Apple Intelligence is now available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac!

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Screen Time site blocking foiled by "special characters"

I want to block specific sites using Screen Time. However, if sites have punctuation marks on certain letters, Screen Time cannot block them.


For example, Screen Time cannot block http://paciência-xl.com but it CAN block http://paciencia-xl.com. The only difference is the "ê" in the url. The first url is NOT accepted in the "Restricted" list (accessed via the "Customize" button in the System Preferences - Screen Time pane). Umlauts (e.g. ü) cause the same problem.


This issue occurs on both macOS and iPadOS.


Is this a bug? Is there a workaround if you want to block sites that use letters with punctuation marks above them?

Posted on Jun 13, 2020 5:08 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jun 14, 2020 2:12 PM

I can bypass pretty much everything tried here, via VPN or other means.

As for blocking the domain using your current strategy, enter the punycode for the domain, as a workaround.

That’s what is actually transmitted and not the Unicode characters, so a filter will probably capture the punycode version.

Here’s the punycode translation of the specified domain: http://xn--pacincia-xl-qbb.com/


Similar questions

6 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 14, 2020 2:12 PM in response to LuigiBenetton

I can bypass pretty much everything tried here, via VPN or other means.

As for blocking the domain using your current strategy, enter the punycode for the domain, as a workaround.

That’s what is actually transmitted and not the Unicode characters, so a filter will probably capture the punycode version.

Here’s the punycode translation of the specified domain: http://xn--pacincia-xl-qbb.com/


Screen Time site blocking foiled by "special characters"

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.