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 Forums: iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia

Popular Stories

iOS 26 on iPhone Feature

Here's When iOS 26 Rolls Out Today in Every Time Zone [Update: Out Now!]

Monday September 15, 2025 12:00 am PDT by
Update 10:06 a.m.: iOS 26 is rolling out now, though it may take a bit for all users to see it, so keep checking! Today's the day! Apple is about to release iOS 26, which will deliver the biggest redesign since iOS 7 and bring a range of new features and improvements to iPhones worldwide. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and Apple announced at last week's iPhone event that...
Read Full Article • 95 comments
iOS 26 Battery Glass Feature

Apple Says Installing iOS 26 Might Impact Battery Life

Monday September 15, 2025 10:56 am PDT by
In the iOS 26 release notes, Apple is warning iPhone users that installing the new software might have a temporary impact on battery life, which is normal. A new support document explains that major iOS updates require background setup like indexing data and files for search, downloading new assets, and updating apps. Further, Apple says that new features could require more resources,...
Read Full Article • 120 comments
Tim Cook Rainbow

Apple Reportedly Plans to Launch These 10 Products in 'Coming Months'

Sunday September 14, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple's annual September event is now in the rearview mirror, with the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone Air, Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch Ultra 3, Apple Watch SE 3, and AirPods Pro 3 set to launch this Friday, September 19. As always, there is more to come. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple plans to release many products in the...
Read Full Article • 83 comments
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 Get iOS 26 Features With New Firmware Update

Monday September 15, 2025 10:50 am PDT by
Apple today released updated firmware for the AirPods Pro 2 and the AirPods 4, introducing support for the new AirPods features that are included in iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and macOS Tahoe. The firmware has a build number of 8A356, and it replaces the current 7E93 firmware. With Apple's new software updates, the AirPods Pro 2 and the AirPods 4 support better audio quality for phone calls and...
Read Full Article • 67 comments
iphone 17 lineup

iPhone 17 Models Launch on September 19 With These New Features

Friday September 12, 2025 7:58 am PDT by
Apple will launch its new iPhone 17 lineup and ultra-thin iPhone Air in stores on Friday, September 19, and the company has already shown off the new devices at its fall event, which ran with the the tagline "Awe dropping." The iPhone 17 series brings a host of new features and enhancements. Here's a rundown of the biggest upgrades and changes: iPhone 17 Display Changes The iPhone...
Read Full Article • 17 comments
iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday September 15, 2025 5:45 am PDT by
Following three months of beta testing, iOS 26 was released today, September 15. The update is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer, and it is available to install via the Settings app, under General → Software Update. Below, we have highlighted eight new features included in iOS 26. Even more new features and changes are outlined in Apple's release notes for the update. Some of ...
Read Full Article • 145 comments
iPhone 17 Pro Air Boxes

iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro Boxes Revealed

Sunday September 14, 2025 1:36 pm PDT by
T-Mobile President Jon Freier today shared real-world photos of Apple's boxes for the iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 models, which launch on Friday. Image Credit: Jon Freier Apple has typically included iPhone box renders in its product environmental reports, but it did not do so for the latest models. However, Apple's iPhone Upgrade Program page does offer some images of the boxes, ...
Read Full Article • 74 comments

Top Rated Comments

LouisPiper Avatar
LouisPiper
15 months 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
15 months 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: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KorvaxChris Avatar
KorvaxChris
15 months 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: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Lounge vibes 05 Avatar
Lounge vibes 05
15 months 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: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jz0309 Avatar
jz0309
15 months ago
The biggest distraction on websites is: ads
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dynamojoe Avatar
dynamojoe
15 months 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