layered approach to blocking and bypass prevention that I will detail in this guide.

As a work-from-home software developer, I've spent considerable time crafting an effective porn blocker for iPhone and Apple devices. 

Blocking on iOS is usually pretty ineffective.

iOS devices are difficult to lock down because Apple limits app capabilities on standard configured devices.

Downloading an iOS blocking app is similar to installing a Google Chrome browser extension: it has limited control and it's easy to disable or to get around.

Effective blocking on iOS requires additional configuration and a multi-layered approach to blocking content and preventing bypass.

Guide Overview

This guide will walk you through setting up an effective blocking system on iOS. Here is what we will focus on:

1. Set up effective blocking/filtering
2. Prevent bypass of that filtering through device management techniques
   

In addition, this guide will give you several paths that you can assess for yourself:

1. Standard: this is a typical configured iOS device and your iOS device is unsupervised by default. You'll learn how to achieve the most restrictive setup within the constraints Apple imposes on unsupervised devices.   
2. Supervised: this is a capability that Apple provides specifically for businesses and schools that want more control over the devices that they provide to employees or students. Home users can also access this capability and this is a critical part of this guide. Supervised devices can enforce device settings and are more capable of enforcing filtering.
   
3. Managed: the most restrictive setup requires the use of a Mobile Device Manager to configure device settings and distribute more advanced filtering capabilities, like a Global HTTP proxy and creating a dumb phone.
   

Network DNS Filtering

One of the primary layers that I recommend is to set up DNS filtering on your home network . This involves pointing your home router, which you use to set up your internet, to a web filtering service.

This enables you to block porn on any device at your house that uses your internet connection, including your iPhone when it's using Wifi.

Anytime a device uses your home internet connection and attempts to visit a website, the website is either allowed or blocked based on the category it falls into.

For example, with the filter provided by Tech Lockdown , you can customize your blocked categories and maintain your own allow/block lists:

You can even lock filter settings to prevent easily unblocking content that should be blocked by the filter:

Configuring a router to use DNS Filtering can be a bit complicated, so I've created a guide walking through the entire process. Learn how to block porn on home WiFi .

Standard Blocking Techniques

Apple devices are unsupervised by default. Unsupervised devices have limited options when it comes to blocking adult content and preventing circumvention. However, an unsupervised setup is the simplest approach.

If you installed a DNS Filtering app to block unwanted content, you can use these techniques to make this filtering app more effective and harder to bypass. You can also enable Apple's built-in content filter.

Screen Time

You can use Apple screentime to add another layer of blocking to your device. In addition, you can use screen time to make filtering harder to get around.

Pros:

1. Blocking works even while a VPN or proxy is active
2. Settings can be enforced to prevent the user from turning it off

Cons:

1. Requires the use of the Safari browser because other browsers may not be compatible
2. Only allows selecting the category "limit adult content" and blocking user-defined websites

Because of these limitations, it's recommended that you combine Screen Time with a DNS Filter.

Hide Apps

DNS Config File

Instead of installing an app that configures DNS Filtering, you can install a config file that points the device to a DNS Filter. 

The advantage to this approach is that it's less obvious to the user how the DNS settings are configured, which makes it less likely they will bypass the filter. However, the user can remove the profile if it's discovered in the device settings.

Most DNS Filtering services, like Tech Lockdown , will provide the config file you need to download on your device.

Supervised Blocking Techniques

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Tech Lockdown members  get access to step-by-step instructions and expert support for setting up a supervised or managed iPhone.  

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Once a device is supervised, here are some of the capabilities you get access to:

Device Restrictions

Built-in Content Filter

The built-in content filter activates Apple's parental control filter (screen time) and enforces it on the device. This filter is tuned to limit adult content.

Enforced DNS Filtering

In addition to the built-in content filter, it's ideal for adding a filter that works at the DNS level. This enables an extra layer of filtering for content that gets passed the built-in content filter.

1. When you visit a website, the built-in content filter either allows or blocks the webpage depending on your built-in content filter settings.  
2. If the webpage wasn't blocked, the DNS service will check to see if it should be allowed or blocked. In some cases, the DNS service might decide to block it.
   

There are a few reasons to add a DNS Filter in addition to the built-in filter:

• Apple's built-in content filter isn't perfect and there are significantly better filtering services, so a combination of content filtering + DNS Filtering is highly recommended.
• The built-in content filter is limited to web browsers while DNS Filtering applies to all web traffic (including non-browser apps). You can use a DNS Filter to block apps on the iPhone  by causing those apps to stop functioning properly.
• DNS Filtering allows you to easily customize your own categories and block/allow lists or use other blocking features like scheduled blocks.

Managed Blocking Techniques

Mobile Device Management unlocks remote management of your iOS device, which means you can enforce device settings, install apps, etc. without having physical access to the device. 

Additionally, managed iOS devices have access to more restrictive features and benefits compared to supervised devices. The most restrictive setups can be achieved with a managed device.

Mobile device management gives you the ability to enforce device restrictions like you do in supervised device mode.

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Tech Lockdown members  get access to step-by-step instructions and expert support for setting up a supervised or managed iPhone.    

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Here are some additional capabilities that an MDM provides:

Use a second iPhone or iPad to enroll the device

This is useful if you don't have access to a Mac computer that can run Apple Configurator or do not want to pay $50 to use iMazing on Windows to supervise the device.

Global DNS Proxy

Supervised devices can't set a DNS proxy, which allows better enforcement of DNS settings on any network. 

Remote management

Instead of connecting your iOS device to the computer each time you want to make a change, you push changes from your MDM dashboard using a web browser. You can make this MDM account difficult to access so that it's harder to change device restrictions. Conversely, it's more convenient to change device management settings.

Create a dumb phone

Kiosk mode is a feature limited to Managed Devices. You can use Kiosk mode to achieve the most restrictive setup by creating your own dumb phone with limited features.

For example, you can disable web browsing, prevent access to device settings, and selectively include apps without sacrificing the most important iPhone features (camera, maps/GPS etc.).