New Distraction Control Safari Feature Launches in Latest iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia Betas

by

With the fifth betas of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, Apple is introducing a previously unannounced feature for Safari, Distraction Control.

safari icon blue banner
As the name suggests, Distraction Control is designed to cut down on distracting elements from articles and webpages, such as sign in windows, cookie preference popups, newsletter signup banners, autoplay videos, and more.

Distraction Control can be used to hide static content on a page, but it is not an ad blocker and cannot be used to permanently hide ads. An ad can be temporarily hidden, but the feature was not designed for ads, and an ad will reappear when it refreshes. It was not created for elements on a webpage that regularly change.

To use Distraction Control, go to the Page Menu and select Hide Distracting Items. You can select an area on the page that you want to hide, and static content that you select will remain hidden. It is a good way to eliminate the pesky popovers that show up when browsing online stores, reading articles, and more. iPhone, iPad, and Mac users need to opt in to hiding elements on the page, and Apple says that nothing is hidden that is not proactively selected.

When hiding a cookie banner or GDPR popup with Distraction Control, the function is the same as closing a banner without submitting website preferences at all.

Your Distraction Control settings are on-device and will not sync from device to device, so you will need to hide website elements on each one of your devices. You can use the "Show Hidden Items" option by going to the Safari search field to instantly see all hidden elements on a webpage.

Distraction Control is available in the fifth ‌iOS 18‌, ‌iPadOS 18‌, and ‌macOS Sequoia‌ developer betas, and it should soon be available to public beta testers as well.

Distraction Control is just one of the new features that Apple is introducing in Safari, and it joins other options like the Highlights feature for quickly surfacing info you might want to see on a website, the redesigned Reader interface with table of contents and summaries, and the video viewer that removes distractions when watching a video on a webpage.

Related Roundups: iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia
Related Forums: iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia

Popular Stories

sonny iphone 16 pro colors

All Four iPhone 16 Pro Colors Revealed in New Image

Friday August 16, 2024 4:14 am PDT by
Leaker Sonny Dickson is back today with a new dummy unit image showing all four iPhone 16 Pro color variants, including the rose gold or "bronze" unit that replaces Blue Titanium in the existing iPhone 15 Pro models. The iPhone 16 Pro models are expected to come in black, white or silver, gray or "Natural Titanium," and a rose or rose gold color replacing Blue Titanium, according to Apple...
Read Full Article • 232 comments
iPhone 16 Pro Right Side Feature

The iPhone 16 is Getting a New Button: Here's What It Can Do

Tuesday August 13, 2024 4:01 pm PDT by
Multiple rumors have suggested that the iPhone 16 models are going to have an all-new button that's designed to make it easier to capture photos when the devices are held in landscape mode. Apple calls the button the Capture Button internally, and it is going to be one of the most advanced buttons that's been introduced to date with support for multiple gestures and the ability to respond to ...
Read Full Article • 176 comments
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Launch Is Just One Month Out – Here's Everything We Know

Saturday August 10, 2024 5:00 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series in the fall, and a possible September 10 announcement date has been floated this year, which means we are just one month away from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design...
Read Full Article • 248 comments
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

When Is the iPhone 16 Coming Out?

Wednesday August 14, 2024 6:20 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone 16 series is expected to debut in September 2024. This release follows Apple's trend of introducing new iPhone models annually in the fall. While the exact date has yet to be officially confirmed, the day of Tuesday, September 10 has been rumored as a possible announcement date, and September has traditionally been the month when Apple unveils its latest smartphone innovations. ...
Read Full Article
maxresdefault

Apple Aiming to Launch Tabletop Robotic Home Device as Soon as 2026 With Pricing Around $1,000

Wednesday August 14, 2024 11:30 am PDT by
Apple is moving forward with its project to develop a tabletop robotic device, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The device would feature a large iPad-like display mounted on a "thin robotic arm" that would allow the display to tilt and up and down and rotate a full 360º, and it would serve as a "smart home command center," a...
Read Full Article • 211 comments
M4 Mac mini Silver Ortho Cooler

These New Macs Are Coming in 2024

Thursday August 15, 2024 4:34 pm PDT by
It's almost September, but Apple still has multiple new product launches planned for 2024. New iPhone 16 models and Apple Watches are coming in September, and we're also going to get at least three Mac updates with M4 chips this year, according to rumors. Here's what's on the horizon. MacBook Pro Apple plans to refresh both the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, adding M4 chips. The ...
Read Full Article • 148 comments
T Mobile Generic Feature Pink 1

United States Fines T-Mobile $60 Million for Failing to Prevent Unauthorized Access to Sensitive Customer Data

Thursday August 15, 2024 1:32 pm PDT by
T-Mobile was fined $60 million by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) for negligence surrounding data breaches, reports Reuters. CFIUS penalized T-Mobile for failing to prevent or disclose unauthorized access to sensitive customer data. When T-Mobile merged with Sprint, it signed a national security agreement with CFIUS, which is what led to the fine earlier this year....
Read Full Article • 55 comments

Top Rated Comments

LouisPiper Avatar
LouisPiper
2 weeks ago

This kind of feature is just unimaginably stupid. While some websites may be bloated with crap everywhere...just go to a different site. Users should not be able to hide random elements that the developer put there for a reason.
Terrible take.
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LouisPiper Avatar
LouisPiper
2 weeks ago

Nope. Literal truth. There is no reason why a user should be able to start manipulating elements on a web page or web app, and I'm certain you can't think of one.
Accessibility? Readability? Increasing contrast? Removing the "sign up and get 10% off your order" pop up before you've even seen the page?

"Just go to a different site" is idealistic at best and juvenile at worst. This isn't Walmart vs Target. Many of these sites are highly specialized and you could want to read/interact with the content and also not get bombarded with ads, strange/broken designs, etc foisted upon you by the sales division.

Lastly, it isn't like this is new. This is a super charged Reader Mode, like people have been using for years. What an absolutely strange position to take in this era of unabated web clutter. What's next? Telling people to take another road instead of fixing potholes?
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KorvaxChris Avatar
KorvaxChris
2 weeks ago

Nope. Literal truth. There is no reason why a user should be able to start manipulating elements on a web page or web app, and I'm certain you can't think of one.
There are plenty of reasons why someone would want/need the ability to manipulate certain elements on a webpage. Accessibility being probably the biggest one.

This is a pretty disingenuous statement.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jz0309 Avatar
jz0309
2 weeks ago
The biggest distraction on websites is: ads
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Lounge vibes 05 Avatar
Lounge vibes 05
2 weeks ago

Nope. Literal truth. There is no reason why a user should be able to start manipulating elements on a web page or web app, and I'm certain you can't think of one.
As a blind person who relies on a screenreader, cookie pop-ups and other nonsense has made huge parts of the Internet a usability nightmare.
The pop-ups are usually completely unlabeled so not accessible, create massive usability problems, and really badly developed ones can bring VoiceOver on the Mac completely down with a full system restart being the only solution.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dynamojoe Avatar
dynamojoe
2 weeks ago

Nope. Literal truth. There is no reason why a user should be able to start manipulating elements on a web page or web app, and I'm certain you can't think of one.
I’m with LouisPiper on this. I’d love to get rid of some web elements. I’m tired of the prompt to log into some sites with my google ID, but it doesn’t take ”never” for an answer. I hate it when a page I’m reading goes gray to attract my attention to a coupon code (or what they think about my adblocker). Giving me more tools is a good thing even if I don’t use them.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments