Circle lets you set up your Filter Settings as you'd like. You can set up sites, apps, or categories of sites to be allowed, blocked, or to never be managed by Circle. Using Circle you can also set up a profile that only allows a limited site of sites.
Setting up a limited set of allowed sites
You can set up your profiles so that only an allowed set of sites load for the devices that are assigned to that profile (this used to be called whitelisting/blacklisting).
To set up a small list of allowed sites/apps on your profile:
- Open the profile you’d like to edit.
- Tap on the Filter section for the profile.
- Recommendation: tap on the Adult filter level to set the profile for the most customization options. See our article on Filter Level Defaults for more info on each level.
- Tap on the Allowed button next to the app or category to set it as Not Allowed. Circle lets you set any number of apps or category of sites to Not Allowed to block them.
- Use the Custom Filter feature to set up customizations for any site.
Note: Keep in mind that setting a category of sites to Not Allowed does not block specific apps. To block those set the apps in the list to Not Allowed.
Warning: unexpected Filtering issues
If you choose to set up a very small list of allowed sites for the profile and set a number of categories to Not Allowed you might start seeing connectivity issues for devices on that profile. Sites and apps on the device may load a number of resources from other sites when connecting. These resources may fall into the category of sites you set to Not Allowed. If you end up having connectivity issues for these sites you can check the History >> Filtered section for the profile to see what sites need added to your list to allow traffic.
Is a site being Filtered that you want Allowed?
The History view will allow you to see timelines of sites that have been visited or filtered for each profile that you have set up. If a site gets filtered, it will often show up in the Filtered list. Here's how to allow specific sites that Circle has filtered out:
- Open the profile settings for the family member whose device is having trouble.
- Tap the History option.
- Select each website you find in there you would like to be allowed, and tap "Set as Allowed" for that family member. This will add the site to their Custom Filter as a site to always allow.
- Now, try the site again; it should load properly.