New Safari 5 for Mac and Windows ‘Reader’ Feature Removes All Ads from User Experience

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In addition to the new iPhone 4 being announced this week, Apple released a new free update to its web browser, Safari. The new Safari 5, for both Mac and Windows, offers a few new features, but none as interesting – or as controversial – as the new Safari “Reader” view or, if you will, Reader function. The new Safari 5 Reader button instantly strips out nearly everything on the page that isn’t part of the article you are reading – ads, external links, pop-ups – everything – and gives you a view of whatever you are reading that has only the content text, and any attendant images or videos.

As you may imagine, depending on whether you are an end user – or a web publisher or advertiser – you are either going to love this feature, or hate it.

Or, you may be indifferent to it.

Or, you may sue over it, claiming that Apple is violating your website, the copyright to your text by republishing it in another format, or any of a number of claims that quite possibly may come at Apple over the Reader function.

Here’s how it works.

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Let’s say that you are using Safari 5, and you are on a site such as, oh, the Internet Patrol, and let’s say that you are reading our article about the new iPhone. Here’s how that article will normally look to you:

safari-5-reader-normal-view

 

The one difference will be this little button in the address bar, at the top of the screen, that says “Reader”:

 

safari-5-reader-address-bar-button

 

If you click on that button, it take you into the Reader function. Or you can long-press it, and these options will pop-down:

 

safari-reader-options

 

Either way, once you have entered the Reader function, it is going to get rid of everything that Safari determines isn’t fundamental to the article you are reading. In our example, watch how everything highlighted and greyed-out in the image below is going to magically disappear:

 

safari-5-reader-regular-view-highlighted

 

Ok, ready? Take one last look at that image above – see everything that’s highlighted that you are now going to not see once you select “Reader”?…

…and…

 

safari-reader-button

 

Voila:

 

safari-5-article-reader-view-enabled

 

So, do you love it, or hate it? Or, are you indifferent?

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