Troubleshooting screen time & web filtering

If Bark is blocking every single internet-based app or site on your child's device, then jump down to "Bark is blocking everything" below.

If Bark is blocking particular apps or sites, let's figure it out with this guide:

Allow an App or Site

Learn how to do this on purpose or how to troubleshoot if texting is blocked and you don’t want it to be.

Block Text Messages

If you experience a big drop in internet speed while using Bark, you can check some settings to help fix it.

Learn more and take care of it with this guide:

Slow internet speeds

Learn more and take care of it with this guide:

Screen time protection has been disrupted

Learn more and take care of it with this guide:

Bark Home has lost contact

Learn more and take care of it with this guide:

Mobile screen time & filtering was manually disabled

Learn more and take care of it with this guide:

How to prevent your kid from deleting Bark

We're sorry to hear that! We'll get you all fixed up.

1. First, restart your child's device. 
2. Wait a few minutes for Bark to settle in.
3. Check whether you accidentally paused the internet.
4. See if you've accidentally set very strict screen time rules.
5. Try clearing the cache of their browser app(s), like Chrome or Safari.
   
   💡 Why? This can help in clearing out the temporary files that devices build up over time to try to make browsing seem "faster." They do this by "caching" (or saving) webpages, which is why clearing the cache may help.
6. Check for updates to the Bark Kids app on your child's device.
7. Check that it's not some other web filter or third-party VPN you have in place.
   
   💡 Why? We recommend only using one web filter on a child's device at a time so that it's easier for you to manage rules. For example, if there is an unexpected block, you don't want to have to look at two different services' rules to figure out which one is the culprit. 
8. Kid is using an Android?
   • Turn off Private DNS in their Settings app.
   • Turn off Secure DNS in their Chrome app.
9. Kid is using a Chromebook? Turn off Secure DNS in their settings.

If Bark is allowing everything, it sounds like screen time protection has been disrupted on that device. Learn how to take care of it with our guide below:

Screen time protection has been disrupted

This is usually indicative of the wrong time zone being set in your Bark account settings. It's an easy fix! Click here for steps on how to take care of it.

If your child's Chromebook is not being filtered, check out this guide for tips:

Screen time protection disrupted on Chromebook

If your child's Mac or Windows computer is not being filtered, check out this guide for tips:

Mac or Windows Computer is not being filtered

Follow this guide to get fixed up!

Set up in-home filtering on Amazon Fire

Since the Bark Kids app acts as a gatekeeper for your child's web activity, certain reporting apps like Apple Screen Time might wrongly assign all cellular data traffic on the device to the Bark Kids app.

This happens because your child may have been using their favorite apps and games while the Bark Kids app was running in the background. As a result, Apple Screen Time wrongly blames all data usage on the Bark Kids app.

This issue affects older iPhones and iPads (iOS 12 or older). Here's how to fix it!

1. On your kid's iPhone or iPad, open Settings.
2. Tap General.
3. Tap Software Update.
4. Install any updates available.
5. Open Settings again.
6. Tap  Bark Kids.
7. Tap Notifications.
8. Tap Lockscreen. 
9. Disable lockscreen notifications.

1. Make sure YouTube is allowed in your child's screen time settings.
2. Check whether YouTube Restricted Mode is enabled. If it is, inappropriate videos won't be able to be watched.

Devices only allow one VPN to be connected at a time.

Learn more and take care of it with this guide:

Private address or randomized MAC address

Learn more about the Anonymous Devices profile below:

In-Home Filtering Profiles