You should learn how to use the iOS Safari Reader if, like the rest of the entire population of Earth, you don’t like ads and other distractions getting in the way of your online browsing experience.
See, while ads are necessary to the functioning of many websites, including Tom’s Guide, we know they can be annoying sometimes. It’s also not uncommon to stumble across a page that is totally dominated by ads, which can hamper your ability to read through the text on a page.
Thankfully, as you’d expect from one of the best phones out there, the iPhone has a built-in way to clear the clutter and let you see webpages more clearly. It’s called Reader, and it’s built into iOS Safari.
Want to learn how to use the iOS Safari Reader? Of course you do, so read on!
How to use the iOS Safari Reader
Note: not every website or webpage support Reader, but many do. We’ll show you how to identify this and how to enable Reader to turn on automatically whenever possible.
This process is the same on iOS and iPadOS.
1.Tap AA on a webpage
(Image: © Future)
Open a webpage in Safari and tap the AA icon, top left, next to the URL bar.
2. Tap Show Reader
(Image: © Future)
Tap Show Reader from the dropdown menu. You can also adjust text size from this menu using the small or large A buttons at the top.
You’ll now have a page in Reader format, with no distractions and just the text and images displayed.
To exit the Reader, simply tap the AA icon again and select Hide Reader.
How to use iOS Safari Reader automatically
Alternatively, if you’d like to set the Reader to come on whenever it can, you can follow these steps. This might not result in the best experience on certain websites, though.
1. Go to Settings > Safari
(Image: © Future)
Open the Settings app, scroll down and tap Safari.
2. Tap Reader
(Image: © Future)
Scroll down and tap Reader.
3. Toggle on All Websites
(Image: © Future)
Toggle on All Websites and, voila, Safari will now display any applicable pages in Reader mode where possible. This is basically like an automatic ad blocker, at the expense of some page functionality and styling.
If you enjoyed this tutorial, we have many more iPhone-themed guides to help you better use your tech, including how to clear RAM on iPhone, how to delete multiple contacts on iPhone and how to transfer data from iPhone to iPhone.