Disable Private Browsing on Safari

[Jordanw]

Hey everyone, I am trying to disable private browsing on my IOS devices.  I am assuming that this can be done via managed app settings since I can't find anything in the normal restrictions list.  I am hoping someone out there has the key and info for this?  

[MikeMandalorian]

Unless i missed something and @jared_f could verify this, but i don't think there is a way to prevent Safari from going into private mode, 

[Jordanw]

Well that is unfortunate.  Students are finding unscrupulous sites faster than I can block them in the firewall.  At least if I could enforce no private browsing I could have the teachers tell me where they have been.

[MikeMandalorian]

So im not even seeing the option for Private browsing on my test IPAD in Safari ,,, either i have a setting somewhere or i am a idiot lol

[Jordanw]

https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT203036

just a little button near the bottom left when you "blow out" the tabs

[MikeMandalorian]

ok i blew away all my restriction and now i have it back (privacy option) ,, i have a meeting for about a hour and i will see if i was just overlooking something ,, but it could of been just a ipad glitch because i put this IPAD through the ringer when it come to testing settings,,,

[Jordanw]

Maybe it is lumped in with another restriction, or maybe I have missed it.  Thanks for looking into it!

[MikeMandalorian]

IOS web Content Filter for IOS-Supervised woul dbe the best work around to prevent going to " Opps " websites 

https://documentation.meraki.com/SM/Profiles_and_Settings/Web_content_filtering_on_iOS_devices_in_Sy...

[jared_f]

Unfortunately, this is not possible. What kind of traffic are you seeing? Maybe push out the web content filter payload?

[jared_f]

Also, are you using any filtering solution like OpenDNS or Light Speed on the network side?

[Jordanw]

We are all Meraki thankfully.  So I have category filtering as well as certain sites that slip past the categories.  The students still find a way though from time to time.

[Jordanw]

Lots of just non school appropriate traffic.  The teachers see them browsing something they shouldn't or just doing a google image search but have no means to speak with their parents because we don't have the history logged.  Google safe search isn't always effective.  Its just a constant battle haha.

[jared_f · Accepted solution]

Good luck. The only other thing I could think of it to get rid of Safari via a restriction and push a safe browser available in the App Store. For device filtering: I am really a fan of http://www.mobicip.com - they do cost a bit, but there is no appliance and you just push the proxy configuration profile.

[Jordanw]

Thanks, ill check that out.  Also, yes in some classrooms / carts we have safari blacklisted and force them to use chrome which I can manage more easily through my GAFE Admin.

[MikeMandalorian]

@jared_f  @Jordanw  hold on a second i figured it out ,,,,,, goto IOS web Content  filter then block just one site andy site  say www.facebook.com,,  now make sure the ipads have the updated profile then try to goto facebook on safar obviously it will says its blocked now goto where PRIVATE would normally be and now its gone 

[Jordanw]

Interesting, Ill check it out and report back!

[MikeMandalorian]

this is all on supervised either wise  it wont work since the IOS Web content filter is for supervised devices only 

[Jordanw]

All of my devices are supervised so its all good.  I just need to finish hammering through some SiS stuff before I can troubleshoot the ipad privacy.  Again, I really appreciate the assist here.  

[jared_f]

@Jordanw Are you using Apple Classroom yet?

[Jordanw]

We aren't. I feel like in our environment it is too complicated to roll out.  We are pretty remote so no cell service for 2FA and I am the sole member of the IT department.  A lot of passwords and user accounts to constantly be resetting.

[jared_f]

Why is Two Factor Authentication needed? If all devices are SM managed you just have to scope the Classroom profile to the students and teachers. Are you signed up for VPP and DEP? Apple School manager does most the work from my understanding. Not really in education IT so I can't really help. Maybe a K12 admin will chime in.

[vassallon]

As a K12 Admin, I will step in and say Apple Classroom is awesome for teachers to monitor iPad usage. One of the new upcoming features is that soon teachers will be able to use a MacBook to monitor Apple Classroom while still having their iPad available for use in teaching. With some of the latest changes to Apple Classroom is that you no longer need to import from your SIS or even Meraki to utilize Apple Classroom. Teachers can create their own classes and add students via a code similar to Google Classroom. 

From personal experience I would recommend setting it up through Apple School Manager though. https://school.apple.com/

Once it is implemented there you can import it into Meraki and have auto-tags generated based on classes. Yes, it is more work than letting teachers create their own classes but in the long run the features you get for having everything integrated is worth it. If anyone has any questions feel free to hit me up as I have been working with Meraki and ASM since it was rolled out in 2016.

[Jordanw]

@vassallon I agree it does look fantastic for that but with my user / teacher base I may have a hard time getting it rolled out.  I may reach out to you later this year for advice.  If I can pilot it with our more responsible teachers then perhaps I can get it rolled out.  Our SiS is unfortunately not a reliable source of truth for student info as I am the sole admin on that and our secretaries are fairly negligent in keeping up to date student records...but that is another story.  Ideally I would manually populate the classes in ASM and pull them over to the Meraki side if I were to do it.  But I feel like this would be a discussion for another thread.

@MikeMandalorian I did try it and it worked! Crazy workaround.  Glad you caught it.  Many Kudos.

[MikeMandalorian]

well Kudos are appreciated and always glad to help find a solution,,,,,, best community EVA

[Jordanw]

2 FA is needed for me to sign into the apple classroom console.  When I tried to pilot this I had to drive an hour and a half to a coffee shop in the nearest town to do it.  Its just not manageable by myself at the moment I don't think.  I was going to re-investigate during the summer though.

[MikeMandalorian]

@Jordanw Did you have achance to test it out,, just curious if my Fix will work for you 

[Ollie]

Private browsing will automatically be disabled when you "Limit Adult Content" in your Settings. Here's how to get there. It takes 2 minutes.

1. Click your Settings app

2. Tap General

3. Tap Restrictions

4. Tap Enable Restrictions

5. Create a 4-digit password

6. Type in your password again

7. Tap on Websites

8. Tap on Limit Adult Content

This will make the private browsing option disappear!