The same protection. On the device most people actually gamble on.
ShieldBet's first release is a Chrome extension on desktop, targeting public launch in May / June 2026. Mobile is on the roadmap immediately after — Android first because it is the strongest implementation path, iOS second.
Android is the priority platform.
A browser extension only protects traffic inside one browser. An Android native app
using the standard Android VpnService API can intercept and filter all network
traffic on the device — every browser, every app, every connection.
All filtering happens on-device. Traffic does not route through external servers, which matters both for performance and for user privacy. The same Supabase backend serves both Chrome and Android, so a single account works across all platforms with a single partner.
The initial Android release uses DNS-based blocking against the hard blocklist and the path-aware engine. Deeper HTTPS content inspection is a planned later enhancement.
What carries over from Chrome
- Hard blocklist + hard safe list, identical to Chrome
- Path-aware logic for trusted container platforms
- Trusted-partner approval for unlock and logout
- 60-minute window with automatic re-lock
- Companion-style monitoring of app status
- Therapeutic intervention at the urge-cycle threshold
- Calibrated partner notifications, not alert spam
iOS approach
iOS is more restricted than Android in the kinds of network filtering an app is allowed to perform. ShieldBet's iOS plan is layered:
- A Safari content blocker covering the same hard lists and path-aware logic
- A network extension using
NEFilterDataProviderfor app-level filtering - Optional Screen Time integration for users who choose to enable it
iOS protection is necessarily less comprehensive than Android's network-level approach. We won't pretend otherwise. Users on iOS will still get the path-aware engine inside Safari and the full accountability layer.
An iOS Safari extension first, then a native network extension.
The first iOS release will be a Safari extension wrapper using the same path-aware decision code as Chrome. This delivers the detection engine and the accountability layer to iOS users quickly, while the native iOS network extension is being built in parallel.
The full iOS native app, with system-level network filtering, is targeted for Q1 2027.
The order, the targets, the honest dates.
| Phase | Target window | Deliverable |
|---|---|---|
| 1 — Closed beta | May 2026 | 20–50 users from recovery communities; daily review of false positives and false negatives in real-world traffic. |
| 2 — Chrome public launch | May / June 2026 | Chrome Web Store live; outreach in r/problemgambling, GamCare forums, Gambling Therapy. |
| 3 — Edge and Opera | June 2026 | Both Chromium-based stores submitted in parallel. |
| 4 — Firefox WebExtension | Q3 2026 | Port to Firefox Add-ons; ~2–4 weeks of focused work after Chrome stable. |
| 5 — Android native app | Q4 2026 | VpnService-based blocker, on-device DNS filtering, full accountability layer. |
| 6 — iOS Safari extension | Q4 2026 | Safari Extension wrapper using shared decision code. |
| 7 — iOS native + macOS / Windows | Q1 2027 | Network-extension iOS app; OS-level filtering on desktop. |
Get the Chrome extension now. Get the phone protection next.
The desktop launch isn't a placeholder for the mobile launch. It's the same protection, shipping first, on the platform we can deliver it on most reliably.