Install blocked?

Your district blocks extensions.
You can change that.

Some districts block all Chrome extension installs on school Chromebooks. The good news: allowing one specific extension is a one-line change for the district's IT team — and a polite request from a parent is usually all it takes to start that conversation.

Why you're seeing "blocked by admin"

School-managed Chromebooks follow policies set in the district's Google Admin console. Many districts block all extension installs by default — not because of Homework Mode specifically, but as a blanket rule. The same console lets them allow individual extensions by ID, so the district can keep its blanket block and let parents install Homework Mode.

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Get your ready-to-send email.

Tell us who you are and we'll draft the email to your district's IT department for you — you just copy, paste, and hit send. We'll also keep count of requests from your district and let you know if anything changes.

We'll never share your email with the school or anyone else.
For IT administrators

Everything you need to review Homework Mode.

A parent in your district asked you to allow this extension. Here's the short version of what it is and what it touches.

What it is

Homework Mode is a parent-installed, parent-paid parental control for YouTube. It classifies each video a student opens and blocks entertainment content while letting school-relevant videos play. It changes nothing about district policy, filtering, or the school day — parents use it to manage take-home time.

Extension details

What it accesses

  • Content runs only on youtube.com. Host permissions are limited to YouTube and our own service.
  • It evaluates the title and URL of the video being opened — nothing else. No browsing history, no location, no student personal information is collected or stored.
  • Standard Chrome permissions: webNavigation, storage, tabs, identity (parent sign-in), alarms.

How to allow it without opening the floodgates

In the Google Admin console, go to Devices > Chrome > Apps & extensions, select the student organizational unit, and add the extension by ID with the policy set to Allow install. Your existing block on all other extensions stays in place.

Questions? Email us at tryhomeworkmode@gmail.com — we're happy to walk through anything.