Limiting internet access on child's iPad

January 5, 2019 10:31 AM

Is there a way to block access to the Internet on an iPad with the exception of a specific app?

Our five-year-old likes to move along to the videos on the GoNoodle website. He has an iPad he's allowed to use for brief periods each day and we put the GoNoodle app on it, but it won't work because we've turned off the wi-fi on the iPad. We don't want to open up all of the Internet to him--just the videos accessed through the GoNoodle app.

I tried to use the website whitelist, but this opens up access to other apps, as well.

Are there any (relatively simple) solutions? This is an old iPad Mini (first generation), so it is only running iOS 9.

posted by synecdoche to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

When my kids were young I used OpenDNS to limit what was accessible. Not sure if it would work to allow just one site.
posted by tman99 at 10:46 AM on January 5, 2019

You can use guided access to lock the home button so he can't exit the app. Guided access can be set up in settings -> accessibility. Then open the app for him, triple click and guided access should activate. You can select what features you want to disable in the options section right after you triple click.
posted by hibbersk at 10:48 AM on January 5, 2019 [7 favorites]

Another option is to see if you can lock that specific device down at your router by its WiFi address (MAC address). If you can select that device on your router and put it in an “everything blocked except what I choose” mode then no matter which app is launched, things will be blocked. Maybe this in conjunction with Guided Access mode for more peace of mind.
posted by inviolable at 10:55 AM on January 5, 2019

Upgrade to iOS 12, if you’re not on it already. Enable “Screen Time” in settings, and then tell it to disable all apps under “App Limits”, but then set Go Noodle as “Always Allowed”. I think that should do it.
posted by misterbrandt at 2:57 PM on January 5, 2019 [2 favorites]

Upgrade to iOS 12

A first gen iPad mini can't run iOS 12.
posted by donnagirl at 4:26 AM on January 7, 2019

Oh man, my bad. I totally glossed over the iOS 9 bit!
posted by misterbrandt at 11:11 AM on January 7, 2019

Oops I realized tonight, when I was setting up my kid's iPad for his evening app time, that I got it a little wrong in my reply above. Guided access deactivates the home button by default so you there isn't an option to specifically set that up. You dont need to do anything once you triple click, unless there's other things you want to limit access to (volume, keyboard etc)
posted by hibbersk at 12:29 PM on January 7, 2019