How does a parental control app with DNS work?
Every site and app starts with a DNS lookup, where the phone asks where to go. EZOBLOCKER sends those lookups, encrypted, to our servers, which compare them with the categories you switched on. A blocked address doesn't load. Because the decision happens on our servers, before the page loads, it works the same in browsers and apps.
Only the lookups come to us. Pages, videos and messages load directly. That also means EZOBLOCKER can't read your child's messages, and it doesn't claim to.
How do I set up parental control on my child's phone?
- Install EZOBLOCKER on the child's phone from the App Store or Google Play.
- Switch on the categories you want. Adult content and gambling are off until you turn them on.
- Open Family lock and choose a 6-digit PIN. Confirm it by entering it a second time.
- Optionally turn on Also block bypass tools.
- Choose what happens if filtering can't work (see below).
- On Android, follow the one extra step: open the phone's VPN settings and turn on Always-on VPN. Leave "Block connections without VPN" off, because the internet stops working while it is on.
Which categories help on a child's phone?
- Adult content: explicit sites. See Block adult content.
- Gambling: betting and casino sites. See Block gambling sites.
- Social media: the sites of social networks. Messaging isn't blocked, so chats keep working.
- Bypass tools: VPNs and similar tools that get around protection.
- Dating: dating sites and apps.
- Piracy: illegal streaming and torrent sites.
- Security: harmful and fake sites, meant to stay on.
Each one is a separate switch, and each category's lists are open and listed on the blocklists page.
What happens if our servers can't be reached?
The parent chooses, in the Family lock setup:
- Continue with the basic filter (recommended). The internet keeps working, adult content and harmful sites stay blocked, and ads and the other categories you chose aren't blocked during that time.
- Cut off the internet. The strictest option. The internet doesn't work until our servers are back, for 12 hours at most, then the phone continues with the basic filter.
- Continue without filtering. The internet keeps working, but nothing is blocked during that time.
Say these out loud to yourself before you pick: the first and third options leave a way to a looser filter if someone blocks the connection to our servers. The second closes that gap.
What can I pause or change later?
Inside the app, once the PIN is entered, the parent can pause protection for 5 minutes, 30 minutes or 1 hour, turn it off, and change categories. Pause is useful for hotel or cafe Wi-Fi login pages that don't open while a filter is on.
While Family lock is on, only EZOBLOCKER is used as the DNS provider, so the provider can't be swapped to switch filtering off. On Android, Apps outside the filter lets you leave chosen apps out of the filter. That option exists on Android only, and apps you leave out can show ads and blocked sites. Set it up knowingly, and only with the parent's PIN.
What can a child still do?
Be straightforward about the gaps, because they decide how much to rely on a tool:
- On iPhone, the VPN or the Connect On Demand switch can be turned off in Settings, and deleting the app removes protection. Screen Time can stop the app from being deleted.
- Deleting the app removes the lock. A forgotten PIN can't be recovered. Deleting and reinstalling removes it.
- Apps with their own encrypted DNS or fixed IP addresses can skip a DNS filter. Bypass tools helps against well-known providers.
- Allowed feeds in social media stay allowed. DNS blocks addresses, not posts.
The limits page lists these in plain terms. A filter works best alongside a conversation about what your child may run into.
Is this a monitoring app?
No. The Blocked screen shows what was stopped on that phone, stored only there, with a retention you choose: off, 24 hours or 7 days. Our server knows an anonymous device ID, the categories chosen, My list addresses and subscription status. Read the privacy page for details. Family lock is managed on the phone itself, with the parent's PIN.
How do I check the setup works?
Open the protection check on the child's phone. It tries a normal address and one address per category, so you see which categories are blocking on that connection.