Hands-On With Safari's New Distraction Control in the iOS 18 Beta
Apple today surprised us with a new feature for Safari in iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, with Distraction Control debuting in the latest betas. We thought we'd take a quick look at Distraction Control for those who have not yet been able to update, non-developers, or those who are on the iOS 18.1 beta track.
Distraction Control hides distracting webpage elements like those irritating popups that ask you to sign up for email lists or cookie/GDPR banners. It can be used to hide some autoplay videos too, but it is not an ad blocker. You can temporarily hide ads, but since it wasn't designed to block ads, ads show back up when the site refreshes.
You can basically use Distraction Control to hide any static element on a webpage, and you can get to the controls by going to the page menu in Safari. Just tap the Hide Distracting Items option and then tap whatever you want to hide on a page. Hidden items do not sync across devices, and you can restore anything hidden by tapping on the Show Hidden Items option.
With the betas, Apple also tweaked the Photos app, removing the carousel in response to user feedback.
What do you think of these changes? Let us know in the comments below.
Popular Stories
Apple is "shaking up its color palette" for its iPhone 16 lineup this year, according to well-connected Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman. Early iPhone 16 Pro dummy models via Sonny Dickson According to Gurman, the iPhone 16 Pro models will come in a Gold Titanium to replace Blue Titanium, while the Black, White, and Natural Titanium options that debuted with the iPhone 15 Pro will remain...
Apple's next-generation iPhone 16 series is expected to launch on September 20 and will compete in a quickly evolving smartphone market, and with some notable upgrades rumored, the new models could see price changes compared to previous years. Successive iPhone models always come with new features and hardware upgrades, but Apple typically does not increase the retail prices as a result....
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today shared his final expectations for Apple's "It's Glowtime" event, providing some new tidbits and clarifications about the new devices set to be announced on Monday. iPhone 16 Pro Along with larger 6.3- and 6.9-inch display sizes, the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will have bezels that are "now about a third slimmer" for a "sleeker overall look." The...
iOS 18 has been in beta testing for nearly three months, and the software update will finally be released for all compatible iPhones soon. Apple should reveal iOS 18's exact release date during its September 9 event, with the most likely possibility being Monday, September 16. Below, we have highlighted eight key new features included in iOS 18. Note that Apple Intelligence is not coming...
The Apple Watch Series 10 will include a new sleep apnea detection feature, but it may not be available as soon as the new model launches, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Sleep apnea detection, which builds on the watch's existing sleep tracking, will attempt to determine if a wearer has sleep apnea and then suggest further testing with a medical professional. Gurman had expressed...
The upcoming iPhone 16 Pro might break a seven-year streak at Apple. Taiwanese research firm TrendForce today reported that the iPhone 16 Pro will start at $1,099 in the U.S. with 256GB of storage, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro starts at $999 with 128GB of storage. If this information is accurate, it means that the iPhone 16 Pro will cost more for customers who otherwise would have opted for a...
