Apple released the third public beta of iOS 18 on August 6, about two months after the tech giant announced the software at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. The beta version brings new features to iPhones for developers and beta testers, such as the ability to Customize your home screen and RCS messaging. It also brings a new feature to your Safari app called Distraction Control, which allows you to hide banners and some pop-ups from websites you visit.
read more: Everything you need to know about the iOS 18 public beta
Since the operating system is still in beta, I recommend downloading it only on a device other than your primary device. Since this isn’t the final version of iOS 18, the update may be buggy and the battery life may be short, and it’s best to keep these hassles to a secondary device. For example, I downloaded and tested iOS betas on my old iPhone XR to prevent any issues with my primary phone, the iPhone 14 Pro.
Here’s information about Safari’s distraction control features.
How to turn on distraction control
1. Open Safari.
2. Go to the webpage.
3. Click the reader icon in the address bar – it’s to the left of the address bar and looks like a rectangle with two dashes below it.
4. Click on the three dots (…).
5. tap Hide distracting items.
Safari will take you back to the website and you must now select the items you want to hide. Once you click on an item, a border will appear around it with the word hide In the center. tap hide The item will disappear like it was stolen by Thanos in The Avengers.
Already received our newsletter and no longer need to view the registration form? Now you don’t have to!
What Distraction Control Hides
Distraction Control hides certain banners, pop-ups, and other items you may see on web pages. For example, if you visit a news site and always see a form to receive the site’s newsletter, you can block the form from showing now and every time you visit the site in the future. After you enable distraction control, you must choose which items on the page the feature targets.
Does distraction control work on all websites?
Distraction Control works on every website, but you must enable it on each individual web page. You must turn on Distraction Control for every site you visit. This means you can’t enable the feature once and be done.
Will distraction control always hide items?
unnecessary. Distraction Control does not permanently remove ads or other changing areas. For example, you can’t hide ads in a web page window, but you can hide the pop-up request to create an account.
If you want to take a look, you can also see what distraction control is blocking. If you have distraction control enabled on a page, a small blue indicator will appear in the address bar to let you know that the feature is working on that page. You can click the indicator and then click Show hidden items Reveal all that distraction control hides.
Distraction control is still in beta, so it may have issues or not function properly. There will likely be more betas before the feature is released to the public, so Apple has plenty of time to iron out any issues. As of now, there’s no word on when Apple will release the distraction control feature to the public.
For more from Apple, here’s what to know about iOS 18, why the iPhone 16 Plus might be Apple’s last super-large smartphone, and here’s what to know about Apple’s rumored thin iPhone 17. iOS 18 Cheat Sheet.
look at this: Getting started with iOS 18: Explore the big design changes
