There’s no doubt that ads on a website can be annoying, but they are also a necessary evil. Apple seems to have found a way with Distraction Control to make the ads ago away, yet still allow the ads to make money. But for how long?
iOS 18 Distraction Control Released in Beta 5
One of the biggest features of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia is Apple Intelligence, the brand’s own artificial intelligence. One of the pieces of Apple Intelligence – Distraction Control – allows you to whisk away the ads and other distractions on a web page. It’s also been referred to as a “Thanos snap” by some.
This is a feature that made many advertisers and website owners nervous when it was announced at WWDC 2024. No one knew if this would disrupt this fragile ecosystem. Advertisers need people to see their ads, and website owners need people to see the ads too so that they’ll make a little money off of them.
It was questioned whether users would have a chance to turn Distraction Control off, or whether this would be forced on all Safari users. There were just so many questions. And, of course, Apple wasn’t saying much, leaving it all up to our imaginations. But now that iOS 18 beta 5 and iOS 18 public beta 3 have been released, we have our answers.
FYI: if you’re on a Mac, check out these Safari alternatives.
Whisk Away the Distractions
I had the chance to try Distraction Control when I downloaded iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 public beta 3. From the looks of it, Distraction Control is not a bad feature. It doesn’t appear to be hurting advertisers or website owners.
Distraction Control is not on by default. It has to be turned on in the search bar at the top, the same icon that opens up the Reading List. There’s an option to turn it on, and once you do, you have to tap each distraction to make it go away, magically moving everything else on the website up. Before it goes away, though, it leaves you with an image of “poof” in the dust.
Before you applied Distraction Control, and before you tapped each ad or pop-up, you still them, so this feature is not keeping you from seeing advertising. Additionally, you can’t go forward with opening more websites or doing anything else on the page until you dismiss Distraction Control. It cannot be left on indefinitely.
Since you have to actively turn it on, it’s not going to be something people use all the time. I would be more inclined to use it when I’m trying to read an article with too many ads. I probably won’t use it for just a few ads. I’ll also use it for my work here at Make Tech Easier so that I can get a clean screencap.
As an advertiser or website owner, you may still be worried about Distraction Control being used to whisk away your ads. As frankly, this is beta 5 of iOS 18, and the feature could still face changes before it’s released to the general public next month. It also comes up at an interesting time, when Google is trying to get away from relying on Apple search for income. Apple seems to view things differently on how to make money online.
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