Safari’s Distraction Control Will Help You Eliminate (Some) Pop-Ups
These days, even 100% legitimate websites are not immune to pop-ups (the current company is not excluded). Whether they’re asking you to sign up for a newsletter (I suggest signing up for The Download ), begging you to allow browser notifications, or simply telling you about a new feature, these fields can be quite distracting, especially if they’re needed. close manually every time you visit the site. That’s why Apple is introducing a new Distraction Control feature in Safari that should make it easier to access your content as it downloads.
Debuting in iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia later this fall (and available in beta versions today), Distraction Control allows users to tap a button next to the address bar to enter a mode where they can manually click on pop-ups to remove them. them from the site. While this sounds like an extra step compared to simply closing a popup, the key is that Distraction Control will remember the element and automatically remove it the next time you visit the site.
Distraction control is designed to eliminate duplicate site elements or those that do not change with each visit. So while users can apply it to any part of any website, advertisements, articles or other content that changes frequently, they will likely still load as normal the next time they visit, meaning it won’t replace your current blocker advertising. but will help you if you have already subscribed to the site’s newsletter and don’t want to be asked again.
How to use Safari’s Distraction Control feature
To use the Distraction Control feature (after you’ve updated your OS to one of the above), click the “-” icon on the left side of Safari’s address bar (Apple calls it the “hide icon”), then click Hide Distractions “ Click OK in the window that appears. Then tap on what you want to hide in Safari, and it should disappear from view (as well as play an animation that will look like Thanos ended its existence).
If it’s a pop-up that appears every time you visit a site, it should disappear the next time you visit that site. Click Done to close Distraction Control, or Cancel to cancel the Iron Man-like Thanos binding.
To unhide an item, simply click the “-” icon again and select “Show Hidden Items.”
That’s all. Safari Distraction Control is coming to beta versions of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia today.