Reduce motion sickness with Apple’s Vehicle Motion Cues

iPhone, iPad, and Mac users, did you know your Apple device has a built-in feature designed to help reduce motion sickness while you’re on the move?

Introduced in 2024 with iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, Apple’s Vehicle Motion Cues may help minimise motion sickness when using your device in a moving vehicle. The feature displays animated dots along the edges of the screen that respond to changes in the vehicle’s movement, providing visual cues without significantly interfering with what you’re viewing or doing.

For the uninitiated, motion sickness can occur when the body’s sensory systems send conflicting signals to the brain. Take reading a book in a moving car, for example. Your eyes are focused on a stationary page and may not perceive movement, while your inner ear senses the acceleration, turns, and motion of the vehicle.

This sensory mismatch can confuse the brain and trigger symptoms associated with motion sickness, such as dizziness, nausea and general discomfort. Vehicle Motion Cues aims to reduce that conflict by giving your eyes a visual representation of the vehicle’s movement.

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The feature expanded to the Mac last year with the release of macOS 16, bringing the same concept to users who need to work or use their laptops while travelling. It can be accessed by heading to Settings > Accessibility > Motion > Vehicle Motion Cues. Once enabled, you can also add Vehicle Motion Cues to Control Centre for quicker access.

Apple also continued to improve Vehicle Motion Cues since its debut. With iOS 26, the company introduced additional customisation options, allowing users to adjust the colour, size, spacing and movement of the on-screen cues to suit their individual preferences.

While Vehicle Motion Cues may not eliminate motion sickness for everyone, it is a useful feature worth trying if scrolling through social media, watching videos, or replying to messages in a moving vehicle usually leaves you feeling queasy. Personally, I found to be very helpful. And best of all, it’s already built into your Apple device and takes only a few taps to enable.

Source: Apple