Master Reader & more in Safari

Clean up websites for easier reading

- DAVID CROOKES

YOU COULD ARGUE that websites, as useful as they undoubtedly are, have become mightily frustrating over the past few years. Some are festooned with adverts, pop-ups, videos, surveys, and forms. Web pages can also have an annoying habit of jumping when you're halfway through reading an article. It's as if they don't want you to actually see what's on the page.

With Reader — a feature built into Safari — you can regain some sense of sanity by making web pages more streamlined, with no adverts or videos getting in the way. You can also change the look of the screen to make it even more pleasurable, allowing you to get on with reading in peace. And that's not all. In iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, Safari also includes a new Distraction Control function that lets you zap away unwanted elements on regular web pages. Together, these two features act like web superheroes. So let's crack on with an explanation of how it all works.

HOW TO Make web pages clearer

1 Gain immediate access