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During Apple's WWDC 2024 keynote, it announced that Safari on macOS 15 Sequoia will get several intriguing updates, like hiding distractions while you watch videos and summarizing articles as you read them. Read on to learn about the other new Safari features coming to your Mac later this year.
Viewer mode hides distractions for videos
Just like Reader mode hides all the clutter on a webpage so that you can focus on reading in Safari, Apple has announced a new Viewer mode to do the same thing for videos on the web. The moment Safari on macOS 15 Sequoia detects that you've played a video on a webpage, it'll hide everything else on the page. The video will expand to take up as much space as is available in your Safari window.
The moment you click away, the video automatically goes into picture-in-picture mode, according to the demo Apple showed during the WWDC 2024 keynote. It's worth noting that just like Reader mode doesn't work well with every website, Viewer mode could also face issues depending on the video player that your favorite websites use. Some of them may be custom players that block Viewer mode, and it remains to be seen how well this feature works.
Save time with article summaries
When you're reading a long article, Safari will also offer a summary to help you save time. A summary is not a substitute for reading the entire article, of course, but it could highlight the most important bits when you're in a rush.
Machine learning enhances your browsing
Safari will also use machine learning to highlight important information on the webpage. If you're looking at a website that mentions a hotel, Safari will be able to show you a map location card with a button to help you navigate there via Apple Maps. When reading an article about a movie, Safari may also display a movie information card, for example.
This is a developing story. Apple's WWDC keynote is currently ongoing, with the WWDC conference set to last through June 14. Lifehacker will update this story with relevant information as it is announced.
