CODEWITHSUNDEEP
iosiphonesandboxparental-control
Banjo the dog
Banjo the dog

Reputation: 29

Can a third party app prevent other IOS apps being opened or used?

This question was asked a couple of years ago (iOS app Blocker possibilities) and I'm wondering if there is anything that has changed in IOS since this question was answered in 2017 that would allow a third party app to prevent an app from being opened or used (that doesnt use the Device Enrolment Program)?

As mentioned in the linked post, the freedom app prevents the use of other apps via a VPN. I am wondering if there is a more straightforward means of a third party app blocking other apps or whether sandboxing means that the use of a VPN is the only way of a third party app blocking other apps?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 665

Answers (1)

cmaer1
cmaer1

Reputation: 116

I am not an expert, but it seems like Freedom is routing an iPhone's network traffic through a "local" VPN. This means that, while you could open an app like Chrome and navigate to google.com, Freedom's VPN would not forward the request.

I haven't installed or tested the app, but their website is carefully worded: "Install App Blocker" to install the Freedom app blocker. This blocks content on other browsers like Google Chrome and for apps."

I read "blocks content" to mean you can open the app, but it will fail to load content without a network connection. I haven't tested, but I suspect that you could still use "offline" apps.

Here is a screen grab of their website. Freedom Screen Grab

As you noted, Apple's mobile device management (MDM) solution is capable of preventing apps and other activities. Here is the list for MDM restrictions, and a list of Supervised restrictions.

It's my belief that a third-party app cannot prevent another app from functioning. Freedom is playing a network trick. To stop an app from actually booting would require a jailbreak. But I haven't explored this space in depth.

Upvotes: 3

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