Prevent a Child from Turning off a VPN on iPhone or iPad
Parents can reliably enforce a VPN on their child's iPhone using a combination of approaches.
If you are a parent with a child who uses an iPhone or iPad, you may have set up a VPN to block inappropriate websites or restrict access to the internet at night. As you probably know, it's important to enforce a VPN on your child's iPhone so that adult websites are blocked properly. Unfortunately, there are many loopholes that allow a child to bypass a VPN. Luckily, it's possible to reliably ensure a child's iPhone uses a VPN.
In order to properly enforce a VPN on a child's iPhone, the following loopholes will need to be closed down:
- Prevent a child from deleting the underlying VPN app
- Restrict a child from switching to a conflicting VPN app
- Protect the VPN configuration from being deleted by a child in iPhone settings
- Automatically re-enable a VPN if a child toggles it off
- Block proxy websites that can bypass a VPN
But for parents who want a simpler approach, screen monitoring with an app like LivingRoom for Families can be used so that closing down each loophole isn't necessary.
Reliably prevent a VPN from being disabled on a child's iPhone with screen monitoring
There are several ways that parents can enforce the use of a VPN on a child's iPhone. However, if even one of those loopholes are not properly covered, your child can bypass the VPN. As a result, some parents find that enforcing a VPN can feel overwhelming. In our opinion, parents should use screen monitoring as a reliable VPN enforcement layer for the following reasons:
- Discover if a child is intentionally or unknowingly bypassing the VPN.
- Ensure that a child cannot secretly disable the VPN.
- Monitor your child's activity even if they get around the VPN.
Using an app like LivingRoom for Families , parents can record their child's iPhone or iPad screen while they use the device.
When recording is active, your child will see a recording indicator overlaying the top corner of the screen, serving as a constant reminder to use the device as if they were sitting next to a parent:
In the LivingRoom for Families parent dashboard, you can review screenshots of your child's device activity. This often addresses the problem of your child bypassing a content filtering VPN in a much simpler and comprehensive way compared to patching every possible loophole.
Prevent a VPN app from being deleted on a child's iPhone
One of the most fundamental ways to protect a VPN on a child's iPhone is to prevent the app that sets the VPN from being deleted. If the app is deleted, the associated VPN is turned off automatically.
For example, in our Covenant Eyes review , we noted how simply deleting the app removes the website blocking VPN and also bypasses the monitoring feature of the app.
Here are the two main ways you can prevent apps from being deleted:
- With Screen Time or Apple Family (managed screen time)
- Using Supervised Mode (this is usually best suited for adults)
If you can change Screen Time Settings on your Child's iPhone:
If you haven't already, you can set up a Screen Time passcode to prevent changes or even remotely change restrictions using Apple Family. See our dedicated parents' guide for iPhones to learn more about how to set it up.
On an adults device, do the following:
Automatically re-enable the VPN using an Automation
There are a few ways to turn off an active VPN on a child's iPhone. Some VPN apps will automatically re-enable their VPN if the app detects that it was turned off. However, this isn't always reliable and some apps don't support this functionality. As a result, you should consider a backup option just in case.
It's possible to automatically re-enable a VPN on an iPhone when an app is opened or while first connecting to a Wi-Fi network. While parents shouldn't rely on this method alone, it is a convenient way to ensure that the VPN re-enables itself if the iPhone disconnects from Wi-Fi or a web browser is used.
See our dedicated guide for using Automations to re-enable a VPN ; there are several different ways to do this.
Prevent a child from switching to a conflicting VPN app
Some children will bypass a parental control VPN by switching to another VPN. Parents can directly counter this method by preventing conflicting VPNs from being added to the device.
There are two main ways to target VPNs directly:
- Block apps with an age rating of 16+ or 17+ (depending on your iOS version)
- Disable the App Store on a child's iPhone entirely
If you've enabled parental controls (Screen Time) on your child's iPhone:
This will stop the vast majority of VPN apps from being downloaded from the App Store, but there might be a few that are missed. If that's the case, you might consider disabling the App Store entirely instead.
Use Supervised Mode to unlock more control over your child's iPhone
If you need a powerful alternative to Screen Time , Supervised mode is an option better suited for adults, although parents can consider it too.
Supervised mode allows you to enforce these settings:
- Prevent apps from being deleted
- Directly disable VPN profiles from being added to an iPhone
- Block the App Store without disabling app updates