Short answer: On iPhone, explicit content is limited from one place: Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions. On iOS 18 and iOS 26, turn it on, then use App Store, Media, Web, & Games for web filtering and app age ratings, Allowed Apps & Features to hide built-in apps, and Intelligence & Siri for Siri and Apple Intelligence. On iOS 27, Apple's page groups these under Content Restrictions, Other Features and Siri. Set a Screen Time passcode that someone else holds, or you can change any of it yourself.
Version note: Menu names follow Apple's iPhone User Guide for iOS 18 and iOS 26, checked on 21 Oct 2026. Apple's page for iOS 27 reorganises some of these menus, and we flag where. Apple's iOS 18 and iOS 26 pages name the sections below but do not spell out every option inside them, so where we could not verify a menu name we say so rather than guess.
Apple puts the main switches together in Screen Time. To get there:
Apple's iPhone guide then lists what you can do from that screen, and the rest of this guide follows that list.
Our guide to blocking porn on iPhone covers this in detail, so here is the short version: https://mamoriblocker.com/guides/block-porn-on-iphone/
These steps come from Apple's iOS 18 and iOS 26 pages. Apple's iOS 27 page on blocking content for yourself does not list a website option, so on iOS 27 open Content & Privacy Restrictions and check what your version shows. For blocking any single site, not only adult ones, see our guide on how to block websites on iPhone: https://mamoriblocker.com/guides/how-to-block-websites-on-iphone/
Apple's iPhone guide says that under App Store, Media, Web & Games you can choose age-appropriate restrictions, including Apps, which restricts apps by age ratings, and App Clips, which prevents App Clips from opening.
To control how apps get onto the phone at all, tap iTunes & App Store Purchases in Content & Privacy Restrictions. Apple says this is where you choose restrictions for installing or deleting apps and in-app purchases. In our view, an app restriction holds up much better when someone else holds the Screen Time passcode, which is the last section below.
To hide a built-in app or feature, tap Allowed Apps & Features, then turn off what you want to restrict. Apple says an app you turn off is not deleted: it is temporarily hidden from your Home Screen until you turn it back on. On iOS 27, Apple's page puts built-in apps and features under Other Features instead, with examples like AirDrop and Camera.
Apple's iPhone guide for iOS 27 says you can allow or block content that is labelled sensitive or explicit in the Music app, Apple TV app, Books app and more. The path it gives is Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions, then allow or block any of the settings shown under Content Restrictions, like Books, Movies, TV Shows and Music.
On iOS 18 and iOS 26, Apple's guide says to tap App Store, Media, Web, & Games to set content ratings and other restrictions for the App Store, media, web and Game Center. Apple's iOS 18 and iOS 26 pages do not list the individual media options by name, so open that screen and look at what your version offers. For a child, Apple's guide to setting up Screen Time says you can help make content in Music, Podcasts or News age appropriate by manually limiting the explicitness ratings in Content & Privacy Restrictions.
On iOS 18 and iOS 26, Apple says to tap Intelligence & Siri in Content & Privacy Restrictions to restrict access to Apple Intelligence features. Apple's pages list Writing Tools, Image Creation and Intelligence Extensions, each with Allow or Don't Allow. They do not describe an explicit-language setting for Siri on those versions, so we leave that out.
On iOS 27, Apple's page lists a Siri option inside Content & Privacy Restrictions. There you can tap Don't Allow Siri, Siri (Classic Version) or Siri AI (Beta), and choose Allow or Block for individual Siri AI capabilities, "such as Image Creation, Sensitive Topics, or Explicit Language". Apple notes the settings shown may vary depending on your Siri version.
Separate from blocking, Apple has two features that warn you before sensitive images are shown or sent.
These are warnings, not website filters, so use them alongside the web steps.
The steps above are for an adult on their own phone. For a child, Apple's Family Sharing setup is the base layer. On Apple's current parental controls page, which covers iOS 27, you open Settings, tap Family, tap your child's name, then tap Content & Privacy Restrictions. For age-based content, select a type of content under Content Restrictions, then choose a setting like Don't Allow, Unrated, Allow All, or a specific age rating. For websites, the same page says to tap Apps & Websites, then Restrictions, then Filtering under Websites. Apple says Limit Adult Websites is on by default for children under 18.
Without a Screen Time passcode, anyone using the phone can reopen Content & Privacy Restrictions and change every setting above. Apple says the passcode must be entered before you can change the Screen Time settings you chose, and that it is not the same as the code that unlocks the iPhone.
On iOS 18 and iOS 26, Apple's steps for yourself are: go to Settings > Screen Time, scroll down, tap Lock Screen Time Settings, then enter a four-digit passcode twice. On iOS 27 the route is Settings > Screen Time > Manage Screen Time > Lock Screen Time Settings. Apple says you can also set up Screen Time Passcode Recovery, which lets you reset the passcode with your Apple Account. Apple recommends adding it, because it lets you reset a forgotten code. In our view, it also means you could reset the code yourself, so think twice if someone else is meant to hold it.
In our view, if you set the code yourself and know it, it is only a speed bump. If a partner, a friend or a family member keeps it, you get a pause before any change. Our guide to finding an accountability partner covers how to ask: https://mamoriblocker.com/guides/porn-accountability-partner/
Is there one switch that blocks all explicit content on iPhone?
No. Apple spreads it across settings: web filtering, app age ratings, media restrictions, Siri settings and warnings about nude images. Content & Privacy Restrictions is the main place, and what it covers depends on your iOS version.
Does this cover third-party apps?
Apple describes Content & Privacy Restrictions as a way to manage Apple content, apps and settings, and says age ratings restrict apps. The pages we read do not say it filters what happens inside a third-party app after you open it, so treat these settings as one layer.
Do these settings work on iPad too?
Apple's iPad User Guide uses the same Content & Privacy Restrictions menus for iPadOS 18 and 26. See our iPad guide: https://mamoriblocker.com/guides/block-porn-on-ipad/
Everything above works without any app. The part Mamori adds is the web, with a lock you choose. Mamori is a newer app for iPhone and iPad that uses Apple's Screen Time web content filter plus its own blocklist of 2.5M+ adult sites across the whole phone, and it forces SafeSearch on Google, Bing and other search engines. The list is also built to cover Japanese adult sites (JAV, hentai, doujin), including performer names and coded titles.
Before you can switch Mamori off, you pass a cooldown timer, a random phrase, or a PIN or passphrase that a trusted person can hold. While protection is on, it uses Screen Time restrictions to protect against uninstalling. By design, when protection is off, everything is off and Mamori can be uninstalled normally: the friction is the lock you chose in advance.
Honest limits: Mamori does not replace Apple's media, Siri and age-rating settings above, which stay in Apple's settings. It has no accountability reports, it does not replace support from people or a professional, and it is built for adults blocking for themselves, so for a child's iPhone use Screen Time as the base layer. There is a 7-day free trial on the monthly and annual plans, plus a one-time lifetime option. No account, no tracking.
Last checked 21 Oct 2026. This guide is general information, not medical advice.