The Device Config Generator can be used to disable and prevent the installation of browsers or similar applications. In some cases, you can remove critical browsing features from some of the applications, or combine settings with your Content Policy to prevent the installation of these applications on your Mac or iPhone.
Disable Browsers
There are instances where you may need to ensure a specific browser is used on your device exclusively. For example, you might use a browsing extension on a Mac computer to help filter content that is only compatible with the Safari browser and need like to disable Chrome.
On Mac
The Config Generator supports the ability to disable Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Brave, Safari, and Firefox browsers. This setting is managed under the Web content tab:
When a browser is disabled, it isn't blocked on your system. Instead, many features critical for modern browsing are disabled, making it very difficult or impossible to use the application normally.
When a browser is disabled, the following features are also disabled:
- Most URLs are blocked, except for a few websites related to Tech Lockdown.
- JavaScript is disabled for most websites. Even performing a Google search is made extremely difficult
- Cookies are blocked on most websites, meaning it's not possible to sign into most websites.
If you need to block other browsers, please keep reading.
Blocking Other Web Browsers
If you need to block web browsers that aren't supported by the Config Generator, there are many options you can consider. In general, you will need to remove the application from your device and prevent it from being reinstalled later.
On Mac
If you need to block another browser on Mac, here are our recommended steps:
- If the unwanted browser is installed on your Mac, uninstall it by following these instructions.
- Block the official websites used to download the browser.
- Optionally, disable the App Store on your Mac computer to prevent downloading alternatives.
Recommendations for Blocking Websites Used to Download Browsers
We recommend copying and pasting the URL of the main webpage used to download the browser directly into the Device Config Generator. Make sure that you re-sync your Config to your Mac to start applying changes.
If your Mac is connected to your Content Policy, you can also block the domain used to download the browser for an additional layer.
We also have advice for hard-coding a website block directly on your Mac in our guide for using the Hosts file here.
Disabling the App Store to Updates Only
We also recommend using the Device Config Generator to limit the App Store to only update current apps:
This will keep current apps updated, but you will not be able to install new Apps.
On iPhone
For iPhone devices, we recommend using Supervised App Blocking to block unwanted web browsers directly from the App Store for best results. This is only available if your iPhone is supervised.
Standard iPhone recommendations
If your iPhone isn't supervised, we recommend some alternatives in our guide here.