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
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past.
The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC.
It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in the new firmware, but we'll update this article should we find ...
Apple today released watchOS 11.4, the fourth major update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.4 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2.
watchOS 11.4 can be downloaded on a connected iPhone by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software,...
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.4, the fourth major update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that launched in September. macOS Sequoia 15.4 comes two months after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.3.
Mac users can download the macOS Sequoia update through the Software Update section of System Settings. It is available for free on all Macs able to run macOS 15.
With...
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices.
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025:
Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
Update 4/2/25: Apple has updated an AirPods support page to indicate that the AirPods Max (USB-C) firmware update version 7E99 is now "coming soon." The original article continues below.
Apple today released a new firmware update for the USB-C version of the AirPods Max headphones. The new firmware is version 7E99, up from the prior 7A291 firmware the device was previously running....
