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
MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris has uncovered an image file from Apple for an unreleased Apple TV 4K, suggesting that a new model will finally be released soon. The image is specifically for an "Apple TV 4K (4th generation)" model.
Apple TV 4K (4th generation) image (on a gradient)
The image reveals that the Apple TV will have the same external design as the current model, with all of its...
Amazon has introduced a major discount on the 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M5 Max chip, 32-Core GPU, 36GB RAM, and 2TB SSD, now available for $3,499.00, down from $4,399.00. This is a massive $900 markdown on the high-end MacBook Pro, and it's joining a few other MacBook Pro discounts on Amazon this week.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a...
The iPhone Duo is reportedly facing production difficulties ahead of its October launch, with early output expected to be limited.
A person said to be close to Foxconn's supply chain told China's Jiemian News that final assembly yields for Apple's first foldable iPhone were only slightly above 60% as of September 17. The source said that, under Apple's current quality standards, it could...
