FocusEdgeIt starts with one video "for the chapter". Then the next video plays by itself, then Shorts, and the maths is still not done. If your child does homework on your phone, YouTube is usually the first thing you want to shut.
In short: YouTube's own settings don't stop videos, they only filter them. To block YouTube you have to lock both the app and youtube.com in the browser, and the lock needs a PIN that only you know.
What doesn't work
Restricted Mode
Restricted Mode hides some mature videos. Everything else still plays, including cartoons, gaming videos and endless Shorts. It filters YouTube; it doesn't block it.
YouTube Kids
YouTube Kids is a separate app with videos picked for children. It is still a video app, and a child can watch it for hours. It doesn't stop the main YouTube app either.
Uninstalling or disabling YouTube
On most Android phones, YouTube is built in, so you can only disable it. That hides it for you too, and youtube.com still opens in Chrome. You then have to remember to turn it back on every time.
Hiding the icon
Children find hidden apps quickly, from search, from a link in WhatsApp, or from a shared video.
What partly works
Focus mode in Digital Wellbeing
Open Settings → Digital Wellbeing & parental controls → Focus mode, pick YouTube and turn it on. The app pauses, but there is no PIN: it switches off from the quick settings panel in one tap. And youtube.com still works in the browser.
App timers
In the same Digital Wellbeing screen, you can give YouTube a daily limit, such as 5 minutes. When time is up, the app pauses for the rest of the day. The limit can be changed in Settings without a PIN, and it counts your use too.
App pinning
App pinning keeps one app on screen and needs your PIN to leave it (search App pinning in Settings). If the homework is in one app only, this stops YouTube well. If it needs a browser, pinning Chrome leaves youtube.com open. (More in How to lock apps before giving your phone to your child.)
What works: a study mode with a PIN
To block YouTube properly during homework, the phone has to do three things at once:
- Lock the YouTube app, and any other video or game app.
- Block youtube.com in the browser too, while the websites for homework still open.
- Stay that way until you enter your PIN, and lock Settings so it can't be undone.
That is what Study Mode in FocusEdge does. You pick the study apps and study websites once. When your child asks for the phone, you turn on Study Mode: only those apps and websites open, and YouTube stays locked, in the app and in the browser. When homework is done, enter your PIN and YouTube is back for you, exactly as it was.
What if the teacher sends a YouTube video?
Sometimes the homework really is a video. Watch that one together, then turn Study Mode on for the rest. Or take the phone back, enter your PIN, and add YouTube to the study apps for that evening. You decide, not the autoplay.