Latest iOS, MacOS Betas Get Rid of Annoying Popups With ‘Distraction Control’

If you can’t stand the way the internet looks nowadays—with it so full to the gills with popups and ads—then you should test out Safari on the latest iPhone and macOS betas. Apple’s default browser can now annihilate popups, video players, or whole sections of your favorite website in violent and graphic fashion. 

MacOS Sequoia and iOS 18 Beta 5 adds a ‘Distraction Control’ feature in Safari. It’s pretty simple to activate. Simply hit the page icon to the left of the URL bar and then select “Hide Distracting Items.” There’s another option to show all the hidden items, though once you use it a few times you’ll find there’s never any reason to go back.

MacRumors was the first to note the previously unannounced feature. Safari already saw a few improvements to its UI in the latest iOS and Mac betas with the ability to play video outside its player with picture in picture mode. Apple’s browser already has a capable Reader mode that deletes most ads and popups on a page, but we’ve been hearing rumors of an ad-deletion tool even before Apple’s latest WWDC conference.

Once on a page full of cookie-laden prompts, popup ads, and video players, you’ll see exactly what Safari will let you exile. It then plays an animation where the page element disappears like atoms being vaporized and scattered into the ether. We’ve tried it on Gizmodo’s own site and found you could zap pretty much any ad that shows up on our page, whether it was in line with text or ads that appear at the top of the page. It can also delete those popups to sign up for a subscription on The New York Times’ website. 

To note, this doesn’t delete ads on a page. It removes them from the current instance, but if you reload the page or follow any of the page links you’ll see all those same page elements again. Safari isn’t saving your preferences, so an ad blocker is still your best bet if you don’t want the hassle of seeing ads in the first place.