Sworn

Sworn for Chromebook

Your Chromebook,
under the same promise.

The same filter as your phone, the same partner, one alert stream. ChromeOS has a built-in setting that sends every lookup through Sworn. You paste one address into it, once.

Get it on Google Play Get the phone app

  • Uses the Sworn app from Google Play, on the Chromebook, to join your subscription
  • Covers Chrome, Android apps and the Linux container, not just one browser
  • No screenshots, no browsing history, no device names

Chromebooks with Google Play, on Android 11 or newer · nothing to download from us · the Chromebook's DNS isn't changed until you paste the address. If you pay for Sworn through the App Store rather than Google Play, read the note below first.

Set up

One setting.

There's no Sworn installer for ChromeOS, because ChromeOS already has the one thing Sworn needs: a setting that sends every address lookup, from Chrome, from Android apps and from the Linux container, to a resolver you choose. You give it your Sworn address. That takes a few minutes, and from the next page you open the Chromebook is under the same rules as your phone.

  1. Install Sworn on the Chromebook. From Google Play, signed in to the same Google account that pays for Sworn on your phone. Open it and tap through the welcome screen. It joins your subscription in the background and copies your categories and your partner across; nothing is emailed for adding a device. It then stops on a screen headed Turn on Sworn that asks for Android's Private DNS setting. On a Chromebook that screen is a dead end, because ChromeOS has no such setting. That's expected. Leave the app there.
  2. Copy the address it shows. That screen shows an address ending in .dns.snowleopard.dev, with a Copy button. Tap Copy. The long run of letters and numbers before .dns.snowleopard.dev is your Account ID.
  3. Make the ChromeOS address. It's https://dns.snowleopard.dev/v1/ with your Account ID on the end and nothing after it: https://dns.snowleopard.dev/v1/account-id. So if the app shows account-id.dns.snowleopard.dev, you delete .dns.snowleopard.dev from the end and put https://dns.snowleopard.dev/v1/ in front. You can do the editing right in the field in the next step.
  4. Paste it into ChromeOS. Open Settings (the gear in the tray), choose Privacy and security, and turn on Use secure connections to look up sites. In the provider menu under it, choose Add custom DNS service provider and enter your address. ChromeOS only checks that the address answers; it can't tell whether the Account ID is yours, so don't skip the next step.
  5. Check it. Open a new tab and visit a site in a category you block. Chrome should say the site can't be reached. On your phone, open Sworn and go to Settings → Your devices: the Chromebook is listed. It shows as a phone, because it registered through the phone app.

A Chromebook someone else manages — school, work — usually has this setting locked and Google Play switched off. If the setting is greyed out, that's why. Check with whoever manages it before going further.

What it does

The phone's rules, on the Chromebook.

Once the address is in, ChromeOS sends every lookup from Chrome, from Android apps and from Linux through your Sworn account. Same categories you chose on your phone, same personal block list, same partner. Blocked attempts count toward the same tally your partner already sees; the Chromebook is never named in an email.

The Sworn app on the Chromebook stays on its Turn on Sworn screen. It's waiting for Android's Private DNS setting, which ChromeOS doesn't have, so it never reports the filter as on. The ChromeOS setting above is what filters; the app's job here is to link the Chromebook to your subscription and show you the address. Manage categories and partners from your phone, as usual.

Turning it off is one click in the same setting, and it isn't secret: the Chromebook goes quiet on Sworn's side, and your partner's silence-detection treats that like any other quiet stretch. With a custom provider, Chrome won't quietly fall back to an unfiltered lookup if Sworn can't be reached; you see a can't-be-reached page instead, which is the honest failure.

Worth knowing

Where it stops.

Guest mode and other accounts. The setting belongs to the Google account that's signed in. Guest mode and any other account on the Chromebook go around it. The owner account can turn off Guest browsing and turn on Limit who can sign in under Settings → Privacy and security → Manage other people. Do that before you rely on it.

An Android VPN app may take over. A VPN from Google Play that brings its own lookups can go around Sworn while it's connected, the same as on a phone. Your partner's silence-detection treats that like any other quiet stretch.

If you pay through the App Store. The Chromebook's Google Play app can't join an App Store subscription yet, so it comes up as a free device with no partner. That's on our list; tell us and it moves up.

Older Chromebooks. This needs a Chromebook that runs Android apps on Android 11 or newer, which is most of those sold since 2020. Google Play tells you when it opens if yours doesn't. ChromeOS Flex on a PC doesn't run Android apps at all.

Other computers

Windows, Mac and Linux.

Sworn for Windows is a signed installer with the same design in the system tray. Sworn for Mac is a Mac App Store app. Sworn for Linux installs with one line. All three pair with a code from your phone. Sworn for Chromebook is the newest; if something's off, tell us. The message is read by the person who wrote it.