Apple is reportedly planning big updates to Safari as part of iOS 18 and macOS 15 later this year. According to a report on Tuesday, the changes will include a new AI-powered tool called “Intelligent Search” with page summarization, a “Web Eraser” feature, and more.
iOS 18: New Safari features
The report, which comes from Marko Zivkovic at Apple Insider, cautions that “exact implementation” of these features “remains fuzzy.” We’d treat these claims with skepticism for the time being.
According to Zivkovic, Apple is planning a redesigned controls menu for Safari’s address bar that “consolidates old and new page control tools” in a central location. One of the new tools is reportedly something called “Intelligent Search.”
This feature, which is not enabled by default in test builds of Safari 18, can be activated from the new menu in the address bar. From there, the tool will “identify topics and key phrases within a webpage” and generate a summary of the page. The report speculates that Apple is “striving to deliver text summarization alongside Safari 18 later this year,” but again, the specific details are “fuzzy.”
Arc from The Browser Company also combines a variety of AI features with web browsing, including page summarization options.
Safari 18 in iOS 18 and macOS 15 will also reportedly include something called “Web Eraser.” This feature is “designed to allow users to remove, or erase, specific portions of web pages,” according to Zivkovic.
Using the Web Eraser feature, users could choose to remove certain elements from a webpage like ads, images, and more. It’s a functionality already offered by certain third-party ad blockers, but Apple is apparently working on its own first-party implementation for iOS 18 and macOS 15.
Notably, any changes you make to a webpage would apply each time you visited that page. “This means that Safari will remember the changes even after the original tab or window has been closed,” Zivkovic says.
When visiting a web page with previously erased content, Safari will inform the user that the page has been modified to reflect their desired changes. The browser will also give the user the option to revert changes and restore the webpage to its initial, unaltered state.
9to5Mac’s Take
Apple implementing what is essentially a built-in ad blocker to Safari could be disastrous for ad-supported online publications like the one you’re reading right now.
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