HACKER Q&A
📣 jononomo

Why can't Apple Screen Time block certain websites?


All I want to do is block lichess.org.

In the settings in my MacBook I can go to content restrictions and put "lichess.org" on the restricted list. But I can still access the website from Brave browser?

How difficult can it be for Apple to just maintain a list of domains that the laptop is not allowed to access? The restriction appears to work from Safari, but not from Brave. (Actually sometimes it works on Brave and sometimes it doesn't -- it depends on which WiFi location I'm at, but I can't figure out the pattern.)

It seems that Apple could just adjust the /etc/hosts file, or some equivalent. Why is this such a difficult problem for Apple to solve?

It is ridiculous for a user to be able to get around the Screen Time restrictions just by changing the browser they are using.

And yes, I know I should just have more self control and not play chess -- I'm consulting other forums about that. For the HN forum I just want to understand what makes this problem so technically difficult for a company as big and technologically advanced as Apple.


  👤 anshumankmr Accepted Answer ✓
Checkout one sec. It has website blocking. One sec works with Safari https://apps.apple.com/in/app/one-sec-screen-time-focus/id15...