No matter where you live, you’ve probably seen iPads being used to play games or nursery rhymes to help kids who are having tantrums in public. It’s normal to be worried about the kind of material your child is exposed to if you recently purchased an iPad for them or are only lending them the one you use for work.
While YouTube offers a plethora of instructional information, cartoons, and nursery rhymes to keep your child entertained, it also has a darker side with unsuitable stuff that kids shouldn’t view. Even though YouTube Kids is a safer option, you might still wish to completely ban access to the main YouTube app. Therefore, we can help you ban the YouTube app, stop your youngster from using Safari or another browser to access YouTube’s website, or, just for peace of mind, do both. Note that the following steps are specific to iPadOS 18; some may differ for previous iterations.
Use Screen Time to restrict App Store downloads
Setting up parental controls is one of the first things you should do if your child is using an iPad. In this manner, you can control when and how kids use their iPad and limit in-app and App Store purchases. In the end, this implies that you have the ability to limit access to the YouTube app. This is what you must do:
Select Screen Time under Settings.
Under the Restrictions header, select Content & Privacy Restrictions.
Next to Content & Privacy Restrictions, turn on the switch.
Under the Allowed Media Services Content header, choose Apps after tapping App Store, Media, Web & Games.
Set the limit on this page to Don’t Allow, 4+, or 9+ because YouTube has an age rating of 12+.
If YouTube is already loaded on your child’s iPad, it will not appear in the App Library or Spotlight Search and will automatically vanish from the Home Screen. Your youngster will get a Restrictions Enabled pop-up if they attempt to open the app through the App Store. The App Store will prevent your youngster from installing YouTube if it is not installed.
Use the same procedures as before and change the limit to 12+ or 17+ to unblock the YouTube app. You may secure Screen Time with a passcode to keep your youngster from doing this on their own. Return to the Screen Time page and select Lock Screen Time Settings to accomplish this. Reenter the 4-digit Screen Time passcode, then use your Apple Account to log in.
Remove YouTube and stop downloads from the App Store
The aforementioned technique will block your youngster from using the YouTube app, but it will also block all other apps that are rated 12+. You might not want to restrict your child’s access to all apps classified 12 and up, even though you might want to stop them from watching YouTube. Fortunately, there is a straightforward solution. On your child’s iPad, you can remove the YouTube app and prevent them from installing it again.
To get started, find the YouTube app in the App Library or Home Screen on the iPad, then long-press the app icon. After that, hit Delete to confirm after choosing Delete App from the fast actions menu. To be sure your youngster can’t install the app again, it’s time to limit App Store purchases. This is what you must do:
Navigate to Content & Privacy Restrictions under Settings > Screen Time.
Next to Content & Privacy Restrictions, turn on the switch.
Click on App Store & iTunes Purchases.
Choose Don’t Allow after tapping Installing Apps.
You will be asked to enter your Screen Time passcode if you have one configured.
Your child won’t be able to download any more apps when this is finished because the App Store will no longer be available on their device. You can go back to the Installing Apps page and select Allow if you want to download a new app for your child. Your child won’t be able to get around this restriction because you’ll need to input your Screen Time passcode to authorize downloads.
Keep the YouTube app hidden and locked
You might not want to go through the trouble of completely blocking the YouTube app if your child frequently borrows your iPad and doesn’t have their own. Thankfully, iPadOS 18 allows you to lock apps with a passcode, Touch ID, or Face ID. After updating the iPad to iPadOS 18, follow these steps:
Long-press the icon of the YouTube app after finding it in the App Library or Home Screen of your iPad.
Click on the quick actions menu and choose Require Passcode/Face ID/Touch ID.
A prompt will appear asking if you would like to lock the YouTube app. Simply hit Require Passcode/Face ID/Touch ID.
Authenticate with your iPad’s passcode, Face ID, or Touch ID.
Your child will now have to authenticate using the iPad’s passcode, Face ID, or Touch ID each time they attempt to launch the YouTube app.
By concealing the app as well, you can go one step farther. To accomplish this, choose Hide and Require Passcode/Face ID/Touch ID from the fast actions menu after completing the first two steps as described above. Use Face ID, Touch ID, or your iPad’s passcode to authenticate. Lastly, when prompted, select conceal App to confirm that you want to conceal YouTube. Once hidden, the application will be moved to a Hidden folder in the App Library and become obscured on the Home Screen. You won’t get app notifications anymore, and it won’t show up in Spotlight search or Siri recommendations.
Use Settings to block YouTube’s website
Even though you may have successfully blocked the YouTube app entirely with the aforementioned techniques, your efforts may be in vain if your youngster manages to get around this restriction. To view YouTube directly through its website, they may use Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Brave, Edge, or another browser. Here’s what you must do to stop this from occurring:
Navigate to Screen Time in Settings.
By selecting Lock Screen Time settings and following the on-screen directions, be sure to choose a four-digit Screen Time passcode.
Next, select Content & Privacy Restrictions from the Restrictions header. If you haven’t already, turn on the switch next to Content & Privacy Restrictions.
Choose Web Content after tapping App Store, Media, Web & Games.
Under Web Content, you’ll see three options: Only Approved Websites, Limit Adult Websites, and Unrestricted. Choose Adult Websites with Limits.
Lastly, under Never Permit, select Add Website and enter www.youtube.com.
From now on, your child will see a Restricted Site page whenever they try to visit YouTube in a browser. This page will have an Allow Website option. Don’t worry, though, since if you hit it, it will ask them to input the Screen Time passcode, which is something that only you as a parent can do to unblock the website.