Real-time detection
Frames are analysed continuously while the screen is on. Explicit imagery is covered the moment it renders — no delay, no manual action, nothing to tap.
Now on Google Play
Block explicit content anywhere on your device
ScreenBlock is a free Android app that detects and covers explicit imagery the instant it appears — in every app, on any network. Detection runs entirely on your phone, so nothing you see is ever uploaded.
Free · Android 12L+ · No account required
What it is
A filter that watches the screen, not the network
ScreenBlock is an Android app that blocks explicit content in real time across every app on your device. Instead of maintaining a blocklist of websites, it analyses what is actually being drawn on your screen. When an on-device AI model recognises explicit imagery, ScreenBlock covers it with an overlay before you have time to register what you were looking at.
That difference matters. Domain blocklists and DNS filters only know about sites someone has already catalogued — they miss brand-new sites entirely, they cannot see inside a social media feed, and they stop working the moment a device leaves the home Wi-Fi. Because ScreenBlock reads the rendered screen, it does not care which app the content came from, whether the site is known, or which network you are on.
Everything happens locally. The model is bundled inside the app and runs on your phone's own processor, which means ScreenBlock works in airplane mode and never sends a single byte of screen content anywhere.
Who it's for
Three reasons people install ScreenBlock
The same protection, applied to very different situations.
Parents & families
A parental control that covers every app rather than one browser, and stays locked behind a PIN your child does not have. Protection that follows the device to school, to a friend's house, and onto mobile data.
Parental control guide →Anyone quitting porn
A real-time barrier between an impulse and an image. Set the PIN when you are thinking clearly, hand it to someone you trust, and remove the option of a five-second relapse.
How it supports recovery →Work & public spaces
Ads, autoplay videos and hijacked links do not respect context. ScreenBlock keeps your screen appropriate in an open-plan office, on a train, or anywhere someone could glance over.
See how it works →How it works
Four taps to set up. Then you forget it exists.
1
Install the app
Get ScreenBlock from Google Play, then allow screen access and the overlay permission when prompted.
2
Set your PIN
Choose a code that locks the settings. Protection cannot be paused or removed without it.
3
Start protection
Tap Start. ScreenBlock begins analysing frames and runs quietly in the background.
4
Stay protected
Explicit imagery gets covered the instant it appears — in any app, automatically, forever.
Comparison
Why screen-level filtering wins
Most content filters block domains. Here is what that costs you in practice.
| Capability | ScreenBlock | Browser extension | DNS filter | Router filter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Covers every app, not just a browser | Yes | Browser only | Partial | Partial |
| Still works on mobile data | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Works with no internet at all | Yes | N/A | No | No |
| Catches brand-new, uncatalogued sites | Yes | No | No | No |
| Filters images inside social feeds | Yes | Rarely | No | No |
| Works in incognito / private mode | Yes | Often disabled | Yes | Yes |
| No browsing data leaves the device | Yes | Varies | Queries logged | Queries logged |
| Locked behind a PIN | Yes | No | Varies | Yes |
Comparison reflects the typical behaviour of each category of tool. Individual products vary.
Features
Protection that works everywhere
System-wide coverage
Chrome, Firefox, Instagram, X, Reddit, Snapchat, Telegram, TikTok, your gallery, any video player. If it draws to the screen, ScreenBlock sees it.
PIN-locked controls
Set a PIN and the filter cannot be paused, reconfigured, or turned off without it — the difference between a suggestion and an actual boundary.
Private by design
Frames are analysed in memory and discarded. Nothing is written to disk, nothing is transmitted, and the app ships with no analytics or tracking of any kind.
Always running
A lightweight foreground service keeps protection alive through reboots and app switches, so there is no window where the filter quietly stopped.
No internet needed
The AI model runs on your device's own hardware. ScreenBlock keeps filtering in airplane mode, on a plane, or with no signal at all.
Privacy
The app that watches your screen and remembers nothing
A content filter that reads your screen is asking for a lot of trust. So here is exactly what happens to that data: nothing.
Each frame is passed to the on-device model, evaluated, and released from memory. It is never written to storage. It is never queued for upload. There is no server to upload it to — ScreenBlock has no backend, no account system, and no network calls related to detection. The app contains no analytics SDK, no crash reporter that captures screen data, and no advertising identifiers.
You can verify this the simple way: turn on airplane mode. ScreenBlock keeps working exactly as before, because it never needed the network to begin with.
FAQ
Common questions
What is ScreenBlock?
ScreenBlock is a free Android app that detects and blurs explicit content in real time across every app on your device. It uses an on-device AI model, so detection works fully offline and nothing on your screen is ever uploaded, stored, or shared.
How does ScreenBlock detect explicit content?
ScreenBlock reads the current screen through Android's Media Projection API and runs each frame through an on-device machine learning model trained to recognise explicit imagery. When the model flags a frame, ScreenBlock immediately draws an opaque overlay above the offending app. The whole process happens locally on your phone's processor in a fraction of a second.
Does ScreenBlock work without internet?
Yes. ScreenBlock works fully offline. The AI model is bundled inside the app and runs on your device's own hardware. There is no cloud server, no API call, and no network dependency — the filter keeps working in airplane mode.
Does it collect my data or store screenshots?
No. ScreenBlock collects zero data. Screen frames are analysed in memory and discarded immediately. Nothing is written to storage, nothing is uploaded, and the app contains no analytics or tracking of any kind.
Which apps does ScreenBlock work with?
All of them. Because ScreenBlock analyses the screen itself rather than network traffic, it covers every app on the device — Chrome, Firefox, Instagram, X, Reddit, Snapchat, Telegram, WhatsApp, TikTok, your photo gallery, and any video player.
Can someone disable it without permission?
Not if you set a PIN. ScreenBlock includes PIN-locked controls, so protection cannot be paused, reconfigured, or switched off without the code. That makes it suitable as a parental control on a child's device and as an accountability tool on your own.
Does it work in incognito or private browsing?
Yes. ScreenBlock analyses what is rendered on screen, not browsing history or network requests, so private browsing modes and incognito tabs are filtered exactly like normal ones.
How is this different from a DNS or router filter?
DNS and router filters block known domains. They fail on unknown sites, they cannot see inside a social media feed, and they stop applying once the device leaves the home network or switches to mobile data. ScreenBlock analyses the rendered screen instead, so it catches explicit imagery regardless of which app or website produced it, on any network.
Does ScreenBlock drain the battery?
ScreenBlock runs as an efficient foreground service and only analyses frames while the screen is on. The on-device model is small and optimised for mobile processors, so day-to-day battery impact stays modest.
Is ScreenBlock free?
Yes. ScreenBlock is free on Google Play, with no account and no subscription.
Get started
Get ScreenBlock on Google Play
Free, with no account and no subscription. Install it, turn protection on, and lock it with a PIN.