Do your kids spend too much time watching YouTube? Here are all the best ways to block YouTube on your iPhone or iPad.
Kids spend hours on YouTube these days, which may not always be a good thing. To limit this, you can block YouTube on their iPhone and iPad. Once this is done, your child cannot access it via the app or browser. Below we will show you all the ways to block YouTube on an iPhone or iPad.
But before you do that, it's worth knowing that Google has a YouTube Kids app. You could try to do this; will only show videos suitable for children. However, if your child is old enough to download and use regular YouTube, which you don't want, here's how to block them.
Free ways to block YouTube on your child's iPhone or iPad
Restrict YouTube on an iPhone using Screen Time
Screen Time is a powerful feature that offers several locking options, including parental controls. If you haven't enabled it, be sure to set Screen Time on your child's iPhone or iPad first.
Once that's done, here's how to use Screen Time to block YouTube on iPhone and iPad:
- apri Settings and touch Usage time .
- Toccata Content and Privacy Restrictions .
- Enable Content and Privacy Restrictions and touch Content restrictions .
- To touch Apps and set the limit to 12+ , or something less than that.
- Now, your iPhone will only show apps whose age range is 12 or younger. YouTube's age range is 17+, so it will be blocked.
If the YouTube app is already installed on the iPhone, it will vanish and become inaccessible. If it is not installed, the App Store will not allow anyone to download it due to these restrictions.
The downside to this method is that, along with YouTube, it will also hide all other apps rated 17 and above. However, if your goal is to keep children away from unsuitable content, this restriction may be reasonable.
Whenever you want to unblock YouTube, follow the same steps as above but, in step 4, choose 17+ o Allow all apps.
Remove the YouTube app and block new app installations
Another method of blocking YouTube is to delete its app from your child's iPhone or iPad and then restrict the installation of new apps.
The main advantage of using this method over the first is that you can download and keep apps of any classification. Once you think all the apps you need are there, you can get rid of the YouTube app and prevent new apps from being installed.
Here's how to remove the YouTube app for iPhone or iPad and block it from downloading again:
- Take your child's device and, from the home screen, long press the app icon YouTube , then select Remove app> Delete app> Delete .
- Now go on Settings> Screen Time> Content and Privacy Restrictions and make sure it's enabled.
- Toccata Purchase iTunes and App Store .
- Toccata Installation app and choose Do not allow.
After doing that, the App Store will disappear and become inaccessible on your device. Therefore, you or your child cannot download new apps. To reset this, follow the same steps above but choose Allow.
Block YouTube in Safari and other iPhone browsers
You can block the YouTube app using the above two methods. But a smart kid could figure it out and use Safari or any other browser to access it.
Here's how to block YouTube in Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and other browsers on iPhone or iPad:
- apri Settings and touch Usage time .
- Toccata Content and Privacy Restrictions and make sure it's enabled.
- Toccata Content Restrictions> Web Content .
- From here, you choose Restrict adult websites , which will block all these sites.
- However, YouTube is not an adult site. So, by default, it won't be blocked. Therefore, in Never allow, tap Add website .
- Type https://www.youtube.com and exit the Settings.
From now on, your child cannot access YouTube within Safari, Chrome, Firefox or any other iOS or iPadOS browser. When they visit YouTube, they will see a notification explaining that the site is restricted. Tapping Allow website prompts them for the Screen Time passcode. Note that you lose the option to use private tabs in Safari after restricting adult websites.
To allow YouTube, follow the same steps above, but swipe left on YouTube and tap Delete.
Set a time limit for YouTube on iPhone and iPad
If you don't want to completely block YouTube, but want to keep watch time under control, you have the option to add a time limit to the app. When your child exceeds that time limit, YouTube will be blocked for the rest of the day.
Here's how you can add a time limit to the YouTube app on your child's iPhone or iPad:
- apri Settings and touch Usage time . If it's not configured, tap Turn on screen time> Continue> This is my child's iPhone> Not now> Not now> Continue and set a Screen Time passcode.
- Toccata App Limits> Add Limit .
- To restrict all entertainment apps, check the box Entertainment . Otherwise, tap Entertainment and choose YouTube > Avanti .
- Set your desired time limit. Optionally, you can tap Customize days to allow more time on certain days of the week.
- Finally, tap Add.
You have successfully set a time limit for YouTube. Your child can use the app for the time you set. And once that limit is reached, the app will be blocked. Your child may take longer, which you can then allow or deny from your device. Just don't share the Screen Time passcode with them!
Note that this method will not prevent your child from watching YouTube in Safari or other browsers.
To delete the app limit, follow the steps above, but tap YouTube> Delete limit.
