How to block porn on iPhone with Screen Time
iPhone has a built-in adult-website filter: in iOS 26, open Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions, turn it on, then tap App Store, Media, Web, & Games → Web Content → Limit Adult Websites. To make it harder to switch off on impulse, let someone you trust set the Screen Time passcode, and pair the filter with a plan for the urges it cannot touch.
Below: the exact steps, how to lock them, what they miss, a seven-part checklist and where Ballast fits. The steps are free and need no app. This is practical guidance, not medical advice.
1. Turn on Limit Adult Websites
These are the steps in Apple's iPhone User Guide for iOS 26:
- Open the Settings app and tap Screen Time.
- Tap Content & Privacy Restrictions, then turn on Content & Privacy Restrictions.
- Tap App Store, Media, Web, & Games, then Web Content.
- Choose Limit Adult Websites.
- To block a particular site the filter lets through, tap Add Website under Never Allow and enter its address.
On iOS 27, Apple reorganised Screen Time. Its iOS 27 page on blocking content with Screen Time no longer describes the web filter for your own iPhone (checked 4 November 2026). For a child's device, Apple's parental controls article now places it under Apps & Websites → Restrictions → Filtering. If your menus look different, look inside Screen Time for Web Content or Filtering; menu names move between iOS versions.
2. Let someone else keep the passcode
A setting you can lift in ten seconds tends to get lifted. Apple's Screen Time passcode guide says to go to Settings → Screen Time, scroll down and tap Lock Screen Time Settings, then enter a four-digit passcode twice.
- Hand the phone to a person you trust and let them type a passcode you never see.
- iOS then offers Screen Time Passcode Recovery, which lets an Apple Account reset the passcode. If that is your own account, you can reset the lock yourself, so decide this part together.
- This step is optional. If involving someone feels like too much right now, the rest still helps.
3. What the filter does not do
- It is a website setting. Apple's guide describes restricting websites and says nothing about what other apps show in their own feeds. For those apps, the levers are their own settings, logging out, or removing them.
- No automatic list is complete. It can miss a site or block a harmless one. The Never Allow list covers specific sites you already know about.
- Check each device. A filter on your iPhone does nothing for a computer it does not reach, so check the setting on everything you use.
- It does nothing about the urge. A filter adds a pause. What you do with that pause is a separate skill.
4. A seven-part setup checklist
A filter works best as one of several small changes. This is the list Ballast uses in its friction checklist, with the app's own rough time estimates. Each job is independent; do them in any order.
| Job | Where | Time | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Limit adult websites | Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions | 5 min | An automatic website filter |
| Give the passcode away | Screen Time → Lock Screen Time Settings | 5 min | Turning it off means asking someone |
| Log out of the easiest ways in | Each site or app; delete saved passwords | 10 min | Typing a password turns a reflex into a decision |
| Charger out of the bedroom | Kitchen or hallway | 2 min | No phone within reach of the bed |
| Notification curfew | Settings → Focus → Sleep | 10 min | Fewer late-night reasons to pick it up |
| Clear page one of the Home Screen | Move browsers and feeds to a later page | 10 min | Idle unlocks have fewer places to go |
| Grayscale switch | Accessibility → Display & Text Size → Color Filters | 5 min | A duller screen at night, via triple-click |
For the grayscale switch, also add Color Filters under Accessibility → Accessibility Shortcut, so a triple-click of the side button turns it on and off.
5. Where Ballast fits
Everything above is free and built into iOS, and it may be all you want. Ballast 1.0.1 doesn't include a filter yet. It helps with the part a filter can't reach, the urge itself. It is one option, and I make it, so weigh this section accordingly.
- The urge flow (free). Four steps: guided breathing, your own reasons, a timed urge-surfing exercise with your if-then plan beside it, then a short check-in. You can write a plan in your browser first.
- Friction checklist (free). In the More tab. It walks you through the seven jobs above with numbered steps.
- If it happens anyway. Log a slip and Ballast offers a few small things for the next hour. A slip is information you can plan with, and the setup you did stays in place. More on the hours after a slip.
The limit on all of this: a phone's owner can undo Screen Time settings. No App Store app can stop a determined owner. These steps add friction, not walls.
Your entries stay on your iPhone and no account is needed. The privacy policy has the details.
When to look for more help
Ballast is a self-tracking and educational tool, not treatment. None of these is a diagnosis, but any one is a fair reason to book a conversation: you've tried to cut back several times and it keeps coming back; it's eating into sleep, work or time with people; it has become the main way you deal with stress or low mood; or you feel low or anxious most days.
- A therapist. Look for someone who works with CBT or ACT and is comfortable talking about sex.
- Your GP or family doctor. A good first stop if you're unsure. They can check what else might be going on and refer you on.
- SMART Recovery. Free peer meetings, online and in person, built on practical CBT-style tools.
- SAA. A twelve-step fellowship with free meetings in many countries and online.
If things feel very dark: if you are having thoughts of harming yourself, contact your local emergency services or a crisis line now. In the US, call or text 988. Elsewhere, findahelpline.com lists free lines by country.
Questions
Can I block porn on iPhone without installing an app?
Yes. Screen Time is built into iOS. In iOS 26, go to Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions, turn it on, then choose App Store, Media, Web, & Games → Web Content → Limit Adult Websites.
Is the Screen Time filter enough on its own?
It is a useful first step, but it is a speed bump rather than a wall. It filters websites, anyone with the passcode can switch it off, and it does nothing about the urge itself. A passcode someone else keeps, a few changes to your routine and a plan for hard moments cover more of the gaps.
Does Ballast block websites?
Not in the current version. Ballast 1.0.1 doesn't include a filter yet. Its free friction checklist walks you through the Screen Time steps above, which need no app.
Is Ballast free?
The full urge flow, slip support and the friction checklist are free, with no account. Ballast Pro adds insights, the rest of the course and library, full history, extra habits and plans, and a weekly review.