Safer browsing
Reduce access to high-risk and inappropriate domains.
Family protection that stays visible
A safer web without reading private conversations
Block harmful sites and custom domains, enforce safer browsing, and keep web rules visible to the family—without capturing private message content.
WebShield status
Parent dashboard
Safer browsing
Reduce access to high-risk and inappropriate domains.
Custom control
Add a family-specific block or allow rule when needed.
Privacy preserved
Protect browsing without turning messages into parent reports.
What changes for your family
Custom control
Add a family-specific block or allow rule when needed.
Privacy preserved
Protect browsing without turning messages into parent reports.
SmartProtect
Protection in three clear steps
1
Add Child Profile
Create a profile in the parent dashboard. Enter their name and age to automatically optimize default settings.
2
Generate Code & Download
Generate a one-time pairing code in your dashboard and install the companion app on your child’s device.
3
Pair & Build Agreements
Launch the companion app on the devices, type in the pairing code to link, review the transparent limits layout with your children, and enjoy deep digital peace.
One parent dashboard across every screen
iOS
Android
Windows
macOS
How web filtering works
Filtering is the least glamorous control and the one most worth having for younger children. It works by category rather than by keeping a list of every bad site, because no list stays current.
Category-based blocking
Sites are matched against categories — adult content, gambling, self-harm, violence and others — and you choose which categories are unavailable. This handles the long tail of sites nobody has heard of, which a manual blocklist never will.
Your own allow and block rules
Categories are blunt where your family is specific. Add an individual domain to block something a category misses, or allow one your filter is over-catching — a hobby forum or a health resource a category sweeps up along with genuinely harmful material.
SafeSearch enforcement
Search engines have their own safety modes that a child can normally switch off in two taps. Enforcing SafeSearch keeps them on, which removes explicit results and thumbnails from the search page itself rather than waiting to block the destination.
Visible, not silent
A blocked page shows a plain screen naming the category that stopped it. That matters more than it sounds: a child who understands why something is unavailable can ask you to reconsider, which is a conversation. A page that silently fails to load is a puzzle, and puzzles invite solving.
What each platform actually allows
Web filtering depends on where it can intercept the request, and that varies by operating system and by browser.
- iPhone & iPad
- iOS 16+. Filtering applies system-wide through the OS content-filter mechanism, covering Safari and other browsers rather than only one.
- Android
- Android 8.0+. Filtering applies across browsers on the device, including the in-app browsers other apps open links in.
- Windows & macOS
- Filtering applies to the supervised user account across installed browsers. On desktop, an administrator account can bypass it — which is why the child account should be a standard user.
- Household coverage
- The Family Guardian plan adds household-wide DNS filtering, which reaches devices you have not installed anything on — a games console or a visitor's tablet on your home network.
What to filter, by age
Filtering should loosen as children get older, and for teenagers it should be doing very little. Over-filtering an adolescent mostly teaches them to route around you.
Under 10
Filter broadly. At this age an over-blocked site is a minor inconvenience you can fix in ten seconds, while under-blocking is not. Turn SafeSearch on and leave it on.
10 to 13
Keep adult content, gambling and self-harm categories blocked, and start relaxing the broader ones. Expect to whitelist things — that request is a useful conversation and a sign the system is being used rather than worked around.
14 and up
A small number of categories, chosen for genuine harm rather than discomfort. By this age filtering is a backstop, not a strategy, and the actual protection is that your teenager will tell you when they encounter something.
What this will not do
No filter catches everything, and anyone promising otherwise is selling. Encrypted messaging apps carry content past any web filter, a VPN defeats on-device filtering, and content moves faster than categorisation. Filtering meaningfully reduces accidental exposure — the mistyped search, the autoplay chain — which is most of what happens to younger children. It is not a substitute for the conversation, and it does not read your child's messages to compensate.
Common questions
Does SmartProtect read my child's messages?
No. It does not read messages, log keystrokes, record calls or capture the screen. Web filtering operates on the sites a device requests, not on the contents of private conversations, and there is no plan or paid tier that changes this.
Does private or incognito browsing get around it?
No. Filtering happens below the browser, so a private window is filtered the same as a normal one. A VPN installed on the device is a different matter — it can route around on-device filtering, which is worth knowing rather than being surprised by.
Can I allow one site inside a blocked category?
Yes. Custom allow rules take precedence over the category, so a resource caught by an over-broad category can be permitted without opening the category itself.
Does filtering slow down browsing?
Not noticeably. Category matching happens in milliseconds and the common cases are cached.
What about YouTube?
SafeSearch enforcement extends to YouTube's restricted mode, which filters the results and recommendations shown. It does not review individual videos, and restricted mode is imperfect — treat it as a reduction in exposure rather than a guarantee.