If you have young children using either an iPhone or an iPad, you've probably thought about trying to restrict some of the websites they can access, such as porn or gambling. Thankfully, Apple lets you control the type of content that you can access when browsing on the iPhone and iPad, as long as it's on Safari.
With parental controls on Apples' best iPhones, such as the iPhone 14 Pro, you can automatically set limits and restrictions in Safari, like blacklisted and whitelisted sites, so your kid won't see the content on a link that they shouldn't have tapped on.
Here's how to block websites in Safari and manage the parental controls and restrictions for web content.
How to limit adult content in Safari for iPhone and iPad
If you're not overly worried and just want to try to prevent your kids from hitting links that take them to adult material, or there are only a few sites you want to make sure they never land on, you can use the automatic settings and the blacklist feature. Before you start, you'll need to make sure you have set up Screen Time on your device.
- Launch Settings from the home screen.
- Choose Screen Time.
- Tap Content & Privacy Restrictions.
- Toggle Content & Privacy Restrictions.
- Select Content Restrictions.
- Tap Web Content.
- Choose Limit Adult Websites.
How to block specific websites in Safari for iPhone and iPad
If limiting adult content isn't enough, or you happen to notice a URL that has slipped through the cracks, you can always block any URL you want with restrictions.
- Launch Settings from the home screen.
- Choose Screen Time.
- Tap Content & Privacy Restrictions.
- Toggle Content & Privacy Restrictions.
- Select Content Restrictions.
- Tap Web Content.
- Choose Limit Adult Websites
- Tap Add a Website under NEVER ALLOW.
- Type the URL of the website you wish to block in the Website field.
- Select Back at the top left.
Repeat this process for each site you'd like to block. Keep in mind that if certain websites have mobile sites, you may need to block them separately. If you find a site that's still getting through after you attempt to block it, visit that site and look in the Address Bar of Safari to make sure you're blocking the correct URL. Copy it if you need to and paste it into restrictions.
How to block everything and whitelist only specific sites in Safari for iPhone and iPad
For very young children, or if you simply want to make sure nothing is accessible except what you specifically allow, you can disable everything and then only turn back on the sites you consider absolutely permissible, like Apple or Disney.
- Launch Settings from the home screen.
- Choose Screen Time.
- Tap Content & Privacy Restrictions.
- Toggle Content & Privacy Restrictions.
- Select Content Restrictions.
- Tap Web Content.
- Choose Allowed Websites. This setting means only the websites you add are allowed to come through, and everything else is blocked.
- Tap Add Website.
- Add Title and URL for a custom website that you wish to add to your allow list.
- Choose Back.
Keep unwanted content off your kids' devices
The internet is a big place, and there are tons of precarious content out there. For those with young kids and teenagers, it's best to keep them safe from unwanted, probably NSFW content. Thankfully, Apple makes this very easy to do if you are using Safari.
This is also not just limited to those with kids either. Perhaps you just don't want to see adult websites while you browse. If you have certain websites you just prefer to avoid altogether, just restrict Safari from being able to access them for the best iPhone experience.
