Safari: "Hide distractions" also for older macOS versions
Apple allows you to hide annoying web elements in Safari – and not just with the latest software. However, this is not an ad blocker.
Web delete pen in Safari: Here on an iPhone next to the browser icon.
(Image: Apple)
A pleasant surprise for people who have Safari 18 installed on older Mac operating system versions such as Sonoma (macOS 14): A new function in the Apple browser has also been enabled for them. This is the so-called hiding of distractions, also known as "Hiding Distracting Items". The feature has also been dubbed "web eraser" or "web eraser pen" in the meantime.
Fear of the ad blocker
It has been known for months that the function is coming. There have even been regulatory complaints from publishers, as they feared that Apple could implement an ad blocker in the system browser by default. The planned function raises questions about the extent to which Apple is simultaneously strengthening its in-house advertising business in the App Store and Apple News with such a "web eraser", it was said in May –, although it was initially only a rumor.
In practice, however, hiding distractions is mainly used to hide boxes that contain newsletters or GDPR requests, for example. "Use distraction management to hide menus and other distractions on a website," Apple writes succinctly in its help section. A window that appears when the feature is first activated states that it cannot be used to "permanently remove ads or other content" as these are "frequently updated". In other words, hiding only applies to areas that rarely change.
Integration into the menu, including animation
In practice, to use Safari on a Mac, you need to install Safari 18, which is available as a separate download for macOS 14 and 13, but is otherwise part of macOS 15. The corresponding button is located next to the search field. There you can then select "Hide distracting objects" and you will be shown bordered fields that can be hidden. They then disappear with a nice animation – and should remain hidden.
The elements can then be managed later using the same menu. This shows how many areas are currently hidden. These can then be shown again in one go; a UI for changing individual elements does not yet exist. Apple lists further details in the official WebKit blog.
(bsc)
