Holding the key.
A walk-through for the person setting it up on his iPhone, in person.
If you are reading this, he has asked you to hold a key for him. Bramble blocks porn on his iPhone, and on its own the switch that turns it off is his. Keyholder mode moves that switch to you. You set an Apple Screen Time passcode on his phone that he never sees, and while it is in place, turning Bramble’s protections off or deleting the app needs that passcode. It runs through you rather than a switch he holds.
It takes a few minutes, with his phone in your hands. The passcode can only be set on his phone, in Apple’s own Settings, and he should not be the one typing it. Bramble never sets, sees or holds the passcode — you do. You do not need to use Bramble yourself for any of this.
Before you start
- His phone, your hands. Everything below happens on his iPhone. When you type the passcode, he looks away.
- Bramble goes quiet for a moment, and comes back. The instant you switch Restrictions on, Bramble’s protections drop out. That is expected. Step 9 brings them back, before anything is locked.
- Have somewhere to write the passcode down, somewhere he won’t find it. You will skip Apple’s passcode recovery on purpose, in steps 11 and 12. With recovery skipped, a forgotten Screen Time passcode means erasing the phone.
The steps
Thirteen of them. Apple’s own labels are in bold, exactly as they appear on the screen.
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Open Settings, then Screen Time.
Tap Content & Privacy Restrictions.
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Turn the switch on.
Content & Privacy Restrictions
Bramble goes quiet at this point. That is expected — it comes back at step 9.
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Open App Installations & Purchases.
The same screen
Two of the settings you need live in here.
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Deleting Apps: Don’t Allow.
Always. This is what keeps Bramble on the phone.
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Installing Apps: Don’t Allow — only if he chose to seal new installs.
He will know whether he chose Seal new installs in Bramble; ask him. If he did not, leave this one alone.
If he did: it also greys out App Store, Web and App Marketplaces beneath it, and it stops every download and every update, Bramble’s included, for as long as it is set.
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Check it reads like this.
App Installations & Purchases
Deleting Apps says Don’t Allow. Installing Apps does too, if he sealed installs.
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Go back, scroll down, open Accounts.
Content & Privacy Restrictions
It sits under Allow Changes to:. Older versions of iOS call it Account Changes.
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Accounts: Don’t Allow.
Then leave everything else on that list alone.
If you are doing any of the extra credit below, this is the moment for it — before step 9, and before anything is locked.
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Back in Bramble: re-arm, then Safari.
Open Bramble on his phone. Tap Re-arm, then wake the Safari filter. Bramble shows a green check for each.
Do not lock anything until both are green.
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Lock Screen Time Settings.
Settings › Screen Time, scrolled to the very bottom
He looks away. Choose a passcode he would never guess — not his phone’s passcode, nothing he could work out. Write it down where he won’t find it.
The next two screens come quickly, and they are where it most often goes wrong.
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Slow down here
Passcode Recovery: tap Cancel.
Screen Time Passcode Recovery
iOS asks for an Apple Account the moment the passcode is set. Tap Cancel.
Never enter his Apple Account — that hands the key straight back to him. Never tap Forgot password? either. If his email is already filled in, still tap Cancel.
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And here
“Are you sure?” Tap Skip.
Cancel is followed by a second question. Tap Skip — not Provide Apple Account.
With recovery skipped, a forgotten passcode means erasing the phone. That is why you wrote it down.
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Done when it says Change Screen Time Passcode.
Settings › Screen Time
When the button at the bottom reads Change Screen Time Passcode, the lock is set. Hand the phone back to him; he finishes in Bramble.
Extra credit (optional, before the lock)
None of this is needed for Keyholder mode to work. If you want to do any of it, do it after step 8 and before step 9, while nothing is locked. It all lives in Content & Privacy Restrictions › App Store, Media, Web, & Games.
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Web Content: Limit Adult Websites.
Apple’s own adult-site filter, underneath Bramble’s. Of the three, this is the one worth doing.
We have not yet tested it alongside Bramble’s filters on a real phone. If Bramble’s Safari check will not go green at step 9 afterwards, set Web Content back to Unrestricted before you lock anything.
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Movies and TV Shows: pick a ceiling.
The pictures here use R for films and TV-14 for shows. These only cover films and shows from Apple — not Netflix, not YouTube.
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Apps: leave it at 18+.
Bramble is rated for adults. Set Apps any lower and iOS hides Bramble itself. If he sealed new installs at step 5, new downloads are already stopped, which is all an age limit on apps was going to do.
If something does not match
These screens were checked on iOS 26.5 in September 2026. Apple renames things from time to time, so a label may read slightly differently on his phone.
If you are stuck, or something went wrong partway through, write to help@getbramble.app or use the form on the help page. You do not need a Bramble account to write, and we read every message.
If you want to see the app he is using, it is on the App Store.