How do I let a friend hold the key to blocking on my phone?
Published 27 August 2026 - last updated 13 October 2026
Install Tabaa Children on your phone and have your friend install the supervisor app on theirs. From then on they block and unblock, you cannot stop or delete the protection from your phone, and factory reset from Settings is locked. And if you want nobody involved at all, Tabaa Adults protects you with no supervisor.
Why the key in a friend’s hand makes the difference
Any blocker you can remove yourself will be removed in the first weak moment. When the key is with a friend you trust, that moment passes with no door in front of you. And your friend is not a spectator reading a report after the damage is done: they decide what opens, and the block itself is in their hands.
How it works
Tabaa Children installs on your phone with Device Owner rights, Android’s highest administrative privilege. The operating system itself does the blocking: on any launcher, on Wi-Fi and on mobile data, with any SIM. Your friend controls all of it from the supervisor app on their phone, and any change they make reaches your phone in seconds.
The steps
- Agree with your friend: they hold the key and lift any block.
- Your friend installs the supervisor app and creates an account.
- You install Tabaa Children on your phone from a computer over the charging cable, with no factory reset and nothing erased.
- Link your phone to your friend’s account.
- Start the monthly or yearly subscription from the pricing page, and protection starts at once.
Who can do what?
| Action | You | Your friend, the supervisor |
|---|---|---|
| Delete or disable the protection app | No | Yes, from the supervisor app |
| Force stop the app or clear its data | No, the system removes both buttons | Not needed |
| Factory reset from Settings | No, it is locked | Controls the lock |
| Block or allow an app or site | No | Yes, and it arrives in seconds |
| Second space, work profile or cloned app | No, all locked | Controls the locks |
| Run a VPN or change the DNS | No | Locked on the device |
| Change the phone’s clock to skip a mode | No, the clock follows network time | Unaffected |
| Sleep, study and strict focus modes | No | Yes |
| Daily time limits per app | No | Yes |
| Usage reports | No | Yes |
Pick someone you truly trust, because they will see your usage reports and the phone’s location. And agree from the start on what gets blocked and when it lifts.
Protection with no known gaps
- No hidden space: adding users, second space, work profiles, cloned apps and the private space are all locked.
- Filtering from the system: the private DNS is pinned to Tabaa’s server and locked, so it reaches the browser and pages that open inside any app or game.
- Every VPN, proxy and DNS changer is banned, even one installed before Tabaa.
- It works offline and after a reboot, because the rules live on the device.
- It updates itself, with no store and no step from anyone.
- Your accounts stay free: sign in with as many Google accounts as you like; protection is tied to the device, not the account.
And the computer?
Tabaa Desktop for Windows blocks sites, programs, folders and browser extensions, and removal needs a password. If you want your friend holding that key too, let them type the password.
What if there is no friend I trust?
You do not need anyone. Tabaa Adults blocks pornography from the first minute, cannot be stopped or deleted from inside the phone, and any commitment you set on yourself holds until its time. Start from the page for adults.
Common questions
- Does someone have to watch me?
- No. Tabaa Adults has no supervisor at all: you choose what to block, and once a block is mandatory you cannot lift it before its time. The friend-as-supervisor route is for someone who wants another person holding the key.
- What exactly will my friend see?
- How long each app was used, the list of installed apps, and the phone's location on a map. Not your messages, photos or chats, because Tabaa never asks for those permissions.
- What if the subscription runs out?
- Three days of grace in which nothing changes. After that protection pauses until your friend renews; the app stays on the phone and factory reset stays locked, and the moment they renew everything comes back as it was.