AN unannounced feature coming to iPhones in iOS 18 has been discovered by hawk-eyed beta testers.
The secret feature is set to bring a massive boost to Apple’s native Safari app.
The tech giant released iOS 18 – dubbed Apple’s ‘biggest ever’ update – to iPhone owners who are part of Apple’s Developer Programme last week.
Since then, this special group of iPhone owners have been sticking their heads under the hood to see what iOS 18 is all about – and whether it actually works.
At WWDC 2024 in June, Apple announced heaps of new features that would be rolled out to iPhones and iPads in iOS 18.
One feature that was not among the raft is Distraction Control, a new feature reportedly coming to Safari.
The feature’s name leaves little to the imagination.
Distraction Control is designed to filter out distracting but static elements on a web page.
For example, sign in windows, cookie preference popups, newsletter signup banners and autoplay videos.
When Distraction Control is switched on, a cookie banner or GDPR popup will act like you closed it – meaning it will disappear without submitting any preferences.
It does not work as an ad blocker, so adverts will still shine through – for better or worse.
According to MacRumors, some ads can be temporarily hidden, but they reappear when it refreshes.
The new feature has been dubbed “the best upgrade for Safari so far” by Apple fans.
Some say it’s even better than an ad blocker.
One person wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “Dude this ‘Sign into Google’ on almost every website nowadays is getting so aggravating.”
Another replied, saying: “Exactly! And ad blockers don’t hide them. So glad to see this feature.”
Other features coming to Safari in iOS 18 include:
Highlights
Safari will automatically detect relevant information on a page and highlight it as you browse.
Reader Summaries
Reader mode is gaining summaries which provide a table of contents and high-level summary, so iPhone owners get the gist of an article before reading on.
If your iPhone could get iOS 17, it’ll also be able to get iOS 18.
Here’s the full list:
