iPhone/iPod touch/iPad User Guide

Jump to section:

How Covenant Eyes works for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

Covenant Eyes offers an Internet browser for Apple’s iPhone^®, iPad^®, and iPod touch^®. This app is free to subscribers to Covenant Eyes Internet Accountability.

Because of the way Apple designed its operating system, this app does not work like the desktop versions of our software. It cannot run in the background, monitoring your Internet activity through other browsers. It cannot monitor other apps. Only Internet activity logged through this browser is recorded in the Accountability Report.

Installing the App

Covenant Eyes for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad is available as “Covenant Eyes” on Apple’s iPhone App Store.

In order to use this app, you must have a Covenant Eyes username with Internet Accountability. Sign up today!

Once you have installed the app, simply sign in using your username and password. If you will be the only person using your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, you may want to set Covenant Eyes to stay signed in.

Fig. 1: Sign into Covenant Eyes

If you need to turn off the auto sign in feature, you may do so later through the “Settings” app.

Setting Restrictions

Because Covenant Eyes only monitors Internet activity logged through this app, we recommend that you adjust your iPhone’s settings and block access to certain apps.

Launch the “Settings” app and then select the icon labeled “General.”
Select “Restrictions” and tap the button labeled “Enable Restrictions.”
You will be asked for a four-digit passcode. We recommend having the person who holds you accountable set this passcode for you.
Next, turn off Safari, YouTube, and other apps that might allow objectionable material. Toggle “Installing Apps” to “Off” as well. Note that many apps have built-in browsers used for ads, contact, or comments, which Covenant Eyes does not monitor.
Under “Allowed Content,” toggle off the ability to listen to explicit music and podcasts, and disallow movies and TV shows at inappropriate levels (e.g. NC-17 for movies and TV-MA for TV shows).
DO NOT disable apps rated 17+. Because Covenant Eyes offers unfiltered Internet access, Apple rates it 17+. By disabling 17+ apps, you will be disabling Covenant Eyes.

Fig. 2: Under the Restrictions menu, you may disable certain apps and content.

Frequently Asked Questions

When I click on a link in my e-mail or in other apps, it won’t open through my Covenant Eyes browser. Why is that?

Apple limits the operating system so only Safari can be the default browser, which makes third-party browsers (like ours) less usable. For example, through Safari you can bookmark any website as an icon on your Home Screen. Other browsers don’t have that option.

To open e-mail or app links in the Covenant Eyes browser, click and hold the link, then select “Copy.” Then open the Covenant Eyes browser and click and hold in the address bar. Select “Paste.” This will allow you to open the URL in the browser.