Web content filter for iOS
This article describes GoTo Resolve MDM's web content filter configuration profile for iOS that can be used to allowlist and blocklist web URLs and restrict users' access to configured web pages.
Requirements
- Requires that the devices are Supervised. The most convenient way to get devices into Supervised mode is to enroll them through the Apple Device Enrollment Program.
What does the web content filter configuration profile do?
The web content filter configuration profile allows an administrator to allowlist and blocklist web URLs and restricts the users' browser access to configured web pages. Administrators can also apply a default auto filter to the managed iOS devices. This denies the user access to most of the explicit and dangerous content that is not accepted when using corporate devices.
How to enable web content filtering?
Navigate to the
and use the Add button to add a new configuration profile.Configure the profile and deploy it to your devices either manually or using business policies.
How to configure web content filtering?
GoTo Resolve MDM matches URLs using string-based root matching. This means that a URL matches an allowlist, blocklist, or allowed URLs list pattern if the exact characters of the pattern appear as the root of the URL.
For example, if you blocklist https://test.com, it will also block https://test.com/a and https://test.com/b/c/d. The matching logic also discards subdomain prefixes, so if you blocklist https://test.com, it also blocks http://test.com and m.test.com.
Below, you can find a bit more information about the different configuration settings in GoTo Resolve MDM.
Auto filter settings tab
- Auto filter enabled
- Defines if the built-in auto filter is enabled. This denies the user access to most of the explicit, adult, and dangerous content that is not accepted when using corporate devices.
- Allowed URLs
- Defines a list of URLs that are accessible whether the automatic filter allows access or not. Used only when the auto filter is enabled.
Allowlist tab
- Allowlisted bookmarks
-
Defines a list of URLs that are allowlisted and allowed for the user. The user is not allowed to visit any other web pages. You can also define a title for the allowed URL, in which case a bookmark is created and added to the browser’s bookmarks. Each allowlisted bookmark contains:
Url: Defines the URL that is allowed for the user.
Title: Optional. Defines the title of the bookmark.
Folder: Optional. Defines the folder into which the bookmark should be added, for example, /Bookmarks/Work/.
Blocklist tab
- Blocklisted URLs
- Defines a list of URLs that are denied by the user.
What does a user see when the filter blocks a page?
This is how the user experiences web content filtering when trying to access an undesired website.
The layout of the screen may look different in the product.
Please note that there have been some reports that enabling web content filters on iOS devices prevents also clearing the Safari browser browsing history. In practice, this means that the option
is grayed out (disabled) on the device. A similar side effect has been reported on Apple support forums after enabling the content restrictions manually from the device end.How to disable web content filter?
Web content filters can be disabled by simply deleting the deployed configuration profile from the device. This can be done on the Deployments tab of the Device page by clicking the trashcan icon in the Configuration profiles table. See Removing deployed configuration profiles for more information.