If you happen to use Safari as the default browser app for surfing the internet on your iPhone, you must have come across the Reader Mode that the app offers. Essentially, the Reader Mode is a way to view only the information (usually text) that is of relevance against your search by getting rid of things like ads, images, videos, and more. However, in case you haven’t had an encounter with the feature yet, here’s a guide to enable it for specific webpages.
As already mentioned, the Reader Mode allows you to view only text-based content on a webpage, which can come in handy at times when you need to sift through the page or want to just focus on reading without getting distracted by the ads and media. While you might want to view media (photos/videos) on some webpages for the context, there are some websites that you only wish to view in the Reader Mode.
Until iOS 13, Apple did not offer the ability to set certain webpages to open in Reader Mode. And therefore, required users to manually toggle the mode on and off every time they opened the website. With iOS 13, however, you now get the ability to set specific webpages to always open in Reader Mode, along with better control over the feature. That said, let’s dive in and see how to set specific webpages to open automatically in the Reader Mode.
I. Enable Reader Mode
1. Open Safari and go to the webpage that you want to open in Reader Mode. [Do note that not all websites support Reader Mode.]
2. As soon as the page loads, tap on the AA button next to the search bar.
3. Now, you will see an option that says Show Reader View. Tap on it and you are in the Reader Mode. [Once the Reader Mode is enabled, you must know that this is temporary. And, the webpage will revert back to the normal appearance after you reload the page.]
4. To set the webpage to always open in Reader Mode, again, tap on the AA button and select Website Settings.
5. Here, toggle the icon next to the setting that says Use Reader Automatically. And hit Done.
You should now be able to access the particular webpage — you set to always open in reader’s view — in Reader Mode automatically every time you open it in Safari. However, while setting a webpage to load in the Reader Mode automatically, you should keep in mind that it is the domain name of the website that the browser identifies to activate the mode automatically.
II. Manage Reader Mode settings
Although iOS 13 provides you the ability to set Reader Mode for specific webpages within the Safari app, it does not, however, give you the option to manage settings for different websites. And therefore, it requires you to do this from the Settings instead.
1. Open Settings and scroll down to find Safari.
2. Tap on Safari and scroll to find the section that says Settings for Websites.
3. Here, select Reader and tap on the Edit button.
4. Now, you can select to toggle the Reader Mode on or off from here. You can also delete a website from the Reader Mode settings, or Clear All Settings to set the websites to open in the default view. Additionally, there is also an option to use Reader Mode automatically across all websites.
That’s it!
Now, every time you open the particular webpage — which you have set to open in Reader Mode — it will automatically load in the reader’s view with no ads and media. You should also note that, once you set a webpage to open in the Reader Mode automatically, it will load with the mode enabled every single time, unless you disable its settings for the same from the Safari Settings.