Apple drops brand new Distraction Control for Safari on iPhones — what it does

News
By published

Find it in the fifth iOS 18 developers beta

iOS Safari on iPhone
(Image credit: Nicole Lienemann/Shutterstock)

Apple has released the fifth iteration of the beta for iOS 18, which has brought several new features to the Apple operating system. Beta five brings sizable changes to Safari, including a new Distraction Control tool. 

Distraction Control reduces annoying elements like content overlays or sign-in banners on articles and web pages. 

Using the tool, you can hide static content on a page, but it should be noted that Distraction Control is not an ad blocker, so it won't permanently hide advertisements. It appears that an ad, such as a newsletter banner or autoplay video, can be temporarily hidden. However, the ad will return when it refreshes. It is mostly meant for things that don't change on the page.

If you're in the beta and want to give Distraction Control a try, it takes a little bit of finessing to get it down. 

The tool can be found under the Page Menu when you select 'Hide Distracting Items.' Then, you select an area on the webpage that you want to hide. You can also select static items that you don't want to see. 

The settings are on-device, though, which means that they won't sync if you move from one iPhone to another or from an iPhone to an iPad. You'll need to manually do it for every device. 

You'll need to do this for every website you visit. So, your mileage may vary in terms of actual usefulness.

You can find Distraction Control on Apple's operating system developer betas, including iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia. 

Distraction Control is just one of the new features added in the fifth beta. Other options include backtracking changes to the Photos app that iOS users weren't thrilled with.

More from Tom's Guide

Scott Younker
Scott Younker
West Coast Reporter

Scott Younker is the West Coast Reporter at Tom’s Guide. He covers all the lastest tech news. He’s been involved in tech since 2011 at various outlets and is on an ongoing hunt to build the easiest to use home media system. When not writing about the latest devices, you are more than welcome to discuss board games or disc golf with him. He also handles all the Connections coverage on Tom's Guide and has been playing the addictive NYT game since it released.