A Safer Internet on Apple Devices

*March 14, 2016

It has come to my attention in updating this article that, in a year, many of the apps have changed drastically, so you can find a new updated post here.

I could likely spend an entire post talking about how incredibly ridiculous it would be for parents not to do what they can to monitor the Internet activity of their kids and teens. Statistically, 9 out of 10 children between the ages of 8 and 16 have viewed pornography on the Internet, and my assumption is that the one child who says he/she hasn't is probably lying about it. Here's the deal, if you have a device (computer, phone, tablet, TV, video game system) that connects to the Internet and is unprotected, and you have a kid over 8, you've likely got a porn addict under your roof. Porn is pervasive and can be freely viewed either on purpose or by accident with just one click. While it, sadly, might be foolish to believe that we can sanitize the Internet and completely prevent our kids from viewing pornographic content, as parents, we need to do everything we can to protect the innocence of our kids and have an accountability relationship with them. You can read more about the importance of accountability from a biblical perspective (both as kids and adults) in this article I wrote.

If you are an adult who wants to be accountable to someone for your online viewing habits, or if you're a parent who is more interested in having that kind of relationship with your kids (as opposed to simply blocking pornographic websites), an Apple device probably isn't your best choice. On a computer or Android device, there are a ton of great low-cost options that monitor your online viewing and report inappropriate websites to a trusted friend or parent, but on an iPhone or iPad, choosing to be accountable often means giving up some of the ease of Internet browsing. For the most part, this is because you'll need to shut down "Safari" in order to use a browser that has safe searching or accountability built into it. Unfortunately, Apple doesn't allow other browsers to operate the way that Safari does. Alternate browsers don't have all of the bells and whistles you'll find in Safari, and can sometimes be a tad buggy and less intuitive. For one example, outside of Safari, you'll be unable to click on a hyperlink in an email and have it automatically open in your browser. When using an alternate browser you would have to "long-tap" on the link to copy it and then paste it in the browser app's address bar. For a lot of people this limitation would be a deal breaker, so it might be reason enough to look at an Android device.

In this post, I've endeavored to let Apple users know about some options to create a safer Internet for themselves and their kids specifically on iPhones and iPads. As someone who has used accountability apps for years (my wife actually gets email reports if I view any website that's flagged as inappropriate), I have researched and used many of the options I list below. I really want to encourage you to ensure that devices that your kids use have some degree of monitoring set up on them. I also want to encourage you, as adults, to find someone you trust who you can be accountable to. It's as easy as approaching a friend (or spouse) and telling them that you've made a commitment to be accountable for all of your online viewing, asking them to be your accountability partner. You can have email reports sent to them so that if they spot something that looks questionable, they can challenge you on it and encourage you towards purity.

1. Apple's Built-In Restrictions

If you are using an Apple device that has ios7 or newer on it, you can restrict pornographic content. If you want to continue using Safari on your device, this is the only option available to you.
Go to Settings > General > Restrictions > Allowed Content > Websites and then select "Limit Adult Content". It is important that you set a Restrictions password that your kids don't have access to and can't easily guess. If you're an adult who wishes to have your access to adult sites blocked, it means having an accountability partner set the Restrictions password on your device so that you can't easily deactivate the filter. Under the Restrictions settings, you can disable the Restrictions password and then have your accountability partner re-enable it with a new one.

Cons: Apple's built-in settings only filter pornographic content, they don't include any kind of accountability feature that would email a parent or accountability partner with a list of questionable sites that were viewed. This is a great option if you have kids, but if you're an adult, a web filter may block things that aren't inappropriate (for example, a filter might block this blog because I talk about pornography, even though it doesn't contain any questionable content). I am also uncertain if the restrictions apply to ANY browser on the device or if they only apply to Safari. If I find this out, I'll update my post. In the meantime, in order to prevent another browser from being downloaded, go to General > Restrictions > and then under "Allowed Content" select "12+" (New browsers are always rated as 17+). Again, if you're an adult who wants to prevent your own access to porn, it means having your accountability partner set this restriction with a password that only they have access to.

2. Qustodio

This app acts as a content filter AND accountability app on iOS, and best of all, it has a FREE version that covers one user. On the website, you can set up a free account with a username and password and then install the safe browser on your Apple device. On the website you can select and name your device, choose an avatar, and select the extent of filtering you would like. You can choose for content to be blocked, you can choose an "alert" feature so that a list of questionable sites would be emailed to your accountability partner, or you can opt for both features. You can also choose to receive daily or weekly reports. If you're an adult wanting to use it for yourself, after it's set up, you would need to get your accountability partner to change the account email address and password so that only they have access to your browsing history and can receive reports. This app also has the ability to track the location of your device (on the Premium version), which might be handy if you have young kids, but you can also turn this option off. I've used this app on an old iPod running ios 6, and it does a pretty great job of monitoring and reporting. While Qustodio is free for one user on one device, you can upgrade to Premium for an annual cost (in March, 2016 a 1 year license for 5 devices was $33.95).

Cons: As with all accountability/filtering apps, it means that you must disable Safari and use their own web browser that has a few limitations. The Qustodio browser doesn't have the ability to open up multiple browser tabs and while you CAN bookmark pages, it doesn't have any option within the app to access or browse your history. Another issue is that when you select and name your device, you have to choose from several cartoon child avatars. It's fine if you're setting it up for a child, but if you're setting it up as an adult to be accountable to another adult, it's unnecessarily childish. The avatar is only listed beside your device in the Qustodio settings, so only your accountability partner could view it. If using the Qustodio browser, you will have to ensure that your accountability partner is the only one with your device's restrictions password and that your "Allowable Content" is set at 12+ so you can't download alternate browsers.

3. X3Watch

X3watch (created by xxxChurch) is a well-known accountability app for PC, iOS and Android devices. While mobile device users once had to pay a small one-time fee for the app, it is now free on iOS. The free version offers no web filtering, but is purely an accountability app that sends an email to a friend/spouse which lists questionable websites and reports whether you tried to circumvent the app. The Pro version is $6.99 per month or $64.99 a year, which you may not feel is necessary, but if you like the extra features like instant email alerts and web blocking along with accountability, the Pro version is half of the cost of options like Covenant Eyes (see below). I used to plug X3Watch a lot with my students and friends. As a pastor, I always found it hard to "sell" the importance of accountability when it meant subscribing monthly or annually at a hefty price. While I appreciate similar services that require a subscription, I will always side more with free or low-cost options, and X3Watch certainly offers this.

Cons: Like all other alternate browsers, you will need to disable Safari and restrict the ability to install other browsers to use this app. One of the biggest factors that would keep me from wholeheartedly recommending the app today is that, if you read their App Store reviews, you'll see a string of disappointed users who complain of problems with the built-in browser crashing and not getting responses from tech support. I've actually experienced these problems myself in the past. Because I haven't used this app for a couple of years, I haven't had any experience with it on an iOS device running iOS 7 or 8, but the browser doesn't work all that well on older devices (like my iPod running iOS 6). My best advice is that if accountability is what you're looking for, give the free version a test drive.

4. Covenant Eyes

Covenant Eyes has a pretty awesome reputation for providing web filtering and accountability. They also have a great twitter feed that offers resources and blog posts that I've followed for years.

Cons: Their service is just far too expensive for me to recommend. Because of the high cost, I've never used the browser (like other options, you need to disable Safari and use their own web browser) and can't really speak to how well it works as an alternate to Safari.  Currently, subscription prices are $9/month for a single user or $13.99/month for a family. I get it, they need to stay funded so that they can keep up with changes in technology, but for families that can't afford the expenditure or students who don't have an income of their own, this service is a hard sell. I would be much more prone to recommend them if an annual subscription was cheaper or if you could make a one-time purchase with no subscription.

5. Accountable 2 You

This app doesn't feature any web filtering, but reports all of your online activity to an accountability partner. On the plus side, the price is definitely more reasonable than Covenant Eyes with a subscription cost of $5/month which covers an unlimited number of devices. I have read a few positive reviews of the app working well, but haven't had any experience using it myself. "Accountable 2 You" offers a 10 day free trial so that you can test the browser to see if it's worth paying for.

Cons: The iOS browser doesn't have great customer reviews on iTunes (to be honest, I don't think I've seen any safe browser or accountability app on iTunes with a 5 star rating). Like other apps, to use Accountable 2 You, you'll need to disable Safari to use their own web browser.

6. Net Nanny

Net Nanny offers both filtering and accountability options for a one-time cost of $5 per iOS device. The price is certainly right, and Net Nanny has a pretty solid reputation, having been around for years.

Cons: Like some of the other options above, the Net Nanny browser doesn't have glowing customer reviews on iTunes and requires you to disable Safari. They don't offer a free trial on iOS devices, so there is the potential risk at purchasing a dud, although $5 won't make a huge dent in your wallet. For me, one of the biggest drawbacks is that the name of the app is a tad childish. While they market themselves as a way for adults to be accountable online, having and using a browser called "Net Nanny" could be potentially embarrassing.

7. Mobicip

Mobicip has made some great improvements to their look over the years. Both their website and app have a real professional feel to them. The free version only provides web filtering through their "safe browser" app. To get accountability options, you would need to pay $39.99 per year for the Premium version which covers up to 5 devices. The service is quite affordable, and you can ask them for a a free trial of their Premium version to give it a try, but the trial didn't give me enough experience with the app for me to be able to solidly recommend it. I'm also uncertain as to whether you can disengage the filter and only utilize the accountability feature on the app. I will say that it's browser features are better than the Qustodio app, so Mobicip is definitely worth giving a try.

Cons: If you're just wanting a safe browser, using the iOS built-in web filtering would be a better option. If you're interested in accountability, it's quite affordable, but I would recommend trying out the free version and then asking for a free trial of their Premium version to see how well you like the app before shelling out the $40.

8. Lion Accountability Browser

New to 2016 is the Lion Accountability Browser. Currently it's only available for iPhones or iPods running ios 8 and up, but will also be available for iPads in Spring, 2016. The app is currently on sale on iTunes at a very reasonable one-time cost of $5.99 per device, although there is no free trial to test it out for yourself before buying. They are promoting the app as being extremely simple to set up and use with no subscription fees, upgrades, or in-app purchases, and no sign-up forms or registration. Simply purchase and download the app and set up as many accountability partners as you wish. The reason the developers created this browser was because they saw a need in the market for an accountability app that didn't suffer from poor performance. I have not given it a try myself, so only time (and reviews) will tell if they have succeeded in this regard.

Cons: Like in the cases above, you would need to set up your device to use Lion by disabling Safari and restricting the ability to download other browsers. This is particularly important because the app doesn't alert accountability partners if the app is disabled (but it will notify partners if they are removed from receiving notifications in Spring 2016).
 

Your Feedback

If you use one of these, or a different accountability app or safe browser for your Apple device, I would love to hear your experience with it. Please leave a comment and tell me what you think. Also, if you found this post to be helpful, it would be great to hear from you. I will periodically make updates to this post so that it's an ongoing resource to you.