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Up to Discussions in iPhone
5 Replies Last post: Nov 19, 2008 6:55 PM by Jon Seff  
Click to view mittens79's profile New Member
mittens79
1 posts since
Jul 4, 2007
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Jul 4, 2007 6:03 PM

block adult content on iphone?

I want to get an iphone. But since my kids are likely to want to play with it, I need to be able to block adult and other inappropriate content on safari. Is this possible? Does iphone's safari have parental controls as it does on mac computers?

Any info you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

-mjr
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Click to view griffman's profile Macworld Editorial
griffman
8,525 posts since
Jan 9, 2001
1. Jul 4, 2007 6:46 PM in response to: mittens79
Re: block adult content on iphone?
There are no parental controls on the iPhone. I think the assumption is that it will be used by adults. You might be able to use an online service that works as a gateway -- ie you visit sites through their page, not directly. But I can't think of any way you could prevent someone from typing whatever URL they wanted into Safari's URL bar -- there's no "hosts" file you can get at, and there aren't any prefs that would let you input a proxy URL.

-rob.

Collecting email for a Macworld project: ineedalearjet@gmail.com
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Click to view cedricstudio's profile New Member
cedricstudio
7 posts since
Mar 3, 2006
2. Jul 5, 2007 1:02 AM in response to: griffman
Re: block adult content on iphone?
Lack of internet filtering is a sticking point for me as well. So far I have contacted two filtering companies (Intego and Covenant Eyes), and neither has anything for the iPhone. I'm told AT&T offers some optional filtering on the Edge network (via the Parental Controls which you access by logging into their website), but I have no idea how good it is, and the AT&T sales rep told me you can't edit or customize it, i.e. you can't block a specific site for example. Also, I would assume the Parental Controls would be cancelled out whenever the phone jumps to wi-fi.

Has anyone heard if there are any such 3rd party apps in development? Thanks.
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Click to view d00d's profile Macworld Editorial
d00d
12,140 posts since
Apr 24, 2001
3. Jul 5, 2007 10:09 AM in response to: cedricstudio
Re: block adult content on iphone?
Quote:<hr />
Has anyone heard if there are any such 3rd party apps in development? Thanks.

<hr />
As the only third party development available to the iPhone is through your browser (by going to websites), no. That type of third party development isn't possible.
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Click to view aswamin's profile New Member
aswamin
1 posts since
Nov 19, 2008
4. Nov 19, 2008 9:50 AM in response to: d00d
Re: block adult content on iphone?
Our company, Mobicip.com, currently has a content filtering solution for the iPhone in private beta. The solution we are currently testing is free, but we are intending to offer a premium version with more robust features in the near future in addition to our free version.

You can learn more at http://www.mobicip.com. You can also participate in the beta test by signing up at our website. We hope to be available on the App Store in the very near future.
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Click to view Jon Seff's profile Macworld Editorial
Jon Seff
1,007 posts since
Dec 13, 2000
5. Nov 19, 2008 6:55 PM in response to: mittens79
Re: block adult content on iphone?
While the iPhone doesn't have the same level of parental controls as OS X, it does offer a Restrictions feature (Settings > General > Restrictions). What you can do is turn off Safari usage for those times you don't want your kids to find anything—Chris Breen explains how it works in a recent Playlist entry.

Jon Seff - Senior News Editor, Macworld
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