Limit Adult Websites doesn't work

[pullman]

Hello

I manage my 12-year-old's iPhone X using Screen Time and has web content set to Limit Adult Sites. Nevertheless the phone can access adult sites including pxxn sites.

What can I do to prevent this? I find no other setting than the "Web Content" setting under Screen Time-Content & Privacy Restrictions-App Store, Media, Web & Games.

Thanks in advance

 

[Adora]

You could try it with a DNS server that is blocking those sites.

The last ones here for example:

IP addresses

Get IPv4 and IPv6 addresses for Cloudflare DNS resolvers, 1.1.1.1 and 1.1.1.1 for Families.

developers.cloudflare.com

 

[pullman]

You could try it with a DNS server that is blocking those sites.

The last ones here for example:

IP addresses

Get IPv4 and IPv6 addresses for Cloudflare DNS resolvers, 1.1.1.1 and 1.1.1.1 for Families.

developers.cloudflare.com

Thank you for the reply. I wasn't aware of this solution. But isn't this be what the iOS setting should be able to achieve? I mean it if it is so easy to do, then it seems strange that the iOS setting wouldn't block questionable traffic.

 

[Adora]

Thank you for the reply. I wasn't aware of this solution. But isn't this be what the iOS setting should be able to achieve? I mean it if it is so easy to do, then it seems strange that the iOS setting wouldn't block questionable traffic.

Yes it should, but I never used it, so I can't say if it ever worked. Same for the DNS solution. But it's worth a try.

There are also apps that use the VPN function and may work better, like Adguard Pro, 1Blocker, Blokada.

Other DNS services have also addresses with blocking content. I chose Cloudflare because it's very reliable and fast and those apps are all not free.

Cloudflare also has an app, not sure what it exactly is doing. I once tried it and got back to entering DNS servers manually. Maybe it wasn't compatible with my VPN.

1.1.1.1 — The free app that makes your Internet faster.

Install the free app that makes your phone’s Internet more fast, private, and reliable.

one.one.one.one

 

[SebCohen]

Hello

I manage my 12-year-old's iPhone X using Screen Time and has web content set to Limit Adult Sites. Nevertheless the phone can access adult sites including pxxn sites.

What can I do to prevent this? I find no other setting than the "Web Content" setting under Screen Time-Content & Privacy Restrictions-App Store, Media, Web & Games.

Thanks in advance

Normally I'd say don't be such a prissy...kids are supposed to rebel and seek out the forbidden. And I perused both rate my eh rack and then eh that beaver one AND Rotten dott com. And I'm COMPLETELY well balanced.

But that was then..I'M completely on board with you on this one. The stuff available out there now? It's extremely eff'ed up stuff thats more likely to traumatise then tantalise da yute. And I don't believe it's possible to have a healthy relationship to the stuff now compared to what I...eh my friends were exposed to back in the day.

 

[pullman]

Yes it should, but I never used it, so I can't say if it ever worked. Same for the DNS solution. But it's worth a try.

There are also apps that use the VPN function and may work better, like Adguard Pro, 1Blocker, Blokada.

Other DNS services have also addresses with blocking content. I chose Cloudflare because it's very reliable and fast and those apps are all not free.

Cloudflare also has an app, not sure what it exactly is doing. I once tried it and got back to entering DNS servers manually. Maybe it wasn't compatible with my VPN.

1.1.1.1 — The free app that makes your Internet faster.

Install the free app that makes your phone’s Internet more fast, private, and reliable.

one.one.one.one

Thank you again, I will check out that app too. It may be a step in the right direction. I tried the 1.1.1 servers on my Mac and it seems to work. But I couldn't get it to work when I use Nord VPN (I've opened a ticket with them because it's apparently supposed to be possible to add custom DNS servers).

 

[pullman]

Normally I'd say don't be such a prissy...kids are supposed to rebel and seek out the forbidden. And I perused both rate my eh rack and then eh that beaver one AND Rotten dott com. And I'm COMPLETELY well balanced.

But that was then..I'M completely on board with you on this one. The stuff available out there now? It's extremely eff'ed up stuff thats more likely to traumatise then tantalise da yute. And I don't believe it's possible to have a healthy relationship to the stuff now compared to what I...eh my friends were exposed to back in the day.

Yes, I agree with everything you say, from how it was in my younger days to today. I'm also realising that this is likely going to be an ongoing age-appropriate/-adjusted discussion going forward to manage any impact. Like you say there's possibly traumatising stuff out there these days.

 

[SebCohen]

Yes, I agree with everything you say, from how it was in my younger days to today. I'm also realising that this is likely going to be an ongoing age-appropriate/-adjusted discussion going forward to manage any impact. Like you say there's possibly traumatising stuff out there these days.

I’d focus on teaching him WHY some of the stuff out there is bad, HOW it’s bad and how to navigate it balancing moral and bing nonjudgmental…

 

[Howard2k]

You may also be able to filter out domains on your router.

 

[Adora]

Thank you again, I will check out that app too. It may be a step in the right direction. I tried the 1.1.1 servers on my Mac and it seems to work. But I couldn't get it to work when I use Nord VPN (I've opened a ticket with them because it's apparently supposed to be possible to add custom DNS servers).

When the VPN is activated it also might override your DNS settings to other ones when DNS protection is activated. Maybe the VPN can even block adult sites too. In my VPN (Proton) I can only block ads, trackers and malware. But I still need an adblocker. So I am not sure if this even works.

It could be the Cloudflare app is using a VPN tunnel like Adguard, this doesn't work together with all VPNs. Adguard works with Adguard VPN of course and with Proton VPN it also works for me. I got NordVPN for free with some other subscription but never tried it. But I read there are problems with using a second VPN.

Like recommended in the post before mine, you can also go into the router. There could be options to activate filters too without changing DNS. I think in mine there is something. And you can change the DNS settings there too for the whole network.

You can also try Adguard DNS too:

AdGuard DNS — ad-blocking DNS server

Create your ad-blocking DNS server that will protect your personal data, prevent tracking and allow you to control access to specific content on the Internet.

adguard-dns.io

Family protection servers
AdGuard DNS will block ads, trackers, adult content, and enable Safe Search and Safe Mode, where possible.
IPv4:
94.140.14.15
94.140.15.16
IPv6:
2a10:50c0::bad1:ff
2a10:50c0::bad2:ff

Maybe you also need to set a secure DNS. My router has a field for DNS over TLS. This could also be integrated in the profile from Adguard.

Sometimes DNS over TLS also works if you just enter :853 after the IPs. For example 1.1.1.4:853 for Cloudflare in the System Settings. It accepts this for any address, but I am not sure if this is doing anything or what happens if you put in the links above there too when using Adguard DNS.

DNS over HTTPS:

https://family.adguard-dns.com/dns-query (don't click)

DNS over TLS:

tls://family.adguard-dns.com

There is a free profile for iOS and macOS. Don't know if that is working better than entering manually. I couldn't use that while also running Adguard for Mac. Wouldn't make sense anyway.

 

[0014]

Hello

I manage my 12-year-old's iPhone X using Screen Time and has web content set to Limit Adult Sites. Nevertheless the phone can access adult sites including pxxn sites.

What can I do to prevent this? I find no other setting than the "Web Content" setting under Screen Time-Content & Privacy Restrictions-App Store, Media, Web & Games.

Thanks in advance

The way I had to solve this (my son is also 12) was to have it set to only approved websites. If he needs to access something I can check it first and then add it to the approved list. I also have a specific SSID network at home which all my kids devices are connected to. This way I can block out anything I wish.

But that doesn't solve when on 4/5G so I found the only way was to gave the 'only approved websites' setting.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

if it is so easy to do...

Content blocking is NOT easy, in fact it's quite non-trivial.

Fortunately my children are all old enough now to be able to make their own decisions on what to see and what not to; they have been since before iPhone was introduced so I've never had to deal with it on iOS or iPadOS. But when they were little, it was a constant "game" of me installing some nanny-block, them figuring out a way around it, me figuring out a new solution, ad infinitum.

And of course now, the Internet and available means of transmitting/sharing/viewing content are an order of magnitude more complex than it was then.

I have no advice for you, just empathy. Raising children is hard, and while technology helps in some ways - in other ways it just makes it harder.

 

[Adora]

If nothing really works, maybe try this:

‎Parental Control App - Blokada

‎This app provides a safe and controlled browsing environment for the whole family. While delivering the ad-blocking that Blokada is famous for, it also empowers parents to create a digital space where children can explore the internet safely and securely. --- Key Features: - Parental...

apps.apple.com

 

[MacBH928]

blokada, controlD, Adguard all can achieve similar results but maybe they are paid

 

[johannnn]

When you use “Limit Adult Websites” in Screen Time under Content & Privacy Restrictions, iOS uses a combination of:

• A list of known adult sites that Apple maintains.
• On-device machine learning to detect inappropriate content.
• Some basic filtering for common terms and known domains.

This of course has limitations. Thousands of new domains pop up every day. Adult content providers are constantly changing URLs, using mirror sites, or inventing new domains to bypass restrictions.

What I recommend is either:

• Use an adblocker with a filter for Adult Content, such as 1Blocker. It's free if you just enable the adult content blocking.
• Change the DNS to 1.1.1.3 (https://blog.cloudflare.com/introducing-1-1-1-1-for-families/)

 

[A1423]

With the amount of new sites, content, and mediums to view the content. I’m not so sure I would be attempting to block things like this.

I’d be trying to teach healthy outlets,not demonizing it phones not allowed in certain rooms, etc.

Parental control tech has improved along with technology. If he wants to, he will see this stuff, he will find a way.

 

[pullman]

I’d focus on teaching him WHY some of the stuff out there is bad, HOW it’s bad and how to navigate it balancing moral and bing nonjudgmental…

Yes, I agree and what you're saying describes pretty accurately the entire basis of our parenting. But I still wish to try to limit exposure to all the vile stuff that's out there so I'll need to try a few solutions.

 

[pullman]

You may also be able to filter out domains on your router.

Thank you. I suppose I could do that but it would likely add quite a lot of work to maintain that.

 

[pullman]

When the VPN is activated it also might override your DNS settings to other ones when DNS protection is activated. Maybe the VPN can even block adult sites too. In my VPN (Proton) I can only block ads, trackers and malware. But I still need an adblocker. So I am not sure if this even works.

It could be the Cloudflare app is using a VPN tunnel like Adguard, this doesn't work together with all VPNs. Adguard works with Adguard VPN of course and with Proton VPN it also works for me. I got NordVPN for free with some other subscription but never tried it. But I read there are problems with using a second VPN.

Like recommended in the post before mine, you can also go into the router. There could be options to activate filters too without changing DNS. I think in mine there is something. And you can change the DNS settings there too for the whole network.

You can also try Adguard DNS too:

AdGuard DNS — ad-blocking DNS server

Create your ad-blocking DNS server that will protect your personal data, prevent tracking and allow you to control access to specific content on the Internet.

adguard-dns.io

Family protection servers
AdGuard DNS will block ads, trackers, adult content, and enable Safe Search and Safe Mode, where possible.
IPv4:
94.140.14.15
94.140.15.16
IPv6:
2a10:50c0::bad1:ff
2a10:50c0::bad2:ff

Maybe you also need to set a secure DNS. My router has a field for DNS over TLS. This could also be integrated in the profile from Adguard.

Sometimes DNS over TLS also works if you just enter :853 after the IPs. For example 1.1.1.4:853 for Cloudflare in the System Settings. It accepts this for any address, but I am not sure if this is doing anything or what happens if you put in the links above there too when using Adguard DNS.

DNS over HTTPS:

https://family.adguard-dns.com/dns-query (don't click)

DNS over TLS:

tls://family.adguard-dns.com

There is a free profile for iOS and macOS. Don't know if that is working better than entering manually. I couldn't use that while also running Adguard for Mac. Wouldn't make sense anyway.

Thank you very much for all this. I wasn't aware of AdGuard. I have been in touch with NordVPN about why their Custom DNS function does not work and they couldn't actually give me a good reason. It is possible to add for instance Cloudflare's 1.1.1.3 etc as well as their equivalent IPv6 addresses but internet just won't work. Perhaps NordVPN works with other DNS servers.

A part of this effort is to find the easiest way forward and so far that appears to be Cloudflare's app. Of course, that would be easy to deactivate on the kid's phone but so far that hasn't happened. After the pretty graphic stuff that appeared on the phone the other week I am keeping a close watch on Screen Time these days. A tricky thing is that the iPhone in question is an iPhone X which can't run iOS 18 so it's not possible to lock apps. But it's a temporary phone so I will be able to lock the Cloudflare app later.

I'll keep AdGuard in mind though in case all this won't work so thanks again for having suggested that.

cheers
philip

 

[pullman]

The way I had to solve this (my son is also 12) was to have it set to only approved websites. If he needs to access something I can check it first and then add it to the approved list. I also have a specific SSID network at home which all my kids devices are connected to. This way I can block out anything I wish.

But that doesn't solve when on 4/5G so I found the only way was to gave the 'only approved websites' setting.

Thank you, for our situation that solution doesn't work because it basically means that it is impossible to use the phone and the Macbook in school for school work.

Cloudflare's app will work on wifi and on the mobile network and seems comparably solid.

 

[Adora]

Thank you very much for all this. I wasn't aware of AdGuard. I have been in touch with NordVPN about why their Custom DNS function does not work and they couldn't actually give me a good reason. It is possible to add for instance Cloudflare's 1.1.1.3 etc as well as their equivalent IPv6 addresses but internet just won't work. Perhaps NordVPN works with other DNS servers.

A part of this effort is to find the easiest way forward and so far that appears to be Cloudflare's app. Of course, that would be easy to deactivate on the kid's phone but so far that hasn't happened. After the pretty graphic stuff that appeared on the phone the other week I am keeping a close watch on Screen Time these days. A tricky thing is that the iPhone in question is an iPhone X which can't run iOS 18 so it's not possible to lock apps. But it's a temporary phone so I will be able to lock the Cloudflare app later.

I'll keep AdGuard in mind though in case all this won't work so thanks again for having suggested that.

cheers
philip

There are often good deals for Adguard on Stacksocial.

I bought a license for Mac 8 years ago and somehow also got Adguard Pro for iOS for free. I think because I was a beta tester Adguard gave me a code for the App Store.

Not sure if the iOS version included in this deal here but it looks like that. Then you don't need to buy Adguard Pro for iOS, logging in to your account with the free standard version might work to make it Pro. Not sure. I can't read all this now.

The description says you even get $24 discount on the already discounted price with the coupon code there.

Maybe have a look at it and the reviews.

AdGuard Family Plan Lifetime Deal | StackSocial

<p>Get rid of annoying ads and protect your device from malware with this AdGuard Family Plan lifetime deal, which is available for a limited time only.</p>

www.stacksocial.com

I bought a 5 year license for Adguard VPN there but am now using Proton VPN because it was included in my mail subscription. Adguard is using a VPN tunnel and not every VPN is compatible running together with it.

You can also install TestFlight and join the Adguard for iOS beta. If you purchase something in a TestFlight app like the Pro features for Adguard it looks like a purchase in the App Store but is completely free. So you can buy whatever in-app purchase there is for nothing and keep it until the app has been removed. It's perfect to try an app before buying.

AdGuard — adblock&privacy TestFlight Links - Departures

 

[splifingate]

I’d focus on teaching him WHY some of the stuff out there is bad, HOW it’s bad and how to navigate it balancing moral and bing nonjudgmental…

And emphasize the idea that nothing is really free . . . there's a price-paid, which may be advertiser-linked monetization, malware, etc.

My parents were extremely transparent (ha!), and really began open-discussion about sexuality/existence/basic ontology from a very early age . . . by the time I was ~8y, I had a rather decent understanding of why we humans are here, how we got here, and where we might go.

I can't say that I really understood the difference between Meiosis I and Meiosis II, but IIRC, "haploid" came-up in a few conversations.

That being said, let me tell you a Story:

I work in a PRTF (Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility) as a HS Teacher. Technology is Integrated, and all the kiddos have laptops available for use.

When I receive a new Admit to our Facility, I have them read/sign an 'Acceptable Computer Use' form.

This is a Baseline agreement that I use to navigate the all the "Ohhhh!" moments that inevitably arise. They are teenagers, little-humans, and constantly faced with triggers and urges.

There is no escape from such things.

Our School System has innumerable firewalls, block-lists, filters, and (maybe?) hundreds of other mitigations employed.

Inevitably (and quite often), my kiddos find ways to circumvent said mitigations.

It's just human nature to be human. There is no stopping such a thing.

What I do is to remind them of a) how much of a privilege it is to be able to use such technology, and b) seek increased mindfulness in one's desires.

There's absolutely nothing you can do to ultimately stop John or Jenny's urge to seek surcease from the truly overwhelming desire to feel the things that they feel.

Our Little People are basically reproductive robots without high-level programming.

All you can do is guide, channel and re-program.

Cloudflare has an established 'Families' "Malware and Adult Content" DNS filtering system:

Malware and Adult Content

Primary DNS: 1.1.1.3

Secondary DNS: 1.0.0.3

I have (personally) never used this, yet it might help to establish a meta-layer of contravention that buys you some time to adequately discuss these things.

Apple has these strategies in-place, but they can never be end-all solutions

 

[Astrohunter]

Or just move to UK, where you have to send your ID to be allowed to watch NSFW. 😂

 

[Mr.Ben]

A couple of options I've tried that have worked ok.

Truple.io have a free filtering app on Android though I think their filter on iOS is a paid for service.

CleanBrowsing.org free DNS filtering is another one. Again, my experience is with Android but have found the adult filter DNS settings work pretty well.

Worth noting though that DNS settings can be changed if you know that's where the filter is, so simple manual settings may not work unless you can ensure access to settings is blocked. If it's a dedicated app doing the filtering you will probably find it has some kind of password protection to stop deletion. If using manual settings it may be you'll need to find an app locker app in order to block settings access - if the phone you're using doesn't have this function in parental controls.

 

[pullman]

And emphasize the idea that nothing is really free . . . there's a price-paid, which may be advertiser-linked monetization, malware, etc.

My parents were extremely transparent (ha!), and really began open-discussion about sexuality/existence/basic ontology from a very early age . . . by the time I was ~8y, I had a rather decent understanding of why we humans are here, how we got here, and where we might go.

I can't say that I really understood the difference between Meiosis I and Meiosis II, but IIRC, "haploid" came-up in a few conversations.

That being said, let me tell you a Story:

I work in a PRTF (Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility) as a HS Teacher. Technology is Integrated, and all the kiddos have laptops available for use.

When I receive a new Admit to our Facility, I have them read/sign an 'Acceptable Computer Use' form.

This is a Baseline agreement that I use to navigate the all the "Ohhhh!" moments that inevitably arise. They are teenagers, little-humans, and constantly faced with triggers and urges.

There is no escape from such things.

Our School System has innumerable firewalls, block-lists, filters, and (maybe?) hundreds of other mitigations employed.

Inevitably (and quite often), my kiddos find ways to circumvent said mitigations.

It's just human nature to be human. There is no stopping such a thing.

What I do is to remind them of a) how much of a privilege it is to be able to use such technology, and b) seek increased mindfulness in one's desires.

There's absolutely nothing you can do to ultimately stop John or Jenny's urge to seek surcease from the truly overwhelming desire to feel the things that they feel.

Our Little People are basically reproductive robots without high-level programming.

All you can do is guide, channel and re-program.

Cloudflare has an established 'Families' "Malware and Adult Content" DNS filtering system:

Malware and Adult Content

Primary DNS: 1.1.1.3

Secondary DNS: 1.0.0.3

I have (personally) never used this, yet it might help to establish a meta-layer of contravention that buys you some time to adequately discuss these things.

Apple has these strategies in-place, but they can never be end-all solutions

Apologies that it took a while to reply, and thank you for your message and advice. I appreciate it a lot and think you are right that it boils down to teaching kids to think about the consequences of their actions.