How iOS 18’s Web Eraser content-blocker morphed into a distraction-hiding resource

Apple has renamed its previously-unannounced Web Eraser content blocker to “Distraction Control”
Apple has released its Web Eraser Content Blocker for Safari 18 under a new name, Distraction Control. Here’s what happened during the development of the feature and why. Apple has released the fifth developer betas for iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia. This new Safari feature helps users hide unwanted web content. Distraction Control allows users to temporarily remove distracting elements from a page. Although the feature is new, its appearance was not unexpected. AppleInsider revealed exclusively in April 2024 that Apple was working on a content blocker for Safari 18 internally. The feature, now known as Distraction Control was called Web Eraser internally during its development. Web Eraser, which was fully functional before the initial iOS 18.0 beta, was notably absent from Apple’s first round of developer betas. It was also not shown at the company’s annual WWDC held in June 2024. Apple’s decision not to release the feature and to remove it from the WWDC was likely due to the criticism Web Eraser received in the months leading up to the event. Web Eraser: the controversy surrounding Apple’s content blocker, and its mysterious disappearance Following AppleInsider’s exclusive reveal of how the feature worked, major industry association in the publishing and ad sector sent complaints to Apple regarding Web Eraser. The UK’s News Media Association was one of the organizations who sent out letters against Apple’s planned Web Eraser – Image courtesy NMA Ltd.The UK News Media Association, and later a French publisher group raised serious concerns regarding the Web Eraser. The News Media Association complained in May that Web Eraser was an ad-blocker and a “blank instrument” that impeded the ability of content producers to sustainably fund their works. Owen Meredith, the NMA’s chief, went on to criticize Apple, claiming that Web Eraser was developed without publisher involvement. This had “potentially serious consequences” on how publishers content is displayed or used on Apple devices. A group of French publishing associations wrote to Apple CEO Tim Cook on May 29 claiming that Web Eraser would threaten 100,000 jobs in France. In their letter, they also stated that the feature raised a number of questions, primarily regarding legal and editorial responsibilities to which Apple has not responded. The French publishers were so concerned that they sent copies of their letter simultaneously to multiple government officials. The letter was sent, among others, to the French Ministers of Culture, Economy, and Digital Affairs as well as the European Commissioner for Internal Markets. Apple’s decision to release the feature and market it as a distraction-hiding tool was influenced by the uproar that Web Eraser caused. Why Apple decided to promote its content-blocker tool as a distraction-hiding feature, and what changes were made as a consequence Based on the version Distraction Control that was revealed on Monday, Apple appears to have wanted to distance themselves from Web Eraser, and the negative connotations associated with the feature. Distraction Control was renamed and had a new icon in the pre-release versions for iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia. As mentioned earlier, Apple renamed Web Eraser as Distraction Control. The fifth developer beta for iOS 18 also includes a pop-up message informing users of the overall purpose of the feature, making it clear it’s not intended to block ads. The new page controls menu allows users to activate Distraction Control from the URL bar, just as they can in Apple’s pre-release versions. Users will find a “Hide Distracting Item” option under Highlights. The feature is identified by a crossed out eye icon. Originally, when the feature was in development, it simply read “Web Eraser” and had an stylized eraser icon. The first time you tap the button, an in-app message will appear explaining that “hiding distracting content will not permanently remove advertisements and other content which updates frequently.” Hide an item in Safari Distraction Control iOS 18From the above, it’s clear that the company is trying to avoid any association with Web Eraser or the claims that they created an ad blocker. The feature is presented so that it appears to be primarily intended to hide unwanted or distracting elements. People familiar with the issue claim that this pop-up was not present when Web Eraser was first developed. The pop-up appears to be a response to the controversy that was caused by Web Eraser’s initial unveiling and is likely a way to appease publishers and industry associations. The feature still retains the majority of its functionality, despite the rebranding and the new popup message. It was originally available in Apple’s pre-release operating systems. Distraction Control still allows users to hide ads on the current webpage, but they may reappear after a page refresh. The feature was never intended to be automatic. Users still have to select the page element that they want to hide manually. Users can hide images, annoying banner ads and text with Distraction Control. Subscribe to AppleInsider YouTubeWhen it came to ads, the pre-release version of Web Eraser behaved in a different way than the publicly available Distraction Control. Internal versions of the feature were able to block the same element on different web pages, and maintain the user’s choice of hidden elements after the page has been refreshed. In practice, it means that the earlier pre-release versions were better at blocking ads. Apple has reportedly reduced the feature’s capability to hide ads in order to address ad-related issues. Distraction Control has significantly improved animations compared to the pre-release version. When the user hides an item, it disappears in a particle effect that was not present in earlier versions of Web Eraser. macOS Sequoia made significant changes to the page control menu, where Web Eraser was toggled. Pre-release versions of macOS 15.0 & 15.1 featured a page-menu with an iPad-like interface, which had larger, round buttons. Safari 18 contains a number of other enhancements such as the Highlights function, which provides useful page summaries and an improved reader view. Apple spent extra time on the distraction-hiding feature of Safari 18 as it was both previews during WWDC.