IOS 18 Could Help Reduce Motion Sickness in the Car
When you are a passenger in a moving car, you may spend all your time looking at the screen. Some people watch movies, others use social networks, and there are even those who study or work. Unfortunately, motion sickness prevents a significant number of people from doing any of these things. If you’re one of those people who can’t bear to look at a screen for more than a few minutes while driving, take advantage of this iOS 18 feature that can help reduce motion sickness when using your iPhone.
How do car signals work?
Different people experience motion sickness differently, which means this solution may not be suitable for everyone. For example, I cannot look at screens or read a book while being a passenger in any road vehicle. However, I can read or watch movies just fine when I’m on the train. For some people, the problem is much more serious: they cannot be in a moving vehicle without taking medication.
People with motion sickness typically experience sensory conflict when there is a difference between what their eyes see and what their brain perceives. Motion sickness often occurs when a person looks at a stationary object in a moving vehicle, such as a game console, paper book, or smartphone. Vehicle Motion Cues uses animated dots to reduce sensor conflict, Apple says . The position of these points changes depending on the movement of the vehicle. This means that the dots will move from left to right if your car turns left. The dots will continue to move on the screen, which can be a little annoying, but if it reduces motion sickness, it’s worth it for some.
Don’t install beta software on your main iPhone
This is a feature of iOS 18, which means you first need to install the operating system on your iPhone . At the time of writing, iOS 18 is in beta and you should not install it on your main iPhone. But if you have a backup iPhone (perhaps an older model you didn’t trade in), you’re safe. Keep in mind that installing beta operating systems on your primary devices may result in a broken iPhone or situations where your favorite apps keep freezing.
How to Reduce Motion Sickness on Your iPhone
Assuming you have an iPhone running iOS 18, go to Settings > Accessibility > Motion and turn on Show vehicle motion alerts . This will allow your iPhone to automatically turn car alarms on or off when your phone detects that they are suitable. They will disappear if your iPhone detects that you are not in a moving vehicle. It’s unclear at this point whether iOS 18 will be able to tell the difference between a car and a train, but Apple says it’s optimized for use in cars and other road vehicles.
You can also add this feature to your iPhone’s Control Center for more manual control. First, swipe down from the top right corner of your iPhone screen to open Control Center. Click the “+” button in the top left corner, then the “Add Control” button at the bottom. Find vehicle movement clues in the search field. Select Car Driving Hints and you’re done. Please note that turning vehicle traffic signals on or off through Control Center does not automatically enable this feature. If this feature reduces motion sickness for you, you can save it in Control Center and turn it on or off as needed.