iOS 18 includes a new feature that may prevent motion sickness while using your iPhone or iPad in a moving vehicle. The underlying problem is based on a sensory mismatch wherein the eyes prefer to perceive movement that is in sync within their moving body.
Looking at a page or screen with a static image, particularly reading content on it, or one that doesn’t move in alignment with the world around can cause the body to feel queasy.
Vehicle Motion Cues
Step into Vehicle Motion Cues, a way to detect and mimic the movement of a vehicle in order to dissuade motion sickness from affecting the body. On iPhone and iPad, go to Settings > Accessibility > Motion > Show Vehicle Motion Cues.
iPad offers only a manual toggle to turn this feature on or off. On iPhone, there’s also an Automatic option that shows cues when movement is detected and hides them when stopped.
Add to Control Center
While iPhone can toggle motion cues automatically, iPad requires switching manually. Thus, it’s worth adding Vehicle Motion Cues to Control Center for easy access.
In Control Center, long-press in the empty space, tap Add a Control. This one is in the Vision Accessibility section at the very bottom, but instead you can easily search for it at the top. Tap in the empty space when done.
Now, when using your device in a moving vehicle, you can tap the widget you just added to toggle the feature.
I have been experimenting with Vehicle Motion Cues over the last couple weeks, trying to determine whether it effectively reduces carsickness for me. Yesterday afternoon, as a road was curving beneath me, I felt a stir in my tummy and decided it does not. Maybe the jury’s still out.
But the feature does eliminate queasiness for some, so I’m interested to hear about others’ experiences, too. Share yours in the comments…
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