glurpaHow do I lock YouTube on an LG TV — or limit it to the channels I approve?
Want to lock the YouTube app entirely? LG's Application Locks does that, and the steps are just below. Want your child to keep YouTube but only the channels you approve? You can't — not with any webOS setting on the TV. LG's Safety locks cover whole apps and broadcast channels, the browser's Site Filtering allows or blocks whole websites, and YouTube's Restricted Mode filters mature content only. The method that works is the two together: the app lock below, plus the TV's web browser for the channels you approve.
How to lock the YouTube app on an LG TV
LG's Application Locks puts the TV password on any app, YouTube included. LG's own steps:
- Press the Settings button on the remote, then All Settings → General → System → Safety (webOS 2021 and 2022). On webOS 5.0 it is All Settings → General → Safety; on webOS 4.5 and earlier, All Settings → Safety.
- Turn Safety on and enter the password — 0000 on most sets unless it was changed; LG's manual for your model has the default.
- Open Application Locks (Lock Apps on 2021 and newer sets) and tick YouTube. LG notes the lock does not apply to an app that is already open — close YouTube and reopen it.
What the lock does not do: it is all-or-nothing, so locked means no YouTube at all for anyone without the password, and it cannot narrow what plays. A lock behind the factory password is decoration. If you want your child to keep watching, but only the channels you approve, keep the lock on and keep reading — and for every screen in the house, not just the TV, see every method compared. Steps from LG's support pages, read September 2026.
What each LG and YouTube setting actually does
| What you might try | What it actually does | Only approved channels? |
|---|---|---|
| LG Safety settings (PIN) — Application Locks, Channel Locks, TV Program Locks | Lock a whole app, a broadcast channel, or a broadcast rating. Nothing there reaches inside the YouTube app. Under All Settings → General → System → Safety on webOS 2022–2023; earlier versions put it elsewhere | |
| YouTube app → Restricted Mode | Filters age-restricted and mature content; junk aimed at children isn't "mature" | |
| YouTube Kids | Google retired the standalone YouTube Kids TV app in July 2024 and moved it to a child profile inside the main YouTube app. Its hand-picked "Approve content yourself" mode is set up in the YouTube Kids phone app, and Google documents no way to manage it from the TV | |
| Google Family Link | Supervises a child's Android phone or tablet and their Chromebook. LG TVs run webOS, which is not on Google's supervisable-device list at all | |
| Web Browser → Settings → Site Filtering → Approved Sites | Real, and the closest LG gets: a PIN-protected list of the only sites the browser will open. It allows or refuses whole websites, so approving youtube.com approves all of YouTube — a site list cannot name channels | |
| TV browser + an allowlist player | The browser is the one app on the TV that shows a page you control |
Every row above was checked in August 2026 against LG's own webOS manual and LG's published parental-controls guide. LG renames and moves these menus between webOS versions, and the TV password starts at 0000 on most sets, so an unchanged default makes every lock above cosmetic. What none of them offer, on any version, is a list of channels you approve.
The method that works, in three steps
About five minutes, once. Nothing to install on the TV — LG smart TVs ship with an app called Web Browser, and a browser shows whatever page you point it at.
- On your phone, create a free account at glurpa.com/app and approve the channels you choose.
- On the TV, open Web Browser from the LG home screen and go to glurpa.com/tv. A short pairing code appears.
- Type the code into your phone. The TV switches to your child's approved channels.
The typing is the worst part, and it happens once. A Magic Remote moves a pointer around the screen the way a mouse does — point it at the URL bar and click.
Setting up a tablet or phone rather than a TV? Skip the code: open glurpa.com on that device and sign up there. The child’s app sees you’re signed in and sets itself up with one tap. (An iPad or iPhone in Safari has you add it to the home screen first, then shows a code.)
The whole thing, start to finish. Nothing installed, nothing bought.
What Glurpa is — and is not
Glurpa is a parental-control player for the YouTube channels you approve. It is free forever for 5 channels; the paid tier is parent software — screen-time limits, bedtime, content-drift alerts, pausing every screen from your phone — and never buys videos. Videos play in YouTube's own embedded player, ads and all; Glurpa works with your family's own YouTube Premium subscription and never touches ads. Among what we store: the parent's email, the child's first name, and what they've watched, deleted after 90 days — every item is listed on our privacy page. Glurpa is not affiliated with or endorsed by YouTube or Google. Built by a dad after hitting exactly the wall this page describes.
Questions parents ask
How do I restrict YouTube to only approved channels on an LG TV?
Not from the TV itself. LG's Safety locks cover whole apps and broadcast channels, the browser's Site Filtering allows or blocks whole websites, and YouTube's Restricted Mode filters mature content only. YouTube Kids' approved-content-only list is set in its phone app and belongs to the child's profile, which the TV's YouTube app opens. To keep regular YouTube channels, use the two together: lock the YouTube app as above, then open glurpa.com/tv in Web Browser on the TV and pair it with a code from your phone.
Does this work on older LG TVs?
Yes — the player is built as ES5 for 2014-era TV browsers; if the TV has a browser, it works.
What is the default password on an LG TV?
0000 on most LG TVs unless someone has changed it, so set your own. Every lock on this page is only as strong as that password.
Can I lock YouTube but still let my child watch some of it?
Not with Application Locks — it is all-or-nothing, and nothing in webOS reaches inside the YouTube app to pick channels. What works is both together: lock the YouTube app as above, then use the browser method on this page — glurpa.com/tv shows only the channels you approve, and nothing else.
Will there be ads?
Videos play inside YouTube's own player, so YouTube's ads behave exactly as they do on YouTube — we never touch ads. Glurpa works with your family's own YouTube Premium subscription: if you have one, a setting switches to the standard YouTube player so your household subscription applies on a signed-in TV. That's YouTube's feature, sold by YouTube — we won't pretend otherwise.
Can my child get out of it?
Glurpa shows one thing: the channels you approved. No search box, no feed to scroll, nothing else on the screen. It's designed to prevent accidental taps and navigation by pre-readers — the remote and touch do only what you'd expect: play, pause, skip, back. Inside Glurpa there is simply nothing to wander into.
What does Glurpa collect?
The main items: your email address, and for your child the first name and avatar you pick, the limits you set, and what they've watched — every item is listed on our privacy page, including the code that keeps each screen paired. No advertising trackers, nothing sold. By default we also use YouTube's more private player setting, which holds off on cookies until a video actually plays.
Checked August 2026. LG and YouTube both move their menus; this page is re-checked yearly, and the date above is the last time someone did.