Safari’s Distraction Control Reduces Web Clutter

Apple has introduced a new Safari feature called Distraction Control in the latest developer betas of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. This tool allows users to manually hide distracting elements such as sign-in banners, cookie preference pop-ups, and newsletter sign-ups, but it does not function as an ad blocker and cannot permanently hide ads or frequently changing content. Users can access Distraction Control from the Page Menu in Safari's Smart Search field and select the items they wish to hide, which will remain hidden on subsequent visits unless the content changes. The feature is currently available to developers and will likely be released to the public with the upcoming operating systems in the fall. This addition aims to enhance the web browsing experience by decluttering web pages, though hidden elements do not sync across devices and must be managed individually on each device.