yabayab
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: parental controls

My son found a way to work around the Parental Controls without altering the phone or resetting it via iTunes. He is able to access a Safari browser even though I've restricted Safari from running using Parental Controls.

 

He has an iPhone 5 running iOS 9.2.1. This is how it's done:

 

1. Settings > Game Center

2. Select the account under Game Center Profile

3. Select Privacy Policy

 

This opens up a Safari browser to view the Privacy Policy. From here, it's possible through a convoluted set of selections to eventually get to Google Search and pretty much search for anything on the Internet. It takes only a minute or two.

 

Is there a way to completely disable Safari so that it can't be accessed at all? I can't seem to disable Game Center or the ability to load an account into it. Therefore, Safari is always accessible no matter what restrictions I set on Parental Controls.

iPhone 5, iOS 9.2.1

Posted on Mar 8, 2016 9:49 PM

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yabayab

Q: parental controls

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  • by sberman,

    sberman sberman Mar 8, 2016 9:55 PM in response to yabayab
    Level 8 (39,090 points)
    Mar 8, 2016 9:55 PM in response to yabayab

    You can try Guided Access:

     

    Use Guided Access with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

  • by yabayab,

    yabayab yabayab Mar 8, 2016 10:49 PM in response to sberman
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 8, 2016 10:49 PM in response to sberman

    Thanks for the suggestion.

     

    I just read the guide on Guided Access and it appears that this feature would restrict the phone to use only one app. I'd like him to be able to use multiple apps such as e-mail, calendar, messaging, maps, phone, and a few others. Could I use Guided Access for more than one app?

    Thanks.

  • by sberman,

    sberman sberman Mar 8, 2016 10:55 PM in response to yabayab
    Level 8 (39,090 points)
    Mar 8, 2016 10:55 PM in response to yabayab

    Guided access allows one app at a time.  It sounds like guided access may not be the right answer for you.

  • by ManSinha,

    ManSinha ManSinha Mar 8, 2016 10:58 PM in response to yabayab
    Level 6 (10,250 points)
    iPhone
    Mar 8, 2016 10:58 PM in response to yabayab

    I just tried your steps after restricting Safari through restrictions

    Guess I am not as smart as some of the youngsters out there - I was only able to navigate within Apple.com - try as I might - I could not get out into the general internet -

  • by yabayab,

    yabayab yabayab Mar 8, 2016 11:11 PM in response to ManSinha
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 8, 2016 11:11 PM in response to ManSinha

    It's complicated and yes, I'm surprised he figured it out.

     

    Here's how it is done after selecting Privacy Policy:

     

    1. Upper right hand corner, tap the icon of the black shopping bag in white outline.

    2. Scroll under Questions and open the menu for "What financing options are available?"

    3. Select "Learn More" when it states you can apply for a Barclaycard Visa Card.

    4. Select the blue link in the middle of the page, "Learn more about financing with the Barclaycard Visa with Apple Rewards"

    5. Scroll to the question, "What are my Platinum benefits?". Select the blue underlined link in the answer.

    6. Scroll to near the bottom of this page to the icons for Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, and three horizontal dots to the right of these icons. Select the three horizontal dots.

    7. Select Google +

    8. Select "Sign In" at the top of the page

    9. Select "About Google" on the bottom left corner of the page

    10. Select the Google logo at the top left corner of the page

    11. You have now arrived at Google Search!

     

    Good luck following these directions. It works. It takes a little practice, but it works. I'm surprised that Apple allows this.

  • by anypats,

    anypats anypats Mar 9, 2016 6:26 AM in response to yabayab
    Level 4 (1,791 points)
    Mar 9, 2016 6:26 AM in response to yabayab

    Confirmed through your steps that this works.

    Report it to Apple through http://www.apple.com/feedback/

  • by anypats,Helpful

    anypats anypats Mar 9, 2016 8:02 AM in response to yabayab
    Level 4 (1,791 points)
    Mar 9, 2016 8:02 AM in response to yabayab

    I found a way to keep them from doing this work around.

     

    In Restrictions under Allowed Content select Websites and change to Specific Websites Only. When you get to Step 4 of your above work around, a message comes up "You cannot browse this page at barclaycardus.com because it is restricted."

  • by yabayab,

    yabayab yabayab Mar 9, 2016 8:03 AM in response to anypats
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 9, 2016 8:03 AM in response to anypats

    Thank you, anypat. That was helpful. I'm not sure why I didn't think of restricting content to specific sites. I think that will close the loophole.