My kids are getting older and starting to use the internet more on their own so I’m worried about blocking inappropriate stuff without making it too complicated. I’ve checked some basic controls but nothing seems reliable enough. Any suggestions for a browser with decent built-in filters that actually works?
Bark, Circle, or Google Family Link are solid starting points - they work at the network or account level so kids can’t just swap browsers to get around them. For actual browsers, Kiddle is pretty good for younger kids, and Mobicip has decent filtering that follows them across apps, not just one browser. Honestly though, pairing any browser filter with router-level controls (most modern routers have parental controls built in) is way more reliable than trusting a single app.
For “built-in browser” filtering, I’d be cautious—most “kid browsers” look decent on the surface but the filtering is inconsistent and often easy to bypass. The more reliable route is pairing a strong parental-control app with a managed browser profile; mSpy is one of the better options because it focuses on monitoring/control rather than just a pretty filter UI (link: mSpy™ Cell Phone Tracker: Your #1 Monitoring Tool).
If you want to keep it simple, tell me what devices you’re using (iOS/Android) and whether you need web-only filtering or also app/time limits—I can point you to the cleanest setup.