Guide
Block apps with
Advanced Protection on.
Advanced Protection is one of the best security settings on a newer Android phone, and there is a lot of malware out there. It also stops most app blockers on Android, Sworn included, from closing the apps you picked. Your websites stay blocked either way. Here's what still works for apps, honestly ranked.
What changed
Why app blockers stop working.
To close a blocked app, a blocker has to know which app is on screen. On Android, most blockers find that out through the Accessibility settings, the same place screen readers use. A lot of malware abuses Accessibility to read what's on screen, so Advanced Protection lets only verified accessibility tools, like screen readers and voice control, use it. App blockers aren't on that list. With Advanced Protection on, Android switches the permission off for Sworn and for other blockers, and won't let you switch it back on.
This isn't something Sworn or any other blocker can fix. Google built it into Android on purpose, and Freedom and AppBlock have published the same notice for their apps. An app that calls itself an accessibility tool to get around the rule would be misleading you and Google.
The rest of Sworn doesn't use Accessibility, so it keeps working. The filter still blocks the categories you picked in your browsers and apps, and your accountability partner is still told if the filter is turned off or goes quiet.
The solid way
Keep Advanced Protection on, and block apps with Google Family Link.
Family Link is Google's own app for supervising a Google account. It's intended for a child's phone, and most of its screens talk about a parent and a child. Even so, it's the only solid way we know of on Android to block apps without an easy way around it. It doesn't rely on Accessibility, so Advanced Protection leaves it alone, and the blocks are set from someone else's phone, so you can't simply undo them from yours.
- The person you trust installs Google Family Link. It's free on Google Play and the App Store. They need their own Google account.
- Add supervision to your account. Google walks you both through it, and it needs your phone and theirs side by side. Follow Google's steps for supervising an existing account.
- They block the apps. In Family Link they pick your name, then Controls, then App limits, choose the app and tap Block. It closes on your phone within a few minutes. Google explains this in Get started with Family Link.
- Keep Sworn on for websites. Family Link's own website filter only covers Chrome. Sworn's filter covers every browser and app that uses the phone's Private DNS setting, and tells your partner if it's turned off.
Because Google built Family Link for families, its help pages only describe supervising children and teens, and Google may not offer supervision on every account. If it won't let you add it, use the quick way below. When supervision is stopped, Google tells the supervisor and locks the phone for a while.
The quick way
Turn off Device protection, and use Sworn's app blocking.
The Accessibility limit comes from one switch inside Advanced Protection called Device protection. With it off, Sworn and other blockers can close blocked apps again. This is what Freedom and AppBlock recommend too.
- Open Settings, then Security and privacy. Tap Advanced Protection. If you can't find it, type “Advanced Protection” into the search bar at the top of Settings.
- Turn off Device protection. Your phone asks for your PIN or fingerprint to confirm.
- Open Sworn and turn on app blocking again. Sworn's home screen shows “App blocking is off”. Tap it and switch Sworn on in Accessibility settings.
The catch: it only lasts while Device protection stays off. Turning it back on, on purpose or in a weak moment, makes Android take Accessibility away from Sworn again, and app blocking stops. Sworn's home screen will say so, and your websites stay blocked, but it's an easy way around app blocking. That's why Family Link is the solid way.
Device protection also blocks apps from outside Google Play and keeps Google Play Protect switched on, along with other protections. Google lists them in its Advanced Protection help page.
Common questions
Which way should I pick?
If you want app blocks that hold, and you have someone you trust who'll manage them, use Family Link with Sworn. If Family Link isn't an option for you, turning off Device protection works, as long as you know how easily it can be undone.
Are my websites still blocked with Advanced Protection on?
Yes. Sworn's website filter uses Android's Private DNS setting and never needed Accessibility. Only the closing of blocked apps depends on it.
Is another app blocker better at this?
Not in the way that matters. Most Android app blockers rely on Accessibility the way Sworn does, so they run into the same rule. A few spot apps another way, but any blocker that lives only on your phone can be switched off from your phone. Family Link's blocks are set from someone else's phone, and Advanced Protection trusts it because it's part of Google's own supervision.
Setting up Sworn on Android for the first time? Start with how to block porn on Android. Brand names belong to their owners, and we have no relationship with Google, Freedom or AppBlock.
Every app on your phone,
and someone in your corner.
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