One lesser-known feature of iOS 18 is the ability for it to combat motion sickness. An accessibility setting called Vehicle Motion Cues is designed to mitigate the nausea that comes with using a device in a moving vehicle. If you get travel sick while reading your iPhone on the go, there’s a good chance this will help.
That’s because motion sickness is typically triggered when there’s a disconnect between what your eyes see and what your body feels as movement. Apple’s Vehicle Motion Cues aim to minimize this disconnect by adding subtle, animated dots along the edges of the iPhone screen. These dots use the device’s various sensors to move in sync with the vehicle, providing your eyes with cues that better match the motion your body is experiencing. The idea is to keep your brain’s sensory inputs more aligned, potentially reducing the feeling of motion sickness. Anecdotally, it seems to work pretty well for many people – assuming you’re facing forward in a moving vehicle.
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To enable this feature, open the Settings app and head to Accessibility > Motion. You’ll see the option for Show Vehicle Motion Cues. Tap this, and then select either Automatic (so the feature turns on when your iPhone detects you’re in a moving vehicle) or Manual (so you can control when the cues appear).
We found the automatic setting to be hit and miss, so if it doesn’t work predictably for you try adding the Motion Cues button to your Control Center instead. If you want to go further, setting up a shortcut for this feature can make the process even faster.
It’s also worth noting that the motion cue dots will show up in any screenshots or screen recordings made while the feature is active, so disable it if that’s going to be a problem!
Hopefully, this feature will make car rides more comfortable when scrolling on long journey as a passenger in a plane, train, or automobile. While results vary from person to person, it could provide real relief for those who struggle with motion sickness.