Option 1: Screen Time (built into iPhone)
- Open Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions and turn restrictions on.
- Open the Web Content setting and choose Limit Adult Websites.
- Under Never Allow, tap Add Website and enter the address, such as www.reddit.com.
Menu names shift slightly between iOS versions, but the setting lives under Content & Privacy Restrictions. Screen Time blocks the site completely, in Safari and most other browsers on iPhone. The trade-off: it's all or nothing, it can't target part of a site, and if you know your own Screen Time passcode, it's one tap to undo.
Option 2: an intent wall in Safari
If you still need the site sometimes, a hard block tends to get switched off and forgotten. Intent Guard keeps the site reachable but puts a deliberate step in front of it, so opening it becomes a choice again.
How it works
- Add a Site Target. Type a domain such as youtube.com or reddit.com, or narrow it to a path like youtube.com/shorts.
- Choose an intent wall. Pick how much friction stands between you and the site, and how long access lasts once you choose to go in: anywhere from 1 to 60 minutes.
- Turn on the Safari extension. Enable Intent Guard in Safari and allow it on your target sites. The app walks you through each switch.
- See the wall once. Open the site in Safari. When the wall appears, protection is live; until then, Intent Guard won't pretend it is.
Which one should you use?
| Screen Time | Intent Guard | |
|---|---|---|
| Blocks | The whole site, always | The site or specific paths, until you choose to enter |
| Browsers | Safari and most others | Safari |
| When you need the site | Edit the block list | Pass the wall; access lasts 1–60 minutes |
| Best for | Sites you never want | Sites you use, but too often |
Many people use both: Screen Time for sites they never want to see, and Intent Guard for the ones they still need occasionally.
Questions
- How do I unblock a website later?
- In Screen Time, remove it from the Never Allow list. In Intent Guard, remove the Site Target or turn its protection off.
- Does it work in Private Browsing?
- Screen Time's restrictions do. Intent Guard can protect Private Browsing too, once you allow its extension there.
- Does it block the native apps too?
- No. Intent Guard protects websites in Safari. It's built for people who have already deleted the app and find themselves opening the website instead. For native apps, use Screen Time app limits alongside it.