FamilyTracking
Premium feature

The internet, with guardrails that fit their age

Web filtering blocks adult content and the categories your family chooses on kids' devices, using age-based presets you can tune. It's a guardrail for accidents and impulses — and we'll be honest about what filtering can and can't do.

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How filtering works

Filtering runs at the network level on the managed device, checking requested sites against continuously updated category lists — adult content, gambling, violence and gore, and others you select. Blocked pages show a clear, child-appropriate explanation rather than a scary error, with a button to request access if they think the block is wrong.

Age presets do the heavy lifting: 'Under 9', '9–12' and 'Teen' bundle sensible defaults, and every category is individually adjustable from there. Adult content is on in every preset; the rest is your family's call.

Site requested Checked against categories Allowed, or explained
Blocked pages explain themselves — and carry a request button, not a dead end.

Misblocks happen — handle them gracefully

No category list is perfect: a health-class topic or a news article can land on the wrong side of a filter. That's why the request button exists. The child taps 'I think this should be allowed', the request lands on a parent's phone with the page context, and one tap whitelists it.

Over a few weeks the filter molds to your family. The goal is a system kids experience as occasionally overcautious but basically fair — because a filter perceived as broken or arbitrary just teaches workaround skills.

What filtering honestly can't do

Plain talk: web filtering covers browsers on the managed device. It does not see inside apps — content inside a social or video app is governed by that app's own controls, not ours. It can't filter a friend's unmanaged phone, the content kids encounter there, or the open Wi-Fi tablet at a sleepover. And a motivated 16-year-old will eventually meet the concept of a workaround.

Filtering is strongest as accident-prevention for younger kids — the misclick, the autocomplete surprise, the curiosity rabbit hole — and as friction, not wall, for older ones. The durable protection is the ongoing conversation; the filter buys you the years to have it.

Set it up together

Like every FamilyTracking feature, filtering is visible on the child's device: which preset is active, which categories are blocked. We recommend choosing the preset with the child where age allows — 'here's what's blocked and why' lands very differently from a silent wall. Review the blocked-request log together monthly; it's a surprisingly good map of what they're curious about, which is exactly what a parent most wants to know. Pair with app usage reports for the in-app side of the picture.

Where the guardrail matters

  • The misclick years. Ages 6–10, where every block is an accident prevented, not a battle fought.
  • The autocomplete surprise. Innocent searches with un-innocent results — the filter's bread and butter.
  • Homework machines. A study-hours preset keeps the research browser a research browser.
  • The gambling-adjacent web. Loot-box and betting ecosystems aimed straight at teens, categorically off.
  • The shared family tablet. One device, per-profile filtering, no awkward history surprises.

Stronger together: pairings worth enabling

No FamilyTracking feature lives alone — this one gets noticeably better next to the right neighbors:

  • App usage reports. Filtering can't see inside apps — but usage reports show which apps get the time, completing the picture honestly.
  • Screen time monitoring. Study-hours presets and downtime schedules share one settings surface, so the homework browser stays a homework browser.
  • Private family Circles. Filtering applies to managed child devices within your Circle — the Circles page explains the administration model.

The bottom line

Filtering is the feature we most insist on underselling: it's a guardrail for accidents and impulses, strongest for the misclick years, honest about not seeing inside apps, and beatable — eventually — by any sufficiently motivated teenager. Deployed with those expectations, it's excellent: age presets in two minutes, graceful misblock handling, and a blocked-request log that doubles as a map of your child's curiosity. Deployed as a wall to hide behind, it disappoints everyone. Choose the preset together, review the log monthly, and keep the conversation as the load-bearing structure. Revisit the preset each birthday; a filter that loosens visibly as a kid matures teaches the lesson the blocking never could — that trust is a thing you earn upward.

How to get web filtering on your phone

  1. Install FamilyTracking free from Google Play (Android 8.0+) or the App Store (iOS 14+).
  2. Create a Circle and invite your family with the code the app gives you.
  3. Upgrade to Premium, then on the managed device choose a preset under Settings → Family → Web filtering — together, ideally.

Full walkthrough with screenshots: download & setup guide.

Google Play App Store

FAQ

Web filtering — your questions answered

What does web filtering block?

Sites in the categories you choose — adult content always, plus selections like gambling, violence and gore — using continuously updated lists and age-based presets you can tune per child.

Does it filter inside apps like social or video platforms?

No, and we say so plainly: filtering covers web browsing on the managed device. In-app content is governed by each app's own controls. App usage reports tell you which apps are getting the time.

What does my child see on a blocked page?

A clear, age-appropriate explanation — not a scary error — with a button to request access if they believe the block is wrong. Requests land on a parent's phone for one-tap decisions.

What if it blocks something legitimate?

It occasionally will — health topics and news are classic misblocks. The request flow whitelists in one tap, and the filter fits your family better every week.

Can my teen bypass it?

Eventually, a motivated one can — that's true of every filter ever made, and vendors who claim otherwise are selling you something. Treat filtering as friction plus a signal, with conversation as the durable layer.

Is the filtering visible to my child?

Yes: the active preset and blocked categories are shown on their device. We recommend choosing the preset together — fairness is what keeps the system respected.

Does it work on Android and iPhone?

Yes, on managed child devices on both platforms, with the same presets and request flow.

Does filtering slow browsing down?

Imperceptibly — category checks add a few milliseconds. There's no proxying of page content through our servers.

Can I see what was blocked?

A blocked-request log is available to parents and visible to the child. Reviewed together occasionally, it's less a disciplinary record than a map of curiosity.

Is web filtering free?

It's part of Premium's digital-wellbeing bundle alongside screen time and app usage reports — all included in the 7-day trial.

Does filtering work on cellular data or only Wi-Fi?

Both — protection runs on the device itself, so it travels with the phone across any network, including the school's and a friend's house's.

Can different kids have different presets?

Yes, entirely per-device: the 8-year-old's 'Under 9' preset and the 14-year-old's 'Teen' preset coexist in one family with separate request flows.

Guardrails now, judgment later

Web filtering ships with Premium. Pick the preset together tonight.

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