How to block gambling sites and apps on iPhone

The built-in option: Screen Time

Under Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions → App Store & Web Content you can block specific websites. It's free, but it has two weak spots: you have to type addresses one by one, and gambling sites keep reappearing under new ones. And if you set the restriction yourself, removing it in a weak moment is just as easy.

A gambling blocker that works on patterns

A stronger option is an app that runs your phone's connections through a filter. It recognises a site by its pattern, not its exact name, so when “site123” is shut down and “site124” appears, it's caught too. It works in Safari, Chrome and in-app browsers alike. Betting apps that rely on the same addresses are usually affected as well, but deleting them is still step one.

A lock you can't undo in the moment

Whoever sets a block knows how to remove it. The real difference is a block you lock while you're calm for a set time — a day, a week, a year. Until it runs out, protection can't be removed from inside the app and the app can't be deleted.

An honest limit

iOS doesn't let any app fully lock the phone's DNS setting; a determined person can turn the filter off in Settings. That's why good protection also makes sure someone finds out if it's switched off. And while the phone is protected, a computer, cards saved on betting sites and saved passwords can remain open doors worth closing separately.