A betting site still loads
Updated September 2026
Open the Shield tab and read the web tile's one word first, because that word decides which of these scenarios you are in. On means the shield is answering and the site you hit is either not on its list or was reached through something that answers before it. Standing by means another VPN or private relay is answering instead. Off or Unknown means the shield is not holding at all, and turning it on takes about a minute.
Three things block a site, and each fails differently
There is no single block screen for the web, so what you saw tells you which layer caught the site and which one did not.
The web shield is a DNS setting. Every address this phone asks for goes to Fold'em's own resolver first, and a known gambling domain is answered with nothing, so the page never loads and the browser reports that the server cannot be found. It looks like a broken site rather than a block, deliberately: the shield never gets the chance to draw a screen, because the request stops before the site is ever reached. It covers about 356,500 known gambling sites and it covers every browser on the phone, since they all ask the same resolver.
The Safari filter is Screen Time's own restricted site list, and it carries ten named sportsbooks and casinos. When one of those is opened, Safari draws Apple's restricted site page. That page is Apple's, not Fold'em's, and it reaches Safari only.
A website you added yourself in the picker is sealed the way an app is, so it draws Fold'em's own block screen. Those sites are yours and are added through the same add path the apps use, up to fifty of them.
The web tile is the first thing to read
The tile on the Shield tab says one word about whether the resolver is answering, and it is a reading rather than a claim: the app watches the setting and reports what iOS says, and it never holds the switch itself.
On, over Sites never load, means the shield is answering. A site that loads anyway is either not on the list, or was reached through an address the list does not carry.
Standing by, over Another VPN in front, means a VPN or a private relay is answering DNS before the shield can. That is honest rather than broken, and it is often nothing sinister: the shield cannot answer a question it is never asked. It takes over again on its own the moment that setting goes off.
Off, over Sites load normally, means the DNS setting was never enabled or was switched off in iOS Settings.
Unknown, over Could not read, means the app could not read the setting at all. It is not the same as off, and the app deliberately refuses to guess: a read failure says nothing about whether the shield is holding, so the tile stays neutral and offers you Try again and Set it up rather than an alarm.
What to do, by what the tile says
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If it reads On
The shield is answering, so the site is one the resolver's list does not carry. Add it yourself: open the web tile, then Sites you added, then the add path, and the site joins the seal for the rest of your term. Check the browser too, because a site opened inside another app's own browser still goes through the resolver but is not covered by the Safari filter.
The web tile, on
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If it reads Standing by
Turn the other VPN or private relay off and the shield resumes by itself. Nothing in Fold'em can push it in front of a VPN you chose to run, and nothing here pretends otherwise. Your own added sites still apply in Safari while this lasts.
Standing by
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If it reads Off or Unknown
Open the tile and use Set it up. The sheet reads the setting again when it opens and starts you at the beat that is actually true, so a shield that is saved but switched off skips the save and goes straight to the three steps into iOS Settings. There is no in app off switch anywhere in Fold'em, because iOS owns that switch and the app can only watch it.
Status unknown
What this does not do
The web shield does not block a site on a laptop, a second phone or anyone else's device: it is a setting on this iPhone and it reaches nothing beyond it. It never tells your keyholder which site you asked for, and no site name or web address reaches them at all. It does not block the whole internet or anything that merely mentions gambling, only domains on its list. And it is not a lock: iOS holds the switch, so it can be turned off in Settings at any time. What Fold'em does about that is show it on the tile and raise the fault on Home, where it stays until the shield is back.
Still stuck? Email support@foldem.app and we answer within two working days.