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IT Home reported on August 6 that Apple released iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS 15 Sequoia Beta 5 updates today.A "Distraction Control" option has been introduced for the Safari browser, allowing users to reduce distractions caused by cluttered information when browsing the web.

Is Distraction Control an ad blocker?

the answer is negative.

Distraction Control targets parts of a page that distract you, like overlays asking you to subscribe or even requests to use cookies.

Once you're logged into a site, you can press the page menu button in the search bar (where the Reader and Viewer buttons are).

The user can then click "Hide distractions" and then select the part of the page to be filtered out. The Safari browser will remember the user's operation and block that part of the content when visiting the domain again in the future.

IT Home attaches notes:

• After the user clicks on "Distraction Control" for the first time, Apple will inform the user.This feature will not permanently remove ads and some dynamically updated content.Because banner ads on pages typically refresh on the next visit, Distraction Control has no effect on these contents.

• Users can choose which parts of the site to hide.But there will be no AI to automatically detect what content might distract you., users will see a blue outline in certain areas and can click to select them. Apple emphasizes that it will only be blocked if the user actively chooses, and nothing will be hidden by default.

• If any of the content that a user has chosen to block (such as headlines or ads) changes, it will reappear on your next visit.

• Hiding noise only works on certain domains, not all websites on the Internet.

How does Distraction Control handle those pesky GDPR cookie requests?

In theory, users can also use the "distraction control" feature to hide the cookie consent request dialog required by the GDPR.

If you choose to block these requests, the site will simply tell you that the request has been closed without giving you a response. Depending on the legal requirements in different regions, the site will have to act on this information.

It’s unclear how Distraction Control will work with sites that have paywalls, especially those that use different protection methods for their content.