Everyone may not be a fan of the Safari browser but the fact is it has improved a lot with the release of iOS 7. The new look, features and stability help in making it one of the most used mobile web browsers of all time. Safari has many built-in features that users are not aware of and this includes its ability to block any website on user’s request.
With this feature users can not only block websites of their choice but they can also tell Safari to automatically block all websites that consist of adult content, a feature that will be appreciated by parents. Of course you can’t fully rely on it as there’s a limit how much a web browser can filter.
Apart from blocking NSFW websites you can also use the restriction feature to block certain websites you want to prevent yourself from visiting. This includes websites that have a negative affect on your productivity such as Facebook.
Here’s how you can configure and use Safari’s restricted websites feature on your device.
- Go to Settings app and then to the ‘General’ section.
- Next look for ‘Restrictions’ option and open it. You may have to enter passcode on this page in order to access it.
- On ‘Restrictions’ page look for the ‘Websites’ option and open it. There you will find several options, just tap on the “Limit Adult Option” if you want to block all adult websites. You can also choose ‘Specific Websites Only’ if you only want to block your desired web pages only.
- Regardless of which option you chose above you can add specific websites in the ‘Never Allow’ section of the website restrictions page. This option will block the website you enter from opening in Safari until you remove it from there.
- Notice that there is an option of ‘Always Allow’. This option can be used to allow access to websites that have been mistakenly blocked by adult content filter.
That’s it! Now you know how to block any website in mobile Safari on your iOS 7 powered iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. You can share your thoughts about this feature in the comments section below.
[Thanks OSXDaily for the tip!]
Does this actually work though?
This is not full proof. I followed directions above and yes it does block some websites if you hit video it will bring up inappropriate videos in the browsers that can be viewed. So it partly works.