What Are The Best Android Apps To Block Websites On My Phone? Need Suggestions

General
1

I have been trying to find a good app that can block certain websites on my Android phone. The thing is, I get distracted way too easily when I am supposed to be working or studying, and I end up scrolling through social media or random sites for hours. I know Android has some built in settings but I am not sure if they are enough or if I need a third party app for this.

I am a college student and during my exam prep weeks, I waste at least 2 to 3 hours daily on Instagram, Reddit, and YouTube. I need something that can block these sites on my Chrome browser and also inside the apps if possible. Ideally, I want to set it up once and not have to think about it every day. If there is an app that lets me create different blocking schedules for weekdays and weekends, that would be perfect. Any suggestions would be really helpful.

2

So before you even go downloading anything, you should know that Android already has a few ways to deal with this. Let me walk you through what is already sitting on your phone.

##Google Family Link##

This one is technically designed for parental controls but it works perfectly fine if you want to block sites on your own device. You can set it up through Settings then go to Digital Wellbeing and Parental Controls. From there you can manage which websites are accessible through Chrome. The filters let you block specific URLs or entire categories of content. The catch here is that it ties into a Google account supervision model, so it can feel a bit heavy handed for personal use.

##Chrome Browser Site Settings##

Inside Chrome itself you can go to Settings then Site Settings and from there you can manage permissions for individual websites. While this does not give you a full block list feature, you can restrict notifications and pop ups from specific domains, which reduces the pull factor of those sites.

##Digital Wellbeing Focus Mode##

This is the one most people overlook. Go to Settings then Digital Wellbeing and Parental Controls then Focus Mode. Here you can select specific apps you want to pause during focus sessions. It does not block websites directly in the browser, but if your problem is with the Instagram app or YouTube app, this shuts them down during your scheduled focus times. You can set recurring schedules for weekdays and weekends separately.

##DNS Based Blocking Through Private DNS##

Android 9 and above supports Private DNS. Go to Settings then Network and Internet then Private DNS. You can enter a DNS provider like dns.adguard.com which blocks ads and known tracking domains at the network level. This method works across all apps and browsers, not just Chrome. The downside is you do not get granular control over which specific sites to block unless you set up your own DNS filtering server.

##Samsung Secure Folder and Knox (Samsung Devices Only)##

If you are on a Samsung phone, Knox lets you create a separate workspace where you can restrict app and web access. Secure Folder can isolate distracting apps so they are not on your main home screen. This is more of a separation method than a hard block but it adds friction which helps with impulse browsing.

These built in options are solid starting points and might be enough depending on how strict you need your blocking to be.

3

Alright so the built in stuff is fine for basic use but if you need real blocking power you gotta look at third party apps. I have tested a bunch of these over the past year and here is what actually works.

##BlockSite##

This is probably the most popular one on the Play Store. You install it, add the URLs you want blocked, and it redirects you to a block page whenever you try to visit them. The app also has a Focus Mode with a timer, category based blocking, and it can sync across devices if you use the Chrome extension on desktop too. The free version gives you a limited number of blocked sites and the premium unlocks unlimited blocking plus scheduling features.

##Cold Turkey Blocker##

This one is no joke. Once you set a block schedule on Cold Turkey, there is literally no way to bypass it until the timer runs out. You cannot uninstall the app during a block session and you cannot override it. That is the whole point. It is designed for people who know they will try to cheat. The scheduling system lets you create detailed weekly plans with different rules for each day. It is a paid app but the one time purchase is worth it if you are serious about this.

##Freedom App##

Freedom works across Android, iOS, Mac, and Windows so if you are blocking on multiple devices this is a strong pick. You create block lists called sessions and you can start them manually or schedule them. Freedom blocks sites at the VPN level so it works across every browser and app on your phone. The Locked Mode feature prevents you from changing your block list during an active session. It runs on a subscription model.

##AppBlock##

This one focuses more on blocking apps rather than websites but it does both. You can create profiles with different rules. For example a Study profile that blocks social media apps and their websites from 9 AM to 5 PM on weekdays. It uses the Android Accessibility Service to monitor and block access. The Strict Mode makes it impossible to change settings during an active blocking session.

##Stay Focused##

Stay Focused gives you app and website blocking with usage limits. Instead of a hard block you can set a daily time limit. So you could say you are allowed 30 minutes of Instagram per day and once that is up it locks you out. It also has a Strict Mode where you cannot disable the blocking without waiting for a cooldown period. Works well for people who do not want a complete blackout but want to limit their usage.

Each of these has a different approach so pick the one that matches how you actually behave when you are trying to avoid distractions.

4

The two answers above from PixelPioneer23 and CloudKernel11 pretty much cover everything you need, CloudShift. Between the built in Android features and the third party apps they listed, you have got a full toolkit right there.

What I want to add is some context on why certain approaches work better in specific situations. The DNS method that PixelPioneer23 mentioned using Private DNS is actually one of the most underrated options because it works system wide without draining your battery. A lot of these third party apps run a local VPN in the background which can eat into your battery life over time. If battery is a concern for you, the DNS route is the lighter option.

On the app side, I think CloudKernel11 nailed it with Cold Turkey Blocker. I have used it myself during deadline weeks and the fact that you literally cannot bypass it once it is running is what makes it different from everything else. Most other blockers have some kind of backdoor or uninstall workaround, but Cold Turkey locks you out for real.

One more thing that is worth mentioning is NetGuard. It is an open source firewall app that gives you per app internet access control. So instead of blocking websites, you block specific apps from connecting to the internet entirely. If your main issue is with the YouTube app or the Instagram app rather than the websites in a browser, NetGuard is a clean solution. You just toggle off internet access for those apps during study hours and toggle it back on when you are done.

Also want to point out that if you combine Digital Wellbeing Focus Mode with one of the third party website blockers, you get a pretty airtight setup. Focus Mode handles the apps and the blocker handles the browser side. That way nothing slips through.

5

Big agree with what has been said so far. PixelPioneer23 and CloudKernel11 dropped some really solid options and DevSyncer made a great point about combining methods for a tighter setup.

I want to build on the DNS angle a bit more because I think that is where a lot of people miss out. If you go with the Private DNS approach, you do not have to stick with the default AdGuard DNS. You can actually set up a free NextDNS account which gives you way more control. With NextDNS, you get a custom DNS endpoint that you enter in your Android Private DNS settings, and from their dashboard you can add specific domains to a deny list. So if you want to block reddit.com and instagram.com at the DNS level, you just add them to your NextDNS blocklist and they will stop loading across every app and browser on your phone.

The reason this matters is that a lot of website blocking apps only work inside the browser. If you open the Reddit app directly, those browser based blockers do nothing. But DNS level blocking catches everything because all traffic goes through DNS resolution first. No DNS resolution, no connection, no distraction.

Now there is a limitation. DNS blocking is an all or nothing approach for each domain. You cannot say block Reddit from 9 AM to 5 PM using DNS alone. For time based scheduling, you still need one of the apps CloudKernel11 mentioned. But what you can do is combine them. Use NextDNS for always blocked sites and then use something like AppBlock for the time scheduled stuff.

Another tool I would throw into the mix is Hosts Go. It is an app that modifies your local hosts file to redirect blocked domains to nowhere. It is similar to how desktop users edit their hosts file on Windows or Mac. The app needs no root access on newer versions and gives you fine grained domain level blocking. It is lightweight, free, and does not run a VPN service so zero battery impact.

The key takeaway is that layering multiple methods is better than relying on a single app. DNS for the foundation, a dedicated blocker for scheduling, and Focus Mode for the app side.

6

Let me share what actually happened with me because I was in the exact same situation as CloudShift about six months ago. I am a freelance developer and my biggest problem was that every time I opened my browser to look up documentation, I would end up on Twitter or some news site and lose 45 minutes without even realizing it.

First thing I tried was just using Digital Wellbeing. Set up Focus Mode, paused the Twitter app, paused the news app. That worked for about two days. The problem was that I would just open Chrome and go to the mobile sites instead. Focus Mode does not block websites in the browser so it was basically useless for my situation.

Then I installed BlockSite. It worked well at first. I added all the sites I wanted blocked and it showed a nice block page when I tried to visit them. But here is the thing, I figured out I could just switch to Firefox or Samsung Internet and BlockSite only had its filter running on Chrome. So that did not last either.

That is when I switched to a different approach entirely. I set up Blokada. It is a free and open source ad blocker and content filter that runs as a local VPN on your phone. The difference with Blokada is that it intercepts all DNS traffic from every app and every browser on your phone. I added my distraction sites to the block list inside Blokada and suddenly it did not matter which browser I used or whether I went through an app or a web link. Everything was blocked at the network level.

The result after using Blokada for six months is that my average screen time on non work apps dropped from about 4 hours a day to around 1 hour. The setup took me about 15 minutes and I have not had to touch it since. I keep it running during weekdays and I turn it off on weekends.

For someone like CloudShift who is a student, I think the network level approach is the way to go because students tend to have multiple browsers and apps installed and you do not want to be configuring blockers for each one separately.