Accessibility - vision
Vehicle Motion Cues
Most people call this dots at the screen edge that reduce car sickness.
Animated dots around the edge of the screen move with the vehicle, which reduces the mismatch between what you see and what you feel.
This setting is present on your iPhone.
- We have this path on file but have not yet confirmed it against an official source.
Where to find it - iOS 18 and later
- Settings
- Accessibility
- Motion
- Show Vehicle Motion Cues
What it does
Motion sickness in a car comes from your inner ear sensing movement your eyes do not see. The dots move with the vehicle so the two agree. It can activate automatically when the phone detects you are in a moving vehicle.
What changes
When it is on
Moving dots appear at the screen edges while in a vehicle.
When it is off
No dots appear.
Should you turn it on?
Good reasons to turn it on
- Reading in a car becomes possible for many people.
- Automatic activation means no thought required.
- The dots are easy to ignore once you are used to them.
Good reasons to turn it off
- Some people find the dots themselves distracting.
- Automatic detection can trigger on a train where it is unnecessary.
Battery
No real change
Privacy
No real change
Performance
No real change
Cellular data
No real change
Storage
No real change
Out of the box: Off, with Automatic available.
What your iPhone needs
- Needs iOS 18 or later
Questions people actually ask
- Can my iPhone help with car sickness?
- Yes. Accessibility, then Motion, then Show Vehicle Motion Cues.
If it is not working
- Set it to Automatic and it appears only when the phone detects vehicle motion.
- It is separate from Reduce Motion, which addresses interface animation rather than travel.