One of the most common questions we get from Tech Lockdown customers is how to lock settings on iPhone. Restricting changes to iOS settings and even blocking the settings app entirely is mainly a priority that goes along with content blocking.

If you are blocking adult content , the iOS settings app can open up a few loopholes in your blocking system. 

Here are a few common scenarios for why you might want to restrict changes to certain iPhone settings:

1. Prevent overriding screen time settings. Sure, you can set a screen time pin, but this can still be bypassed. Additionally, blocker apps or parental control apps for iOS utilize Screen Time to function properly. However, it's simple to go into screen time and toggle off the screen time permissions for that app. Even worse, Screen Time doesn't require you to enter a passcode to do this. This is Apple's way of ensuring that apps downloaded from the app store have limited effectiveness. 
2. Prevent overriding a content blocking app that sets a VPN. There are some pretty effective porn blocking dns filters , which set a VPN on your iPhone to route the internet traffic through the filter. However, it's possible to get around this by turning off the VPN using the iPhone's settings app. 
3. Enforce DNS Settings. You can point your iPhone to a DNS Content Policy, to decide what content is blocked, by using the DNS settings on iOS to connect to that policy. Ideally, you should prevent changes to DNS settings.

Contrary to popular belief, there are actually some effective ways to lock settings on an iPhone:

1. Using Shortcuts with automations, combined with an App Blocker. This is a technique that isn't well-known, but we'll explore in more detail here.
2. Using Apple's alternative to screen time , supervised device mode, to enforce specific settings in a way that can't be changed from the iPhone settings app.

How to Enforce a DNS Settings Profile

If you set up a DNS Content Policy , like the one we provide at Tech Lockdown, you can decide what content is blocked, who it is blocked for, and when it is blocked.

Once you set up a content policy, you can connect an iPhone directly to it. One way to connect an iPhone to a DNS Content Policy is to set the DNS settings on the iOS device to point to the content policy.

The best way to do this on iOS is to install a DNS config file , like the one we provide to our members in the install section in the Tech Lockdown account dashboard.

This automatically sets the DNS settings for the iPhone. In order to get around this, the config file has to be removed.

However, you can actually prevent this profile from being removed using the supervised device mode I mentioned in the introduction.

In order to do this, you need to do the following:

Enable supervised mode on an iOS device .

Using the Install section of your Tech Lockdown account dashboard, install the config file again, but check Prevent Removing Profile (supervised only)

Enforcing App Blocklists and Web Content Filtering Settings

If the main reason you want to lock settings on iOS is to enforce certain screen time settings, consider using Apple's Screen Time alternative : Supervised Device Mode.

You can use this mode to enforce some of the functionality you normally get with Screen Time.

For example, you can enforce the Web Content Filtering settings, like Limit Adult Content, or any blocked URLs you want to specify.

Next, you can create app blocklists to block iPhone apps . 

You can even Restrict Apps to a specific allowlist, which will default-deny app downloads from the App Store unless you have whitelisted those apps. 

Additionally, you can even completely disable the App Store .

With this approach, you can effectively turn off the app store but still allow automatic app updates.

Furthermore, when you create these supervised config files, you can set Security: Controls when the profile can be removed, to either require a password to override or prevent removal entirely.

How to Block the Settings App

The first step involves creating an automation using apple shortcuts.

Open the Shortcuts app and create a new personal automation

Select the App automation type

Choose an app to trigger an automation when the selected app is opened

Select the settings app and tap Done

Tap Next, then search for the Open App action. If Open App isn't already in the Next Action Suggestions, use the search bar to find it.

In the Open App action customization, select the highlighted App word to bring up the app selection view.

Select the Shortcuts app and tap Next.

Toggle off Ask Before Running and Notify When Run. Then tap Done to save this automation shortcut.

Once this automation is enabled, the shortcuts app will automatically open when the iPhone's settings app is opened. This will cause the shortcuts app to take the foreground and overwrite the settings app so that it can't be accessed.

The natural next question you might have is: "How do I prevent this shortcut from being disabled?" 

Now, you can download an App Blocker from the App Store and block the Shortcuts app or set up some other restriction (depending on what the App Blocker allows you to do). Although you can't block settings with an App Blocker, you can block shortcuts. 

Prevent Changing VPN Settings on iOS

Another area you might want to consider is preventing someone from overriding VPN settings. A DNS Filtering application will often utilize the VPN feature on an iPhone to route the internet traffic on the iPhone through a filter, allowing you to apple a Content Policy to the internet use on an iPhone.

There are a few ways to do this:

1. Use supervised mode to prevent a user from changing VPN settings
2. Use Apple Shortcuts to auto-enable the VPN when the settings app is closed
3. Use Apple Shortcuts to turn on a VPN when a browser or specific app is opened.

Learn more in the below guide.