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Posted on Originally published at Medium

How to Block Adult Websites on a Samsung Galaxy: What Each Setting Really Does

#samsung #android #digitalwellbeing #privacy

Some Galaxy settings filter adult sites. Several popular ones only look like they do. Here is which is which, from Samsung's and Google's own pages.

Search for "how to block adult websites on Samsung" and you get a long list of settings to switch on. The trouble is that many of them were never built to filter websites. You turn them on, feel protected, and then find the same sites still load.

This article sorts the Galaxy settings people most often mention into two groups: the ones that actually filter adult sites, and the ones that do something else. Every claim below comes from Samsung's, Google's or the DNS provider's own help pages, linked at the end.

Settings that do NOT filter adult sites

These are useful features, but none of them blocks adult websites. It is worth knowing that before you rely on one.

Secret mode in Samsung Internet. Secret mode stops the browser keeping your history and cookies. It is a privacy feature. It does not block or unblock any site.

Smart anti-tracking and pop-up blocking. Both live in Samsung Internet's privacy settings. They deal with trackers and pop-ups, not with what kind of site you visit.

Ad blockers and content blockers for Samsung Internet. Samsung's developer documentation says the browser "does not provide the contents blocking filters" itself, and that these filters come from separate apps. Samsung describes their purpose as cutting visual clutter, data use and loading time. They are aimed at ads, not adult content.

Digital Wellbeing. Settings > Digital Wellbeing gives you screen time figures and app timers. That helps if the problem is hours lost, but it does not filter websites.

Google Play content restrictions. These limit what can be downloaded from the Play Store by rating. Google notes they apply only to the device you set them on, and that restricted content can still appear through search or a direct link. They do nothing to websites.

If you have switched on any of these and wondered why nothing changed, this is why.

Settings that DO filter adult sites

1. Private DNS with a family filter (covers the whole phone)

This is the most effective free option, because it works below the browser. Every time your phone opens a website, it first looks up the site's address. A family-filter DNS provider simply refuses to answer for adult domains, so the site never loads.

Samsung's support page gives the path:

  1. Swipe down and tap the Settings (gear) icon.
  2. Tap Connections, then More connection settings, then Private DNS.
  3. Choose the option to enter a provider hostname, type the hostname and tap Save.

Samsung's page does not list hostnames. Cloudflare publishes one for blocking malware and adult content: family.cloudflare-dns.com. Cloudflare says Private DNS needs Android 9 or later.

Because it is a phone-wide setting, it applies to Samsung Internet, Chrome and other apps that use the phone's normal DNS. Three limits are worth knowing:

  • Some browsers and apps have their own secure DNS setting, which can bypass the phone's.
  • Some work, school and public Wi-Fi networks block encrypted DNS, so the connection may fail on those networks.
  • Anyone holding the phone can set Private DNS back to Off in a few taps.

After setting it up, test it: open a site you expect to be blocked in each browser you use.

2. Google SafeSearch (covers Google results only)

SafeSearch filters explicit results in Google Search. You can set it to Filter or Blur. Google is clear that it covers Google Search only, not other search engines or the websites themselves. It is a good extra layer, not a block on its own.

3. Family Link (for a child's phone)

For a child's Galaxy, Samsung points to Google Family Link: Settings > Digital Wellbeing and parental controls > Parental controls, then sign in to the child's Google account.

In Family Link, Chrome has three site settings: "Allow all sites", "Try to block explicit sites" and "Only allow approved sites". Google's own page adds two honest warnings: "No filter is perfect", and a child "may also have access to other browsers where Family Link settings for Chrome won't apply." On a Samsung phone, Samsung Internet is exactly that other browser, so pair the Chrome filter with Private DNS, or block the other browsers as apps.

Why the working settings still fail for adults

For a parent setting up a child's phone, the methods above are a solid start. The parent holds the password, the child does not.

For an adult blocking for themselves, the weak point is different. Every working setting above can be switched off by the same person who switched it on, and it takes seconds. The moment you most want to turn the filter off is the moment it most needs to hold. That is not a character flaw. Settings menus are designed for convenience, not for self-restraint.

Two things help:

  1. Layers. Private DNS plus SafeSearch is harder to get around than either alone.
  2. Distance from the off switch. A delay, a long phrase you have to type, or a PIN that someone you trust holds. Even a few minutes of friction is often enough for an urge to pass.

Where Mamori fits

We make Mamori, so take this section as what it is. Mamori is an adult content blocker built for adults who want to stop viewing adult content on their own phone. On Android it filters site lookups on the phone itself, using Android's VPN service with no remote VPN server, and blocks more than 2.5 million adult domains across every browser and app, including many Japanese sites that Western filters miss.

The main feature is the lock. When you switch protection on, you choose what stands between you and the off switch: a cooldown timer, a phrase, or a PIN a trusted person can hold. While protection is on, it cannot simply be uninstalled. When you switch it off, everything is off, and the app uninstalls normally.

Honest limits: Android allows one VPN at a time, so another VPN app can take Mamori's place. And no app replaces support from people you trust. For a child's phone, Family Link should be the base layer.

If you want the full, step-by-step version for your phone, these guides go deeper:

Mamori is on Google Play and the App Store with a 7-day free trial: mamoriblocker.com.

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