Jamf Blog
child sits at desk interacting with iPad
March 26, 2021 by Justin Payeur

SPIN Safe Browser and Jamf deliver secure student surfing

The internet is an amazing resource filled with educational content, and the iPad has made it more accessible to students. Justin Payeur from National Education Technologies joined us to share the story of what’s next for security in schools with their new app on the Jamf Marketplace.

Walking down the library to grab an encyclopedia sounds like a foreign concept to students who have grown accustomed to knowledge at their fingertips. With great power comes a need for responsibility and safeguards to ensure that students have access to the safest portions of the internet. Schools have grappled with this issue for years by investing in content filters and firewalls to limit access to only educational resources. Tools of this nature have pros and cons, and some can interfere with mobile device management (MDM) functionality if not correctly configured.

SPIN Safe Browser was made to give schools an effective and customizable tool to combat inappropriate web use with an easy to deploy and simple to manage solution.

SPIN Safe Browser was developed over 5 years ago because we found that default mobile browsers did not adequately filter inappropriate content from users. This was especially important for children and adults who needed to curb access to sexual and pornographic content. SPIN Safe Browser automatically filters out content that is inappropriate as well as websites like Reddit that are not inherently unsuitable but can contain or host inappropriate content. With 6+ years of experience, our user base has provided us information that shaped a core set of categories we have implemented to keep users away from particular types of content.

A few years after the release of SPIN Safe Browser, we found that several schools had installed our browser onto student iPads because of our thorough filtering that was greater than the functionality of built-in browser settings. Apple IT admins loved how easily they could deploy SPIN with their MDM solutions and the compatibility with iPad. However, schools expressed to us how important it was for them to have granular control over filtering and a scalable way to deploy these settings to the browser.

We heard you and are excited to announce a new version of SPIN Safe Browser that leverages AppConfig for scalable content filter management through MDMs like Jamf School or Jamf Pro.

AppConfig is a feature of MDMs that allows an administrator to preconfigure settings and options to build a better end-user experience. Administrators can enable or disable any of the categories as well as provide specific URLs that should be blocked or allowed via AppConfig. Apple recognizes SPIN as an official browser meaning end users can set our app as the default browser without losing the native functionality to open links from apps without hassle.

Available through Apple Business Manager or Apple School Manager as a one-time purchase, this solution provides a simple approach to appropriate internet usage on iPad without the overhead of traditional solutions. And schools can take advantage of Apple School Manager’s 50% EDU discount on purchases of 20 or more!

To learn more about the SPIN Safe Browser with AppConfig support, checkout out the integration in the Jamf Marketplace or on the App Store (but make sure to buy it through Apps & Books in your Apple deployment portal.)

Photo of Justin Payeur
Justin Payeur
SPIN Safe Browser
Cyber Safety Specialist and Dad. After more than a decade in K12 enterprise sales leadership, Justin cofounded National Education Technologies with a goal of helping parents teach their kids a balanced and safe approach to using mobile technology. Battling the constant love/hate relationship with technology, Justin is a dad of two teens and leads product vision for digital wellbeing mobile apps Boomerang Parental Control and SPIN Safe Browser.
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