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Block the apps · Device blocking

How to block betting apps on iPhone

Use the iPhone's built-in Screen Time to stop betting apps from being installed and block betting websites — with a passcode someone else holds.

What it blocks

Using Content & Privacy Restrictions you can: block installing apps (App Store > Installing Apps: Blocked) and deleting apps; restrict apps by App Store age rating; filter websites (Limit Adult Websites with a custom never-allow list, or allow only approved websites). Locked with a Screen Time passcode that a trusted person sets.

Cost: Free, built in.

Works on: IPhone / iPad (iOS/iPadOS; current release iOS 27, Sept 2026) · Mac has equivalent Screen Time restrictions

Set it up

  1. Delete sportsbook, casino and prediction-market apps first.
  2. Settings > Screen Time > turn on Screen Time for your own device (exact iOS 27 labels; Apple's iOS 27 parental-control article now puts child settings under Settings > Family). · unconfirmed
  3. Content & Privacy Restrictions > turn on > App Store purchases/settings: set Installing Apps to Blocked (and Deleting Apps to Don't Allow so blockers like Gamban can't be removed) - exact iOS 27 labels. · unconfirmed
  4. Content Restrictions > Apps: choose a lower age rating (e.g. 16+). Sportsbook apps are rated 18+ (DraftKings, FanDuel, and Kalshi all show 18+ on the US App Store), so they can't be downloaded - whether apps already installed are hidden. · unconfirmed
  5. Web Content: Limit Adult Websites and add sportsbook domains (draftkings.com, fanduel.com, betmgm.com, caesars.com, fanatics.com, bet365.com, kalshi.com, polymarket.com, etc.) to the Never Allow list - or use Only Approved Websites for maximum lock-down.
  6. Have a trusted person create the Screen Time passcode (Screen Time > Lock Screen Time Settings / Use Screen Time Passcode) without telling you the code.
  7. IMPORTANT: when iOS asks for Screen Time Passcode Recovery with an Apple Account, the trusted person should use THEIR Apple Account or skip it - if you enter your own Apple Account you can reset the passcode yourself.

Can you undo it in a weak moment?

Anyone who knows the Screen Time passcode can turn restrictions off. Apple's forgot-passcode flow lets you reset it with 'the Apple Account email address and password that you used to set up the Screen Time passcode' - so if that is your own Apple Account, you can undo the lock yourself.

What it won’t do

  • Age-rating block works on apps, not on websites: every major sportsbook still works in a browser unless its domain is blocked in Web Content.
  • Never Allow list must be maintained by hand; new domains, mirror sites, and prediction markets aren't covered automatically.
  • Which third-party browsers obey Screen Time web filtering: (Apple guide pages could not be loaded). · unconfirmed
  • Setting the app age limit below 18+ also blocks other 18+ apps you may need.
  • Does nothing on other devices (laptop, work phone, a friend's phone) or for retail betting.
  • Apple's new age ratings (4+, 9+, 13+, 16+, 18+) arrived with iOS 26 (announced 24 July 2025); real-money gambling is an App Store content descriptor. Exact rating threshold for gambling: 18+ observed on major sportsbook apps; Apple's developer table mapping could not be fully read - . · unconfirmed

The Betting Firewall

This is one wall. You need five.

No single block holds on its own. A state list does nothing about offshore sites or the money in your checking account; an app exclusion does nothing about the next app. Stack all five.

  1. The appsSelf-exclude and close every sportsbook, fantasy, and prediction-market account you have. Guide →
  2. Your phone — this pageBlock the apps and sites at the device level so a deleted app can't come back.
  3. A blockerInstall Gamban or another blocker that can't be removed early. Guide →
  4. Your moneyCard controls, gambling blocks at your bank, and someone else on the account. Guide →
  5. The state listEnroll in your state's self-exclusion program so every licensed operator has to refuse you. Guide →

The 24-Hour Betting Shutdown Plan

Self-exclusion is one wall. The Shutdown Plan walks you through all five layers of the Betting Firewall in one day — apps, phone, money, people, and the state list. Free, first name and email only.

Sign-up opens shortly. In the meantime, every step is on the Shutdown Plan page.

No spam, no selling your data, unsubscribe anytime. If you want structure past day one, the 90-Day Stop Betting Program is the next step — we’ll mention it once in the emails.