SkieHow do I stop candidates searching the web on a tablet during an exam?
Leave Chrome and every other browser off the allowed list, hide the Play Store and use kiosk mode or a one-app list for the exam window. Skie also blocks more than 50 alternative browsers, VPN apps, proxy apps and DNS changer apps, hotspot sharing and unknown sources, so there is no other route to the web.
Stopping search on an exam tablet is mostly about removing doors, not adding locks. If the browser is not on the allowed list, it cannot be opened.
In Skie, the exam group gets an app list with the test app only. The browser setting for the group is off. Alternative browsers such as Firefox, Brave, Opera, Edge, Samsung Internet, DuckDuckGo and others are on an always-blocked list, together with VPN, proxy and DNS changer apps, whatever an app list says. Unknown sources are blocked, so a candidate cannot install a browser from a file. Developer options and adb are blocked, safe mode is blocked, and the Skie app cannot be stopped.
Other routes are shut as well. Hotspot and tethering can be blocked, so a candidate cannot join a phone's network from the tablet. Private DNS and VPN setup are blocked in settings, and date and time are forced to automatic so nobody can move the clock to change a window. Notifications and the Play Store are hidden by policy.
What Skie cannot see is what happens outside the device. It does not watch a candidate's phone, a second device on the desk or a person helping them. Invigilation stays with the centre. Remote screen view is not available yet, so it is not a proctoring tool.
A practical tip: run a mock paper with the real network and tablets, and have a staff member try to leave the test app. Fix the gaps before the real sitting.