Blockers

1. DNS filtering, the highest-leverage fence

A DNS filter works at the layer where a device looks up a site’s address, so it applies to every browser and app at once. Two free, well-known family filters:

• Cloudflare for Families, adult-content blocking: the addresses 1.1.1.3 and 1.0.0.3, or the private-DNS hostname family.cloudflare-dns.com.
• OpenDNS FamilyShield: 208.67.222.123 and 208.67.220.123.

Set it on the home router and every device on the network is covered. Set it on the phone and it follows you onto mobile data.

2. Android

Open the network or connections settings and look for Private DNS. Choose the hostname option and enter family.cloudflare-dns.com. For a second layer, Google Family Link or Digital Wellbeing can restrict browsers and app installs.

3. iPhone and iPad

Screen Time has a content filter built in: under content and privacy restrictions, set web content to limit adult websites. Set a Screen Time passcode you do not know, by having someone else type it, and the fence holds. DNS can be changed per Wi-Fi network in the network’s settings.

4. Windows

Microsoft Family Safety filters web content for a child account, and an adult can put themselves on one. DNS is set per network adapter under network settings, or once on the router.

5. Mac

Screen Time on a Mac has the same content and privacy restrictions as the phone, including limiting adult websites. DNS servers are set per network in the network settings.

6. The accountability layer

Filters block. Accountability software reports, to a person you choose. For many people the second is what actually changes behaviour, because it removes secrecy rather than access. If you set one up, pick your ally before you pick the app.

A rule for fences

Give the unlock code to someone else, or set it while distracted and do not write it down. A fence you can step over in ten seconds is a suggestion. Lesson six on the path, blockers as a fence, not a cage, is about why this is not a sign of weakness.