iPhone
How to Lock Settings on an iPhone
Learn a few effective methods for enforcing settings on an iPhone and locking settings in place so they can't be bypassed or changed.
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're trying to enforce content filtering on your iPhone, there are certain settings that you most likely need to lock. Some iPhone settings could be changed to disable or override a content filter, so it's crucial that you restrict changes to these settings.
Protect Specific iPhone Settings with Apple Config Files
Instead of completely restricting access to all iOS settings, a better approach would be to protect specific iOS settings that are critical for preventing a content blocker from being bypassed.
Apple provides a more powerful alternative to screen time , supervised mode, that allows you to enforce specific settings.
Supervised mode allows you to install Config Files which can be used to enforce the settings you specify. In order to unlock those settings again, you will need to use a separate device in order to remove those Config Files.
For example, you can completely restrict enabling additional VPN connections on the supervised iPhone, which is ideal if you want to enforce a specific content filtering VPN .
If you've upgraded to iOS version 18 or later, this Config also restricts apps from adding VPN Configurations, meaning you don't need to create a large app blocklist of disallowed VPN apps.
Furthermore, you can actually enforce a specific iOS VPN connection so that is cannot be deleted via VPN & Device Management settings.
The combination of protecting a specific VPN and preventing conflicting VPNs from being added effectively prevents most bypass techniques without the need for blocking access to iOS settings.
Another solid next step is to enforce your iPhone's built-in Web Content Filter. That way, even if your primary content filter is disabled somehow, you'll have solid backup for blocking adult content on an iPhone .
Config Files can also be used to restrict apps from being uninstalled. This is ideal for protecting a content filtering app from being deleted.
Config Files themselves can be enforced. For example, if you're a Tech Lockdown member using our tool for protecting iPhone settings , make sure that the Uninstall Prevent switch is toggled on.
Keep in mind that in order to prevent Config Files from being deleted, you will need to configure your iPhone as a supervised device. You can follow our guide for enabling supervised mode on iOS .
Block the iPhone Settings App Entirely
If protecting specific iOS settings with supervised config files is not an approach you can use, your next consideration might be to block the settings app entirely. It's not normally possible to block the settings app, but you can hack together a few techniques to achieve a blocking affect.
The first step involves creating an automation using apple shortcuts.
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.
