Guide
Block gambling
on your phone.
Between the sportsbook apps and the endless casino sites, there's no single switch that turns gambling off. Here are the options that actually exist, with the honest trade-off of each: your phone's built-in restrictions, a system-wide filter that needs no VPN, and a filter with accountability built in.
Free malware and ad blocking, always. Gambling and other categories, plus partner alerts: 7-day free trial, then $7/month.
Option 1 · Your phone's built-in tools
What's already on the phone.
Neither iPhone nor Android has a dedicated “block gambling” switch. But both have built-in restrictions that cover part of the problem, for free. Here's what each one honestly does, and where it stops.
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A
iPhone — Screen Time
Go to Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions (switch it on), then Content Restrictions → Web Content and choose Limit Adult Websites. That setting is built for adult content, but it also limits some gambling sites. Coverage is inconsistent and leans toward Safari. On the same screen you can add specific betting sites under Never Allow. Screen Time can also stop new apps being installed. The honest limit is that it's held only by a Screen Time passcode, so if you hold that passcode yourself, you can switch the whole thing off in seconds, and no one is told.
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B
Android — Private DNS & Family Link
Android has no single native gambling filter. Its system-wide lever is Settings → Network & internet → Private DNS, which points every app's address lookups at a filtering service so gambling domains stop resolving across the whole phone. If you're setting this up for a child, Google Family Link can block specific sites and apps on their account. There's an honest limit. A Private DNS host you set for yourself sits on a Settings screen you control, so you can change it back, and no one is told.
None of the built-in tools blocks gambling completely, and none of them tells anyone if the filter gets switched off. For a child whose parent holds the controls that can be enough; for an adult trying to stop their own habit, the off-switch is in your own pocket.
Option 2 · System-wide, no VPN
A filtering DNS.
Every app on your phone looks up website addresses through a service called DNS. Point that lookup at a filtering DNS and known gambling sites simply stop resolving — in Safari, Chrome, in-app browsers, and everywhere else. It's not a VPN and nothing runs in the background, so banking apps, Maps and the rest keep working normally. On iPhone it's set up with a small DNS configuration profile; on Android it's the Private DNS field.
One honest thing is worth being clear about. The sportsbook and casino apps are usually installed native apps, not just websites. A DNS filter doesn't uninstall them — it blocks the domains those apps call home to. In practice that means live odds, log-ins and deposits stop connecting, so most gambling apps can't function, but the app icon is still on the phone.
A DNS filter blocks domains from a list, so it can miss brand-new sites, and it isn't a hardware lock. And a plain DNS filter you set for yourself has no accountability — you can open Settings, change it back, and no one is told. That missing piece is exactly what Option 3 adds.
Option 3 · With accountability
An accountability filter (Sworn).
Sworn is one honest option in this category. It's a system-wide DNS filter with the missing piece built in: someone you trust is told if you turn it off. It works the same way on iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, Linux and Chromebook. It's not the only answer, but if accountability is what you've been missing, here's how it goes together.
- Install Sworn and switch on the Gambling category. Add pornography, social media, online shopping, gaming, or VPN/proxy too if you want. Malware and ad blocking are free forever. Gambling is one of the paid categories, and those plus partner alerts come with a 7-day free trial, then $7/month (about $84 a year).
- Turn on the one setting. On iPhone, Sworn asks iOS to add its DNS setting (one Allow tap), then walks you to the one Settings screen where you pick it. On Android, Sworn gives you an address to paste into Android's Private DNS setting and opens that screen for you. It takes about three minutes. No VPN, no management (MDM) profile, no browser extension. Blocked gambling sites and betting apps then stop connecting across every app, covering known sites and the domains betting apps rely on, from lists refreshed weekly.
- (Optional) Add an accountability partner. They get an invite to confirm, and at most one reminder. After that they only ever see a count of blocked attempts and the category, never a URL and never your history, plus a note if you remove a blocked category, and an email if you turn the filter off or it goes quiet (uninstall, disable, or phone offline).
No VPN, so banking, Maps and other apps keep working. System-wide, so it's every app and not one browser. No screenshots, and no log of the sites you visit. Blocked attempts are kept only as short-lived tallies that power your own in-app view and expire after 7 days. Cancel in two taps. Now the honest gap: Sworn can't see queries a browser like Brave or Firefox sends through its own encrypted DNS.
Which should I pick?
Which one is right for you?
The native tools are a fine free start. For a young child, a parent-held Screen Time passcode or Family Link may be all you need. For an adult trying to stop their own gambling, every native lever sits on a screen you control, so the technical block was never really the hard part. The missing piece is accountability: someone told the moment you turn the filter off. A determined person can still find a workaround — a different browser, a different network. So none of this makes gambling impossible. What it does is make sure you're not on your own in the hard moment, with someone you trust already there, without you having to raise your hand and ask. For a lot of people, the difference is not being alone.
Every app, not one browser —
with someone in your corner.
Free to start. About three minutes to set up.
On a computer too? Set up the phone first, then add Windows, Mac, Linux or Chromebook to the same account.
Struggling with gambling? In the US, the National Problem Gambling Helpline is 1-800-GAMBLER — free, confidential, and available 24/7. Sworn is a filter, not treatment.