The average adult in the US spends almost 3 hours a day on their phone. Most of that time is spent browsing online, where it’s becoming harder to sieve through inappropriate or malicious content. However, blocking suspicious websites on your Android device can help.
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You can modify your host file, but you need to have a rooted Android phone to do this. This option might require some technical knowledge and we do not recommend it to our readers. By rooting your phone you take the following risks:
You can enable a firewall to block unsafe websites. Some firewalls will also allow you to tweak your apps settings. You can allow or block them from accessing the internet when using mobile data or deny access to unwanted web pages.
Unfortunately, you may need to root your phone to set up a firewall and dig this deep into its settings. As mentioned above, we do not recommend this to our readers. Instead, consider Google Play store firewall apps such as NoRoot Firewall. Make sure they don’t require your device to be rooted.
You should also use an antivirus. It will help you block malicious sites that might hide malware and will improve your overall mobile security. Some antivirus software will let you filter your traffic and set up parental controls – like blocking gambling sites or adult content.
To avoid tracking and annoying ads, you could also turn to privacy-oriented browsers. Unfortunately, not all of them offer mobile apps, and some only offer Beta versions. We recommend trying Brave or Vivaldi.
NordVPN offers you Threat Protection, a built-in security feature that automatically blocks suspicious websites and protects you from malware. It also hides annoying pop ups and ads so you don’t need to worry about accidentally clicking on something that might be hiding malware or spyware.
You can use a VPN app on your Android phone or get an extension for Chrome, Firefox, or Edge. Enhance your online security, improve your privacy, and block trackers with NordVPN.
You can also get 1 month of free subscription by participating in the NordVPN referral program.
Google Chrome doesn’t have an in-built feature to block inappropriate websites on your Android phone. However, you can download the AppBlock app on Google Play and take matters into your own hands. Here’s how to do it:
Opera doesn’t allow you to block unwanted websites on your Android device, so you’ll have to get a dedicated app like AppBlock.
While Edge allows you to manage the websites your family members can access via your Microsoft account, the setup is a bit complicated. Android users can get the AppBlock app and manage blocking with ease. While it’s technically not considered as a parental control app, it has all features that you need.
In order to block specific websites on Mozilla, you need to get yourself the LeechBlock NG add-on for Android devices.