Apple is back at it again! Well, coinciding Apple’s iOS 18, there is covert feature in Safari that absolutely reduces anything annoying about web browsing. Consider the ability to freely browse the internet just as you wanted, without banners and numerous pop-ups and annoying random looks – it is a dream, isn’t it? Well, it is now possible, courtesy of latest feature known as Distraction Control. Ok, great – let’s get started and explain how to use this trick in order to bring order into your browsing life.
What Is Distraction Control?
So with Distraction Control being the popular bouncer of the internet, you are protected from visiting the unwanted sites. You know when you visit some site and they immediately affect you with a whole slew of banners or those newsletter pop-up invitations? Well, for this, with Distraction Control you can say to those distractions ‘not a chance, buddy!’ It is as if using a wand that can cause the elimination of specific object parts on a webpage.
But wait, there’s more! This feature was released under iOS 18, immediately following the iPhone 16 and Apple Watch Series 10 launch. Other than to help you make your home screen look cool, and get you those fancy RCS messaging features Apple decided to throw in this nifty Safari trick.
Therefore, if you are frustrated by constant interruptions any time you try to read an article or look through a webpage, Distraction Control is what you’ve been needing.
Learning About Distraction Control In Safari Browser
Distraction Control, let me tell you, is incredibly simple to operate, even if you can barely operate a computer. Just follow these simple steps, and you’ll be sailing through websites without all the clutter:
Open Safari – So just open the Safari web-browser on your iPhone, the one you’ve been using day in day out.
Enter a website – Open the website that you prefer.
Activate the Reader – You’ll discover this small symbol in the address bar. This gives us a small rectangle with two lines below it positioned to the left of the bar.
Choose Hide Distracting Items – So, click on “Hide Distracting Items,”.
And just like that – You’re back in the driver’s seat! Safari will bring you back to the page with the items which you want to hide and you just tap on them. While selected, a line encircles it and, with one final tap on the ‘Hide’ button, the items disappears from the screen.
What Can Distraction Control Show?
It can cover banners, pop-ups, and static objects in the opened webpage. It is capable keeping them outside of visibility on page and safe from visitor’s eyes during his/her navigating through the concerned webpage. For example, if one of the news sites you use often tries to constantly remind you to subscribe to its newsletter, you can say goodbye to this type of notification with Distraction Control.
However, there’s a catch. Thus, it doesn’t work on everything that is out there in the market. Even banners that exist in their own separate window or text and images that refresh on their own may well slip through.
Will IT Work for Every Website?
Well, here’s the thing. Distraction Control can be used on every site, but there’s some prep required. You will need to turn it on for every single Web page of your project, though. Hence, most of the time it is not a universal remedy to the problem. If you are browsing a lot of sites, you have to make Distraction Control active for each website and then decide which elements are going to be obscured.
But don’t worry; you will familiarize your self with it or let’s say this becomes part of your routine. A couple of more taps and you are set for level, cruising through clean web pages with less or no interference.
Is It Permanent?
Now let’s get a little bit complicated. Distraction Control won’t always obscure things for good. For instance, in the case of an ad or something like that which is staggering in our forums, you can never guise it eternally. With banners and other static forms, of course, you won’t be able to see them every time you open that particular webpage again.
