Articles on: iPhone and iPad

How to supervise and lock down protection on an iPhone or iPad (Mac)

This guide demonstrates how to supervise and lock down Safe Surfer protection on an iPhone or iPad with a Mac device. If you would like to do this with a Windows device instead, you can find out how to do so by clicking this link.

Important information

IMPORTANT: Please read the following information before proceeding with the guide. If you are not comfortable with the potential risks involved, we strongly recommend switching the device user to a Samsung mobile device, where locking down Safe Surfer protection is officially supported by Samsung's device features.

This app tool is not supported by Apple. Before attempting to supervise an iPhone or iPad device, please perform a device backup before attempting to supervise it. Safe Surfer is not responsible for any data loss or damage regarding the device you attempt to supervise. You cannot supervise a device that is not owned by you (for example, if the device is owned by a work or school organisation). Please read through the supervision instructions slowly, as there are multiple steps where you could get lost, or issues that could otherwise take place. If you get stuck at any point (for example, if the supervison tool displays a progress error without specific instructions), try closing the tool and repeating the steps.

If any Apple Screen Time settings have already been applied to the device you want to supervise, they will not take effect after the supervision process due to how iPhone and iPad devices work. To help mitigate this, please turn off any applied settings on the device itself (inside the Settings app > Screen Time) and confirm that the changes have taken effect. With regard to re-enabling Apple Screen Time settings, we will link to further instructions at the bottom of this guide.

Getting started

Before we get started, you'll need the following to proceed:

A Mac laptop or desktop.
A genuine Apple USB cable. This guide will not work if you use a cable that is not manufactured by Apple. You can verify that a cable is manufactured by Apple by checking for a serial number printed on the cable itself (which can be faint grey printing on one end of the cable). The printing should read, "Designed by Apple in California Assembled in [country] A1B2C3D4E5F6".
Your child's iPhone/iPad unlock passcode.
Your child's iCloud account password (which is different to the unlock passcode).

If you haven't already installed the Safe Surfer app on the iPhone/iPad device you want to supervise, you'll first need to do this by clicking this link.

Step 1: Visit the Safe Surfer dashboard

If you were directed to this guide from the Safe Surfer dashboard, skip ahead to step 2.

On the Safe Surfer dashboard, visit the Devices menu, then click the "More info" button on the applicable device listing.

Click the Prevent Uninstall button.

Step 2: Turn off Find My

To supervise an iPhone or iPad device, you will first need to temporarily turn off Find My.

Open the Settings app.

Tap the account section at the top.

Tap the Find My menu.

Tap the Find My [iPhone/iPad] menu.

Tap the Find My [iPhone/iPad] switch to turn it off.

If you see a message regarding the Stolen Device Protection feature, you can first disable this by navigating to the Settings app main menu > Face ID (or Touch ID) & Passcode > turn off Stolen Device Protection. If the device is not in a known location, there is a one hour duration for turning off Stolen Device Protection.

Enter the password of your child's iCloud account, then tap the Turn Off option at the upper-right corner.

Find My [iPhone/iPad] should now be turned off. You can now go to the device's Home Screen.

Step 3: Supervise device

Back on the Safe Surfer dashboard, click the Download for Mac (Apple Silicon) button.

If you're using an older Mac with an Intel processor (that is, anything manufactured before 2020), you'll first need to click the drop-down arrow, then select the "Download for Mac (Intel)" option. You can then proceed with downloading the tool.

Once the supervision tool has downloaded, click the Downloads section on the dock.

Click the Open in Finder option.

Double-click the supervision tool archive to unzip it.

Open the supervision tool (that is, the app with the Safe Surfer icon that has just been unzipped).

On the prompt that appears, click the Open button.

Once the supervision tool has opened, we'll need to connect the iPhone/iPad device to the device.

Leave the tool window open while we connect the iPhone/iPad to your Mac device.

Plug one end of the Apple USB cable into your Mac device.

Unlock the iPhone/iPad device using its unlock passcode.

Plug the other end of the Apple USB cable into the iPhone/iPad device.

After plugging in the cable, the iPhone/iPad device should ask you for permission to trust the device (that is, your Mac device). Tap the Trust option.

If you don't see a prompt to trust the Mac, it's likely already trusted.

Attempt to verify with Touch ID (which will then give you an option to enter your child's unlock passcode).

Enter your child's passcode.

Click the Next button on the supervision tool.

Once you've confirmed that the supervision tool has detected the correct device, click the Yes button.

Click the Supervise Now button.

IMPORTANT: Once you've clicked the Supervise Now button, don't close out of the supervision tool or click the Done button that appears next, as we need this later.

After the device has restarted, press the Home button (or swipe the bar up if the device doesn't have a Home button).

Enter your child's unlock passcode. This might take a moment.

Due to the supervision process, the device wallpaper might be reset, which is normal. It can be changed later.

Unlock the device once the process has finished. Once you've reached the Home Screen, tap the Trust button on the prompt that appears, then enter your child's unlock passcode. Click the Done button on the supervision tool.

The supervision tool will open a new browser tab/window. After it's done this, you can return to this guide to continue reading the full instructions.

The supervision tool will take you to the Safe Surfer dashboard, where we can continue the lockdown process. As an option, you can first select the "Disable factory reset" setting, which will stop your child from being able to factory reset the device.

IMPORTANT: If you choose to enable the "Disable factory reset" feature and lose your Safe Surfer supervision profile password (for example, if you delete the iPhone/iPad device listing on the Safe Surfer dashboard), we cannot help you reset the device. Please use this setting with caution.

Step 4: Install supervision profile

The supervision profile overwrites the protection profile installed by the Safe Surfer app (as the supervision profile contains additional lockdown features). Back on the iPhone/iPad device, tap the Camera app.

Hover over the QR code on the Safe Surfer dashboard, then tap the yellow tag.

Tap the Allow option on the prompt that appears.

Tap the Close option.

Open the Settings app.

Tap the Profile Downloaded menu.

Tap the Install option at the upper-right corner.

Enter your child's unlock passcode.

Tap the Install option at the upper-right corner.

Tap the Install button.

Tap the Done option at the upper-right corner.

The supervision profile has now been installed.

Step 5: Turn on Find My

Go to the Settings main menu, then tap the account section at the top.

Tap the Find My menu.

Tap the Find My [iPhone/iPad] menu.

Tap the switch to turn on Find My [iPhone/iPad].

Find My has now been re-enabled. You can now navigate back to the Settings main menu, and then return to the Home Screen.

If you turned off the Stolen Device Protection feature earlier on, you can now enable it again. You can do this by navigating to the Settings app main menu > Face ID (or Touch ID) & Passcode > turn on Stolen Device Protection.

IMPORTANT: You can now safely delete the supervision app tool from your Downloads folder. In addition, you should also restart your computer now. This makes sure that the supervision process will work correctly if you later attempt to supervise further devices. Please note that there are still additional important steps to complete with Apple Screen Time. Once you've restarted your computer, you will need to continue with step 2 of the iPhone/iPad stop uninstallation guide.

Updated on: 22/04/2025

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