Block Apps
How to Block Apps on a Supervised iPhone
Using supervised mode, you can block apps on the iPhone in a more permanent way that is hard to bypass.
If an iPhone is configured with supervised mode, you can block apps in a more enforceable way. Compared to the built-in screen time feature provided by Apple, supervised mode allows you to create permanent app blocklists that are difficult to bypass.
Here are a few reasons why you might consider using supervised mode app blocking:
- You want to block app on the iPhone in a more enforceable way for yourself or another person.
- The app should be completely disabled from being opened at all - not just a low app time limit.
- The app should not have to already exist on the iPhone.
Prerequisites
In order to block an app with supervised mode, there are a few prerequisites:
If you've already gone through the process of supervising an iPhone, then you should be able to follow this guide.
Supervised App Blocking Approaches
There are two approaches to blocking apps using device supervision for iOS:
- App Blocklists
- App Allowlists
Here are the basic steps you can follow to create these lists using the same supervised profile editor that you used to configure your iPhone originally.
Blocking Web Versions of an App
You should be aware that many applications have a web version of that app available as well. It's possible that the app could be accessed via Safari or another web browser on the iPhone. An app blocklist would only account for the version of the app downloaded from the app store.
To account for these situations, you might want to consider blocking URLs as well to limit access via the browser.
For example, if you
block the YouTube app
, you would add https://www.youtube.com/ to the Unallowed URLs section of the Content Filter.
Another option would be to combine supervised app blocking with a DNS Content Policy . You can disable the internet connection for both the web version and app store version of an app in a comprehensive way with this app blocking approach.
Furthermore, you can block entire app categories and selectively allow apps within that category.
This blocking approach works on all kinds of other devices as well and you can manage these block rules in a single unified dashboard.
Another advantage to this approach is that you can schedule app usage on all kinds of devices to disable the internet connection for the app store or web version of apps that you specify depending on the schedule you specify.
This approach works great alongside supervised app blocklists. It saves you the time of determining each URL that you need to add to the supervised Content Filter Unallowed URL section.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How do I enable Supervised mode on an iPhone or iPad?
In general, you will reset the iPhone and use device supervision software on a connected Mac or Windows device to prepare the iPhone.
For the exact steps and process, check out our guides .