How to Block Brave on iPhone (Including Its YouTube Trick)
Brave is third-party, so an App Limit blocks it — but Web Content restrictions only cover Safari, and Brave can keep YouTube running with the screen locked.
Brave is a normal third-party app, so a Screen Time App Limit blocks it exactly the way it blocks any downloaded app — nothing special about the setup itself. What that limit doesn't do is close the browser loophole: Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and Edge all reach the same open internet Brave does, and Brave specifically ships a feature almost nobody accounts for — it can keep a YouTube video playing with the screen locked, which turns a supposedly-blocked afternoon into one where the video never actually stopped.
How do you set a Screen Time limit on Brave?
- Open Settings → Screen Time → App Limits.
- Tap Add Limit, then choose Utilities — the category Brave sits in — or search for Brave directly and select just that app.
- Set a time. A minute is common, since the goal is usually to make the app unusable rather than grant a real allowance.
- Choose which days the limit applies.
- Tap Add.
If you don't already have one, set a Screen Time passcode under Screen Time → Lock Screen Time Settings — separate from your device passcode. Without it, deleting your own limit takes about ten seconds.
Does adding a site to Web Content restrictions block it inside Brave too?
No — and that's worth knowing before spending ten minutes on the wrong setting. Content & Privacy Restrictions → Content Restrictions → Web Content — the "Limit Adult Websites," "Allowed Websites Only," and custom Never Allow list — governs Safari, and only Safari. Apple built that filter around its own browser's rendering engine, so a domain added to Never Allow keeps loading normally the moment it's opened inside Brave. A reader who carefully built a Never Allow list and still has Brave installed has, in practice, blocked nothing on that front. The domain restriction and the app itself are two entirely separate mechanisms, and only the App Limit above actually touches Brave.
What still gets you online after Brave is blocked?
Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and Edge each reach the identical internet, and none of them are touched by a Brave App Limit — every one is a separate app choice that has to be added to Screen Time on its own. Safari in particular works on a different mechanism entirely: it's a built-in Apple app, so it's switched off under Content & Privacy Restrictions → Allowed Apps rather than an App Limit, and its Web Content filter is the one from the section above. See how to block Safari on iPhone for that separate setup, and how to block Chrome on iPhone for the equivalent third-party path. A phone with Brave blocked and any of the other three still installed and allowed has closed exactly one of at least four doors.
Why is Brave specifically hard to lock down for good?
Brave isn't just a rendering engine with a different logo. It ships Brave Search as its own default search engine, a built-in ad and tracker blocker called Shields that markets itself as making browsing feel faster and cleaner than Safari or Chrome, and Brave Rewards, which pays out a small cryptocurrency token for viewing opted-in ads — three reasons someone keeps Brave installed specifically, rather than treating it as an interchangeable browser icon.
The one that actually breaks a step-based or time-based block, though, is background video playback. Turn on the setting in Brave and a YouTube video keeps playing — sound and picture both — after the screen locks or the phone switches to another app, the workaround that normally costs a YouTube Premium subscription. Put an App Limit on the YouTube app itself, hit the daily cap, and someone can still open youtube.com inside Brave, start a video, lock the phone, and let it run. Unless Brave itself is limited too, that route stays wide open.
Does Brave's Private Window get around the limit?
No. A Private Window changes what Brave remembers on the device — no history, no local cookies — but Screen Time doesn't look inside the browser at all. It blocks the app itself, so an App Limit or Downtime schedule applies the same way whether the window in front of you is a regular tab or a Private one. The leak isn't Private Window; it's every other browser still sitting unblocked on the Home Screen.
What's the realistic way to handle Brave, and what can't it fix?
| Approach | What it does | Honest verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Screen Time App Limit on Brave | Blocks the Brave app after the set time | Real inside Brave, does nothing about Safari, Chrome, Firefox, or Edge |
| Turn off Safari (Allowed Apps) | Removes the built-in browser | A different mechanism, needed alongside a Brave limit, not instead of it |
| Block every browser individually | Brave, Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Edge each as its own App Limit | Closer to complete, only as strong as the last one you remembered |
| Turn off background video playback in Brave | Closes the locked-screen YouTube loophole specifically | Worth doing regardless of whether Brave itself gets an App Limit |
| Conditional unlock (e.g., Step N Scroll) | Keeps Brave, and whatever else is set, locked until a daily step goal is met | Adds friction beyond a passcode tap, but only closes doors it's told about — not for anyone who wants a free tool, can't walk much, or is on Android |
No setting here survives a known Screen Time passcode, and nothing stops someone from deleting Brave and reinstalling it later — an App Limit isn't a lock. If the actual goal is staying off a handful of sites rather than avoiding Brave for its own sake, our look at whether any app blocker can't be bypassed covers the honest ceiling on all of this.
FAQ
Why does an App Limit block Brave when Safari needs Allowed Apps instead?
Because Brave is a normal third-party app downloaded from the App Store, so it shows up in Screen Time's App Limits list like any other app. Safari is one of Apple's own built-in apps and never appears there — it's switched off separately under Content & Privacy Restrictions → Allowed Apps.
If I add a site to Never Allow under Web Content, does that block it inside Brave too?
No. Web Content restrictions — Limit Adult Websites, Allowed Websites Only, and any custom Never Allow entries — live under Content & Privacy Restrictions → Content Restrictions → Web Content, and Apple built that filter around Safari specifically. It doesn't reliably extend to Brave or any other third-party browser, so a domain added there can still load normally inside Brave.
Does Brave's Private Window get around a Screen Time App Limit?
No. An App Limit blocks the Brave app itself, and that applies the same way whether a tab is a regular tab or a Private Window — Private Window only changes what Brave remembers locally, not what Screen Time can see or restrict.
Can Brave actually keep a YouTube video playing with the screen locked?
Yes, if background video playback is turned on in Brave's settings. Play a video at youtube.com in Brave, lock the phone or switch apps, and audio and video both keep running — the same trick that normally requires a YouTube Premium subscription in the native app or Safari.
Does blocking Brave stop me from browsing the internet on my iPhone?
No, not by itself. Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and Edge all reach the same internet, and none of them are affected by a Brave App Limit — each has to be blocked separately if it's installed.
Can an app like Step N Scroll see what I search for in Brave?
No. Apple's Family Controls framework gives third-party apps an opaque token representing a blocked app, not search terms, browsing history, or visited URLs. Nothing about Brave Search or Brave Shields changes what that framework exposes.
Sources
- Apple — "Set up Screen Time for yourself on iPhone"
- Apple — "Use Screen Time on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch"
- Apple — "Set content and privacy restrictions on iPhone"
- Brave Support — "Does Brave let me play YouTube videos in the background or with my phone screen locked?"
Step N Scroll is a habit and screen-time tool, not a medical device. Nothing here is medical advice.