Enhanced User Experience: Google Introduces Android 17 Motion Assist for Pixel & Galaxy Devices

Motion Assist: A Solution for Motion Sickness in Moving Vehicles

Motion Assist is a revolutionary feature designed for individuals who struggle to read or use their phones while in a moving vehicle due to motion sickness. This innovative technology displays small shapes at the edges of your phone’s screen that move in sync with the vehicle’s movements, such as turns, brakes, slows, and accelerations. The primary goal of Motion Assist is to align visual stimuli with the inner ear senses, ultimately reducing feelings of nausea.

Recently, Google introduced this feature, making it widely accessible to users. To enable Motion Assist on your device, navigate to Settings and search for “motion assist”. Ensure that your Google Play services are up to date, as the feature requires version 26.33.32 or later. Notably, our review of the Pixel 11 Pro confirms that this feature is available on the device.

The Motion Assist feature can be activated automatically when your phone detects motion in a vehicle, or you can manually toggle it on in Quick Settings. Additionally, users have the option to customize the color, shape, and opacity of the moving shapes or allow them to change randomly every few seconds.

While Motion Assist is a groundbreaking addition to mobile technology, it is not entirely novel. Apple’s iPhone has a similar feature known as Vehicle Motion Cues, which was introduced in September 2024 with the launch of iOS 18.

Although Motion Assist may not be suitable for everyone, its scientific foundation is robust. By providing visual cues that align with the vehicle’s movements, the feature addresses the sensory conflict that occurs when viewing a stationary screen in a moving environment. This phenomenon, known as “sensory conflict data”, has been extensively researched and validated.