how to completely block adult sites on my phone.
As the Internet becomes more accessible, faster, and cheaper, teens (and even adults) have easy access to the Internet. They use this opportunity to view any kind of content – good, bad, and only for adults. You, as a parent or caregiver, are worried and rightly so. Then the question arises, how to block adult content on Android and prevent children from understanding the wrong ideas and perceptions?
Research has shown a positive correlation between child exposure to pornography and aggressive behavior. Websites do not have strict guidelines for blocking such content for children. So it all comes down to the parents. While you cannot prevent them from using their smartphone, there are certain steps you can take to block adult content on their Android smartphone and tablet.
We do not encourage spying on your children. Is not cool. But if your child isn’t old enough to have a full conversation, it’s best to block all adult content on their phone.
Related: how to block any sites on Android
Block adult content on Android
1. Play Store Settings
You need to take steps to prevent children from accidentally discovering adult content while browsing the Play Store. Luckily, Google has the ability to set up parental controls here.
To do this, open the Play Store, click the menu icon and select “Parental Controls” in the “Settings” section. Create a PIN here to prevent your kids from accessing apps that contain adult content.
Once you have set your PIN, you will see three different categories: Apps & Games, Movies, and Music. Tap each one to restrict content based on the age and maturity of your kids.
READ ALSO: Block Adult Videos on YouTube App and Make It Safe for Kids
2. Block adult content in Chrome
You can also enable Safe Search in the Chrome browser app for Android. This will block explicit images, videos, and websites from Google search results. Safe Search is also available in other Chromium browsers such as Brave and non-Chromium browsers such as Opera and Firefox. Open the settings to find it.
3. Use OpenDNS to block adult content
Adult content includes not only porn, but violent content, swearing, bullying, disturbing images of dead bodies and blood, and even content that is politically and religiously wrong. You don’t want your children to grow up hating one religion or one part of society.
One way to block adult content on Android is by using OpenDNS. However, keep in mind that the Open DNS settings do not work if the traffic saving feature is enabled in the Android phone settings. OpenDNS is a free open-source application that comes with a list of IPs and sites that will block adult content and ads on the phone.
By default, we use the DNS server of our internet provider. But if we replace it with OpenDNS servers, every request must go through the OpenDNS server. And if it turns out to be inappropriate, OpenDNS will block the request and your child will not be able to open a specific website.
To set OpenDNS as the default DNS server, go to Android Settings and click on Network & Internet. Then tap on Wi-Fi and then on the gear icon next to Wi-Fi in your home. Now you will see an edit button in the upper right corner – click on it. To set the DNS IP address, we need to change the IP settings from DHCP to static. Post this, you need to enter the IP address and DNS 1, DNS 2 as follows. IP address: 192.168.1.105 DNS 1: 208.67.222.123 DNS 2: 208.67.220.123
You can also use the WiFi Setting app to directly change the DNS server address.
Benefits of Using OpenDNS
- This service is maintained by a large organization that constantly updates the OpenDNS filter list. Alternatively, you can create a free OpenDNS account and choose a filtering level from low to high.
- You can also add an OpenDNS server to your router and block adult content on every device connected to your Wi-Fi.
Disadvantages of
- OpenDNS can be easily bypassed using a VPN app. So if you think your child is smart enough for that, make sure you block access to the Play Store and your device’s settings (more on that later).
One more caveat: the phone is not always connected to home Wi-Fi. For example, when your kids are away from home, they can use a different Wi-Fi or access the Internet via mobile data. In such cases, OpenDNS is useless.
4. Use the BlockSite app
If OpenDNS isn’t for you, or if you need a simple way to implement DNS blocking, you should try BlockSite. It works on the same principle as a DNS server for blocking adult content. The application is quite intuitive and easy to use.
Also Read: Disable Incognito Mode in Google Chrome for Android
To get started, just download the app and restart your Wi-Fi or phone to clear the old DNS. Then open the app and go to the Adult Block tab and enable the blocking option.
Benefits
- Easy to customize with a dedicated application.
- Works with both data and Wi-Fi.
- Compatible with all Android browsers.
- Works even with proxy apps and VPN
Download BlockSite: Android
5. Blokada
If you are not satisfied with openDNS and the other IP solutions mentioned above, just download Blokada. This is an open-source application that uses custom or pre-configured DNS IP addresses to block ads, websites, and adult content on Android phones. Best of all, you don’t have to mess with the settings a lot. Download and download the app using the link below. It’s not available on the Play Store, but it’s safe to use. Blokada is the best way to block adult content on Android smartphones.
There is a list of hosts that you can use to block certain types of content like spam, ads, porn, crypto mining scripts, and many others. Just click on the list of hosts to read what it blocks and enable it. You can include more than one host list, but don’t overdo it. If you think the blocking is too aggressive, choose a different list.
You can also add your own sites and IP addresses to the list, or whitelist specific sites that you think were blocked by mistake. This gives you complete control over the unit that runs on your smartphone and in all installed applications.
You can also configure DNS automatically, and again, there are several options to choose from. I’m using Google Public DNS, but you can choose any, including the openDNS we mentioned above. Just turn on the option and you’re done. It will protect you from spam, adult content, and keep your data safe.
Finally, there is a paid feature called VPN. You can use it to further protect your data and protect children from harm. Check it out.
Another application that works similarly to Blokada is DNS66.
Download Blokada: Android
6. Google Family Link
Google recently launched Family Link, a parental control app that acts like Apple’s on-screen app. You can control which apps kids have access to, for how long, and what happens when their time runs out. You can block certain apps that you don’t want kids to share, and other apps will set a timer for the day.
You can also create a new Google account for your kids and give them access to a carefully curated list of apps from teachers and leading institutions. Once everything is set up, you will receive daily reports of your kids’ activities and what they did during the day. You can also restrict new app downloads and in-app purchases so you know they won’t download and then uninstall adult-themed apps without your knowledge.
Download Google Family Link: Android
6. Norton Family Parental Control
Long before Google came up with its own solution, Norton came along. You can also block websites based on 40+ filters such as pornography, gambling, social media, violence, etc. There is also the option to get a detailed report of your kids’ internet activity directly to your inbox.
Download NortonParental Control: Android
7. PornAway (root only)
Pornaway is a modified version of the famous Adaway app (an app that blocks ads on your Android). However, PornAway is designed to block adult sites instead of ads. Unlike other apps that block adult content on Android on this list, PornAway blocks adult content all over your Andriod. No matter what app or browser you use, PornAway will block adult sites everywhere. However, to use PornAway, you need a rooted Android device. This is how it works.
After the app updates your host file, you can go ahead and uninstall PornAway or even uninstall your Android. The block will still work. But, if you want to disable the porn block in the future, then you need to use the same application and needs root access.
Benefits
- Make sure your Android is allowed to install from unknown sources.
- Download the PornAway APK and install it.
- Give him ROOT access.
- Click on “Enable Porn Blocking”
- Free
- Works with every application
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- Automatically checks your gallery for any potential NSFW content.
- Permanently monitors and hides NSFW content from the gallery.
- Automatically turn off saved videos on your phone.Blocks all kinds of porn Disadvantages
- Requires root access
Download PornAway: Android
8. Cover
The cover will help you hide NSFW and adult content on your phone. The app uses AI to automatically filter downloaded content on your phone. With this app, you can hide images, GIFs, and videos in your gallery. The app is geared towards people who find themselves in awkward situations without deleting explicit content and handing their phone over to children who swipe up after watching the cute dog you are trying to show them.
After clearing the gallery, you can activate a service that continually monitors and hides any NSFW content you might “accidentally” download.
While Cover does a pretty good job of auto-detecting NSFW content, it skips a few submissions that are hardly NSFW specific. But you can still hide these images and videos manually by clicking the Share button.
Benefits
Block adult content on Android
I would recommend Blokada for your Android phone, whether you are using mobile data or Wi-Fi. I also recommend Google Family Link for anyone monitoring phone usage. If you are an adult and want to get rid of this habit, take a look at this subreddit. This is a great community to share your thoughts and get moral support.
Also read: How to block porn on Windows.
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- The filtering technique is not finalized and does not work only for NSFW content.
- A service running in the background is consuming a lot of resources and draining the battery