A note to developers of other browsers, so to speak.
In the latest beta versions of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, Apple presented a new Safari feature called Distraction Control. The new feature, currently only available to developers and beta testers, allows users to hide elements on web pages that they find annoying.
With Distraction Control, you can hide pop-ups with offers to accept cookies, banners with calls to register, autoplaying videos and other distracting elements. The function is built into the page menu in the Safari smart search field. To activate it, just select the option “Hide distracting elements”. For reverse display, there is an option “Show hidden elements”.
Distraction Control does not block ads, although it allows you to temporarily hide them on the page. When you refresh the page, the ads will appear again. It is also important to note that elements hidden with Distraction Control are not synced across devices.
It is important to note that Distraction Control does not make decisions for the user, but only provides additional options for customizing the display of web pages. The function does not send requests to accept or reject cookies, but acts as if the user did this manually.
The appearance of Distraction Control is a significant step towards a cleaner and friendlier Internet space, as Apple itself sees it. It is possible that similar functions will appear in other browsers in the future.
