Sworn

Guide

Block porn on
your Chromebook.

ChromeOS has parental controls for a child's account and one setting that can filter the whole Chromebook. On a Chromebook you use yourself, that setting is the real lever, and an accountability filter is what makes it stick. Here's the honest trade-off of each.

Jump to the steps Sworn for Chromebook

Free malware and ad/tracker blocking, always. Pornography and other categories, plus partner alerts: 7-day free trial, then $7/month for your phone and your computers together.

Option 1 · Built in

What ChromeOS gives you.

The built-in controls on a Chromebook are designed for a parent supervising a child's Google account. They're real, but they're a different shape from filtering a Chromebook you use yourself.

  1. A

    Google Family Link

    A parent supervises a child's Google account: website limits in Chrome, app approval and screen time. It's genuinely good for a young child. For an adult it doesn't apply, because you'd be the parent and the child at once.

  2. B

    SafeSearch

    Filters explicit results out of Google Search. Useful, but it covers search results and nothing else: a site typed straight into the address bar, or opened from another app, isn't affected.

The common gap is that neither covers every app on the Chromebook, and neither tells anyone if it comes off.

Option 2 · System-wide

The secure DNS setting.

ChromeOS has one setting that reaches the whole Chromebook. Every app looks up website addresses through a service called DNS, and ChromeOS lets you choose who answers: Chrome, Android apps and the Linux container all follow it. Point it at a filtering provider and known adult sites stop resolving everywhere.

  1. Open Settings. Click the clock, then the gear.
  2. Choose Privacy and security. Turn on Use secure connections to look up sites.
  3. Pick a provider. In the menu under it, choose Add custom DNS service provider and enter the filtering provider's address.

The honest limits. A DNS filter blocks domains from a list, so it can miss a brand-new site. The setting belongs to the account that's signed in, so Guest mode and other accounts go around it. An Android VPN app that brings its own lookups can go around it while it's connected. And a setting you chose for yourself has no accountability: the same screen switches it off, and nobody is told. That missing piece is what Option 3 adds.

Option 3 · With accountability

An accountability filter (Sworn).

Sworn for Chromebook uses that same setting. There's no separate installer: the Sworn app from Google Play joins your account and hands you the address to paste. What it adds is the missing piece: the app keeps checking that lookups still go through your account, and someone you trust is told if the setting is switched off. It's one option among several, and the others above work too.

  1. Install Sworn on the Chromebook from Google Play. Sign in with the Google account that pays for Sworn, open it and tap through the welcome screen. It joins your account and copies your categories and partner across. If you pay through the App Store, or the Chromebook uses a different Google account, tap Join with a code from your phone instead and use the code from Settings → Add a computer in Sworn on your phone.
  2. Copy the address. The app knows it's on a Chromebook and shows the address ChromeOS needs. Tap Copy.
  3. Paste it into ChromeOS. Settings → Privacy and security, turn on Use secure connections to look up sites, choose Add custom DNS service provider and paste.
  4. Let the app check. Back in Sworn, the screen changes to Sworn is on by itself once ChromeOS starts using the address. If it says the address isn't quite right, copy and paste again: the app's check is the one that counts.
  5. (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, plus a note if you unblock a category and an email if the filter is switched off or goes quiet. Never a URL, never your history, never a device's name.

Get Sworn on Google Play How it works on a Chromebook

Chromebooks with Google Play, on Android 11 or newer · most models sold since 2020.

Before you rely on it, the owner account should turn off Guest browsing and turn on Limit who can sign in, under Settings → Privacy and security → Manage other people. A Chromebook a school or employer manages usually has this setting locked; check with whoever runs it. 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 a partner sees a number and a category, never a site.

Which should I pick?

Which one is right for you?

A child's Chromebook? Family Link is built for exactly that: a parent runs it, and the child can't lift it. Your own Chromebook? The secure DNS setting does the filtering either way, and you can switch it off from the same screen. The missing piece is accountability: someone told the moment it comes off, which is the whole reason an accountability filter exists.

The same account covers your phone and your Windows, Mac or Linux computer too.

Every app on the Chromebook,
and someone in your corner.

One app, one setting, a few minutes.

Download on the App Store Get it on Google Play

On the Chromebook itself, Sworn comes from Google Play.