How to stop a child opening YouTube on your phone

If you have handed your phone to your child for a game or a video call and found YouTube open ten minutes later, you are not alone. On a single shared phone, YouTube is usually one tap away from anything else your child is doing, and kids find that tap fast.

Why does my child always end up on YouTube?

YouTube is built to keep a viewer watching. Autoplay moves from one video into the next without asking. There is no natural stopping point, and a 3 to 12 year old has no reason to look for one. The app is not doing anything unusual. It is doing exactly what it is designed to do.

Why don't turning off wifi or hiding the icon work?

Turning off wifi stops YouTube for everyone, including you. Hiding the app icon does not stop it from being found through search or a shared link. Asking a young child to just not open it works for a while, then does not.

How do I actually block YouTube on a shared phone?

CrenelView lets you tick YouTube along with any other apps you want blocked. You then choose one setting for the entire list: blocked all the time, or blocked only during hours you set, like homework time or after a set bedtime. The block happens on the phone itself. Nothing about your child's activity is recorded, reported, or sent anywhere.

What if my child genuinely needs YouTube for a few minutes?

CrenelView lets you unlock your whole blocked list for a fixed window, 10, 15, 30 or 60 minutes, so YouTube and anything else on the list works again until the timer runs out. It locks itself again automatically after that, no separate step needed.

How do I stop my child switching the block back off?

A PIN stops your child from opening CrenelView and switching the block off themselves. You set a recovery option in case you forget the PIN, so you are never locked out of your own settings.

None of this requires a new phone, a second device, or an account anywhere. It is one app, on the phone you already have, doing one job.