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Is your child spending endless hours glued to YouTube Shorts or binge-watching videos? Well, you’re not alone, and this is the story of most homes. This leads to poor grades, less sleep, and physical and social-emotional challenges. To avoid that, think about blocking all videos on iOS using the built-in parental controls. However, these methods don’t allow the deletion of videos in social media apps, so limiting their screen time would be beneficial.
This comprehensive guide provides details on how to block YouTube and other video apps on iOS and limit screen time. By restricting excessive video consumption, you can encourage healthier screen habits.
Table of Contents
Part 1. Why Block Videos on iOS?
On iOS, people block videos primarily to exercise parental control and prevent their children from accessing potentially mature or inappropriate content. Here’s a breakdown of the reasons to block videos on iOS:
- Protecting Children: Video streaming platforms like YouTube often offer entertaining and educational content but also contain unsuitable videos for kids. For example, videos with violence, explicit language, or mature themes. Kids might get exposed to such content through unverified videos and channels.
- Privacy Concerns: Data privacy is another reason why users block YouTube on iPads or iPhones. Users might be concerned about how much YouTube tracks their digital habits, search history, and location. YouTube does this profiling for targeted advertisements, which raises questions about the boundary between personalized content and privacy invasion.
- Distraction: Kids can spend most of their time watching videos and remain distracted from homework and studying. It potentially affects their academic performance.
- Compromised Physical Health: Sitting for long hours while watching videos can decrease physical activity and raise the risk of obesity. Also, extended screen exposure may strain young eyes, leading to discomfort and potential vision problems over time.
Part 2. How to Block YouTube on iPhone and iPad
The answers to how to block YouTube on an iPhone include restricting access, deleting the app, or setting screen time limits. Use any of the following methods to balance the productivity and entertainment of your kids.
1Turn Off Access to Video App
You can use a built-in “Screen Time” feature to block access to video apps like YouTube. This way, you can prevent your child from accessing the video app without deleting it from their device.
Step 1. Access your iPhone's “Settings” and navigate to “Screen Time.”
Step 2. Click “Content & Privacy Restrictions” and enter the passcode if prompted.
Step 3. Toggle on the “Content & Privacy Restrictions” option and tap on “App Store, Media, Web, & Game Center Content.”
Step 4. Click on the “Apps” option and set the age limit to 4+ or 9+. As most video apps have an age rating of 13+ or 17+, changing the limit would prevent kids from accessing the video app.
2Block Access to Video Websites Like Youtube
There are separate settings available on iPhone and iPad that let you block individual video websites. Here’s how to block YouTube from the browser:
Step 1. Open the “Settings” app and access “Screen Time.”
Step 2. Navigate to “Content & Privacy Restrictions,” followed by “App Store, Media, Web, & Game Center Content.”
Step 3. Tap “Web Content” followed by “Limit Adult Website.”
Step 4. In the “Never Allow” section, tap on “Add Website” and add a URL like “youtube.com” to block access to video websites. To prevent access to YouTube, you must add the following domains to the block list:
- googlevideo.com
- youtube-nocookie.com
- youtu.be
- youtubei.googleapis.com
- youtube.googleapis.com
- ytimg.com
- ytimg.l.google.com
- ytstatic.l.google.com
- youtube-ui.l.google.com
3Use App Limit to Block YouTube
Rather than blocking YouTube, you can limit how long your child can use the app. This way, the risks of spending hours on screen or getting distracted often are gone. Here’s how to limit the screen time of YouTube on iOS:
Step 1. Access “Settings” on your iPhone and navigate to Screen Time > App Limits.
Step 2. The apps are divided into categories, so you can select the “Entertainment” category to limit Music, AppleTV videos, YouTube, etc. You can also tap on “YouTube,” followed by “Next.”
Step 3. Set the timer for the number of hours the child is allowed each day, and click “Add” to confirm.
4Delete YouTube and Ban Re-Installation
Screen Limit has a feature to help you block the YouTube app on your kids' iPhones. This approach requires you to uninstall the app and prevent the kid from re-installing it.
Step 1. Uninstall the YouTube app by removing it from the app list on the home screen.
Step 2. Access the Settings app followed by Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions.
Step 3. Tap on “iTunes & App Store Purchases.”
Step 4. Set the “Installing Apps” option to “Don’t Allow.” This way, your child cannot install YouTube or any apps from the App Store.
Part 3. How to Check Kids' Video Watch History on Phone?
Banning your child from watching all videos at the touch of a button is actually a bit of over-controlling behavior, as not all Youtube or TikTok videos are unhelpful to children. There are also a lot of educational or entertaining videos online that are good for the healthy development of children. Then this is the time when scientific parental control is very important. For example, it is important to know your child's viewing history first and communicate with him/her if there is a problem, or to set a limit on the amount of time he/she can use these video apps.
KidsGuard Pro can help you to do this, this parental control program can see the viewing history of Youtube, TikTok and ReelShort. And if you're watching from a browser, your browser history can be tracked (including incognito browsers).
How to Set Up KisGuard Pro to Check Kids' Watch History?
Step 1. Create/Sign in your account and choose the suitable subscription plan to unlock all KidsGuard Pro features.
Step 2. Login to your account and go to dashboard, click on Bind Now button, follow the setup instruction to download KidsGuard Pro on the target device.
Step 3. After successful installation, you can go to KidsGuard Pro dashboard and monitor target phone.
FAQs About Blocking Videos on iPhone
How do I block videos on my iPhone?
You can use your iPhone's Screen Time feature to block videos. Tap on Screen Time, followed by Content & Privacy Restrictions, and toggle it on.
Is there a way to lock videos on iPhones?
Recently deleted or hidden videos are locked by default. To hide your videos, open the Photos app and select the video you want to hide. Then, tap on the three dots at the top-right corner and select the “Hide” option.
How do I stop the iPhone from taking videos?
Live photos on an iPhone are enabled by default, but you can disable them to prevent the device from taking videos when you intend to take pictures. To do so, go to Settings > Camera > Preserve Settings and turn off Live Photos.
How to block adult content on iPhone?
Use the Screen Time feature on your iOS device to block adult content. Access Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions, navigate and tap App Store, Media, Web & Games > Web Content > Limit Adult Websites.
How do I make my iPhone videos private?
You can “Hide” your iPhone videos to make them private. Access the Photos app and swipe for the entire photo/video grid. Then, tap on the videos you want to hide and then tap Hide.
Conclusion
Blocking all videos on iOS can be a way to help your child who is struggling with addiction to YouTube Shorts or other content. You can use the built-in settings to block YouTube or other video streaming apps. You can also limit their screen time. Besides built-in methods, you can use third-party parental control apps like KidsGuard Pro to block the app or set a screen time. This app also details your kids’ location, calls, messages, and more and provides peace of mind to parents that their children are safe.
