How to Block Websites on Company Android Phones

The tablet on the counter has one job. It shows your online order page so customers can pick up their coffee order. Then a quiet afternoon happens. Someone taps the address bar, opens a video site, and leaves it running. The next customer finds a cat video instead of the order page.

Or it is the phones in your delivery vans. They are for the route app and the depot’s booking site. Instead, the data bill shows a lot of streaming.

You don’t need to watch what people do on work phones to fix this. You need the phones to open the sites they are for and not much else. That is what website filtering does.

How website filtering works

Website filtering in NounDesk controls which websites a company Android phone can open in Google Chrome. You set it in a security policy, and every phone on that policy follows it.

There are two ways to use it.

• Block list. You name the sites you don’t want opened. Everything else works. This suits phones that people use for varied work, where you only want to rule out a handful of sites.
• Allow list. You name the only sites that can be opened. Everything else is blocked. This suits counter tablets and shared phones that do one job.

Either list can hold up to 1,000 sites. Adding example.com also covers its subdomains. Adding a path, such as example.com/games, matches only that part of a site.

Closing the obvious gaps

A filter with an easy way around it is not much of a filter. There are two easy ways around a Chrome filter: open a private window, or open a different browser. NounDesk closes both.

• Incognito tabs are turned off, so there is no private window to slip into.
• Other browsers are blocked, so Chrome with your rules is the only browser on the phone.

Both settings are on by default when you set up website filtering. Leave them on unless you have a specific reason not to.

Blocking whole categories

You can’t list every adult or gambling site by hand. There are too many, and new ones appear every day.

For whole categories, use Private DNS alongside your Chrome list. In the security policy, under Network, you can set Private DNS to a filtering DNS service. That service blocks categories such as adult or gambling sites. Your Chrome list then handles the specific sites you name, like a video site or a shopping site.

Using both together gives the closest fit. The DNS service handles the broad categories, and your list handles the rest.

How to set it up in NounDesk

You need to be an Owner or Admin to change the setting.

1. Open a security policy and find Website filtering.
2. For Websites, choose Block the websites listed or Allow only the websites listed.
3. Enter one website per line, up to 1,000.
4. Keep Incognito tabs: Turn off and Other browsers: Block them ticked.
5. Select Save draft, then Publish.

The publish preview shows how many phones the change affects before you confirm. When you change the list later, the phones pick up the new version. The full steps are in the website filtering docs.

Which list to use for which device

A simple rule: the fewer jobs a device does, the more an allow list makes sense.

Counter and kiosk tablets. Use an allow list with the order site and the payment page it links to. Pair it with kiosk mode, which keeps the tablet in the apps you choose. Our guide to locking an Android tablet to one app covers that side.

Shared phones for one task. An allow list with the booking site, the supplier portal and the company email site is usually enough.

Phones issued to one person for varied work. A block list is easier to live with. Name the handful of sites that cause problems, and use Private DNS for the categories.

Put different devices on different security policies if they need different lists. A counter tablet and an office manager’s phone rarely want the same rules.

Before you publish an allow list

An allow list is strict. A site that loads pieces from other addresses, such as a payment page or a login page, may need those addresses on the list too.

Test it on one device first. Put a single tablet on the new policy, open every page the job needs, and check nothing is broken. Then move the rest of the devices across.

Honest limits

Website filtering is useful, but it is narrower than some people expect.

• It works in Google Chrome only. It does not filter websites inside other apps. If an app you don’t want has its own way onto the web, block that app instead.
• It controls where Chrome can go. It does not stop someone using a site that is on your allow list for something you didn’t intend.
• Categories need Private DNS. The Chrome list blocks the sites you name. It does not know which sites are adult or gambling sites on its own.
• It does not record anything. NounDesk does not report which sites anyone visits. The filter blocks or allows. It does not keep a history.

That last point is worth saying out loud to your staff. People worry that a managed phone means a watched phone. Our post on what MDM can and cannot see explains it in plain terms you can pass on.

What to do this week

1. List your devices by job. Which ones do one thing, and which ones do many?
2. Write the allow list for your single-job devices. Start with the sites people actually use.
3. Write a short block list for everyone else. Keep it to the sites that cause real problems.
4. Decide on Private DNS if you want to block categories such as adult or gambling sites.
5. Test on one device, then publish to the rest.

FAQ

Can I block websites on company Android phones?

Yes. Add the sites to a block list in a NounDesk security policy, and Google Chrome on those phones won’t open them.

Can I allow only certain websites?

Yes. Choose Allow only the websites listed and Chrome opens only the sites on your list, up to 1,000.

Can employees get around the filter with another browser?

Not with another browser or a private window. NounDesk turns off Incognito and blocks other browsers, and both are on by default.

Can I see which websites employees visit?

No. NounDesk does not record or report browsing history. Website filtering blocks or allows sites, and that is all it does.

Website filtering is one part of managing company phones. Our Android MDM guide for small businesses covers the rest, and the website filtering feature page has more examples.

If your counter tablet should show the order page and nothing else, try NounDesk.