Apple rolls out ‘Distraction Control’ feature in Safari

This new feature does not block ads

Highlights

• Distraction Control hides elements like sign-in windows, cookie popups, and newsletter banners.
• Customizations of this feature are stored per device and not synced across devices.

As per Tech Crunch, Apple is releasing a new feature called “Distraction Control” in Safari. The feature is designed to minimize distractions on websites and will be introduced in the developer betas of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia.

Benefits for users

Distraction Control hides elements such as cookie consent banners and sign-up prompts. For instance, let’s say you’re an academic researcher and you’re researching and visiting an academic website but you’re hindered by pop-ups and distracting ads, Safari’s “Distraction Control” will enable you to streamline the site. You can remove these interruptions to see only the critical articles and information you need.

However, this feature is not designed to block ads permanently or to address frequently changing content on a page. That is to say, if for instance, you use Distraction Control to hide a cookie banner on a news website, it will stay hidden each time you visit that site. However, if the site has ads or sections like a live sports score ticker or constantly updating news headlines, these will not be affected by Distraction Control. You’ll still see ads and changing content as they refresh or update.

How to activate the Distraction Control tool

To use Distraction Control, follow these steps:

• Go to the Page Menu in Safari.
• Choose “Hide Distracting Items.”
• Manually select specific areas of the page to hide.
• The elements automatically become hidden until you choose to reveal them again.

Also, settings for Distraction Control are managed on a per-device basis, so you’ll need to set up the feature on each device you use.

Although this requires some extra effort, it ensures that only the elements you specifically choose to hide are affected. To view hidden elements, use the “Show Hidden Items” option in the Safari search field.

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