Guide
Block porn on
your Android.
Android doesn't have a single built-in adult-website filter the way an iPhone does. The options that actually exist include Private DNS, Family Link, and a no-VPN accountability app. Here's the honest trade-off of each.
Free malware and ad/tracker blocking, always. Pornography and other categories, plus partner alerts: 7-day free trial, then $7/month.
Option 1 · Built in
Android's built-in tools.
First, the honest part. Unlike an iPhone's single “Limit Adult Websites” switch, Android has no built-in adult-website filter that covers the whole phone. What you do have are a couple of tools that cover part of the problem.
-
A
Google Family Link
Full parental controls, covering SafeSearch, app approval, screen time, and website blocking in Chrome. It's genuinely good for a young child. But it's designed for a parent managing a child's Google account, and it centers on Chrome and Google's ecosystem. So a determined user can switch to another browser or work around it. Weak fit for an adult managing their own phone.
-
B
Digital Wellbeing
App timers and Focus mode. It can make an app inconvenient to open, but it does no content filtering at all. It won't block a single adult website.
None of the built-in tools blocks adult sites across the whole phone, and none of them tells anyone if the filter gets switched off. That's the common gap.
Option 2 · System-wide
Private DNS.
Android has one system-wide lever that can filter: Private DNS. Every app looks up website addresses through a service called DNS, and Android lets you point that lookup at a filtering provider. Known adult sites then stop resolving in every app, not just one browser. It's not a VPN, so banking, Maps and everything else keep working.
- Open Settings and go to Network & internet. On some phones it's under Connections. The wording varies slightly by manufacturer.
- Tap Private DNS. You'll usually find it near the bottom of the Network & internet screen.
- Choose “Private DNS provider hostname” and enter a filtering DNS host. Save it, and the filter applies system-wide right away.
The honest limits: a DNS filter blocks domains from a list, so it can miss brand-new sites and it isn't a hardware lock. And a Private DNS host you set for yourself has no accountability — you can return to this same screen and change it back, and no one is told. That missing piece is what Option 3 adds.
Option 3 · With accountability
An accountability filter (Sworn).
That same Private DNS lever is how Sworn works on Android. What it adds is the missing piece: someone you trust is told if you turn it off. It isn't the only answer, but it's an honest one. Here's how it goes together.
- Install Sworn and pick pornography. Add gambling, social media, online shopping, gaming, or VPN/proxy too if you want. Malware blocking is free forever; the paid categories and partner alerts come with a 7-day free trial, then $7/month.
- Turn on the one setting. 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 management (MDM) profile, no browser extension. Blocked sites then stop loading across every app.
- (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, 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, and partners see a number, never a site. Cancel in two taps in Google Play.
Which should I pick?
Which one is right for you?
For a young child, Google Family Link may be all you need — a parent runs it, and the child can't easily undo it. For an adult trying to quit their own habit, every native lever is on a screen you control, so the technical block was never the hard part. The missing piece is accountability: someone told the moment you turn the filter off. That's the one thing none of Android's native options do, and it's the whole reason an accountability filter exists.
Every app, not just Chrome —
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.