SOMETIMES even just thinking about riding in a car makes me feel nauseous.
Like millions of Brits, I get car motion sickness – I can survive alright on a long and straight road, but start chucking in bends, hills, and almost any smartphone use and I’m done for.
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So imagine my joy when I find out that Apple has created an iPhone feature that’s meant to help bust the nausea with wiggling dots.
It sounds mad, I know. But I tried it on a road trip last month and sure enough, it worked.
Normally, staring at a phone in a car is a sure-fire way to send me over the edge.
That’s a real pain if my wife wants me to find somewhere for lunch or I need to stop for another loo break. And if I want to read about where we’re going? No chance.
But I tried Apple’s genius iPhone trick and was able to mindlessly scroll for 30 minutes (and then much longer) without a peep of motion sickness. Clever stuff. So how does it actually work?
On the road again
Motion sickness is pretty miserable. If you’ve suffered with it, you’ll know it can totally ruin an otherwise lovely day.
It kicks in because of a mismatch between what you’re feeling and what you’re seeing.
Your inner ear sends signals to your brain about your movement and balance.
And when these signals don’t match up with what you’re seeing, it’s a recipe for disaster.
So if you’re staring down at a phone screen and seeing stillness but your brain knows you’re moving, you’ll quickly feel sick.
Going through the motions
So Apple has conjured up a feature called Vehicle Motion Cues, which is freely available on your iPhone.
“If you experience discomfort when you use iPhone while riding as a passenger in a car or other on-road vehicle, you can turn on Vehicle Motion Cues,” the Californian gadget titan explains.
You simply tap the feature on and then animated dots will appear at the edge of the screen.
These dots won’t really block what you’re seeing, so it shouldn’t ruin a Netflix show or photos of your cat.
Importantly, the dots wiggle. Specifically, they shuffle based on how the car you’re in is moving.
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HOW TO TURN VEHICLE MOTION CUES ON
It only takes a few seconds to set up…
Getting set up
The easiest way to use Vehicle Motion Cues is by adding it to your iPhone’s Control Centre – allowing you to easily tap it on and off.
First, update your iPhone to the latest software in Settings > General > Software Update. You’ll need to be on iOS 18 or later.
Next, drag down from the top-right hand corner of your iPhone to open the Control Centre.
Tap the plus icon in the top left, then press Add A Control at the bottom of the screen.
Now search for Vehicle Motion Cues and add the button to your Control Centre. You can drop it in a position that you like.
Turning Vehicle Motion Cues on or off
Whenever you want to turn Vehicle Motion Cues on, just go back into Control Centre, tap the button, and then choose On.
You’ll know it’s active because dots will appear around the edges of your iPhone screen.
It can be turned off again in the same way.
And there’s also a third option that turns Vehicle Motion Cues on automatically when you’re in a moving vehicle.
Apple notes that the feature “works best when you’re seated facing forward in the vehicle”, so keep that in mind if you’re trying it on a bus.
Picture Credit: Apple / The Sun
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So if you’re cornering and the car leans to the left, the dots will shift right – and vice versa.
They’ll adjust even with tiny movements, all tracked by the motion sensors inside your iPhone.
The idea is that you can see the motion that your inner ear is sensing.
So even though you’re not seeing the car’s actual motion, you can trick your brain into acknowledging it visually. Very clever.
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It’s a bit like the motion sickness trick where you stare at the horizon while riding in a car, so you have a stable reference point for your eyes (and brain).
Smart move
As a long-time-car-vomiter, I was chuffed at the idea that this might actually work.
So I tried it at the end of March at the tail-end of a road trip across the southern states of the USA. I’d guzzled a fair amount of bourbon in the preceding days, so the odds were against me.
But I locked in Vehicle Motion Cues, buckled up, and forced myself to read for 30 minutes.
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iOS 18 devices – can your iPhone get it?
Here are the devices that can get the new iOS 18 update
- iPhone SE (2nd generation)
- iPhone SE (3rd generation)
- iPhone XR
- iPhone XS
- iPhone XS Max
- iPhone 11
- iPhone 11 Pro
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone 12
- iPhone 12 mini
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 13
- iPhone 13 mini
- iPhone 13 Pro
- iPhone 13 Pro Max
- iPhone 14
- iPhone 14 Plus
- iPhone 14 Pro
- iPhone 14 Pro Max
- iPhone 15
- iPhone 15 Plus
- iPhone 15 Pro
- iPhone 15 Pro Max
- iPhone 16
- iPhone 16 Plus
- iPhone 16 Pro
- iPhone 16 Pro Max
- iPhone 16e
Picture Credit: Apple / The Sun
Normally reading would take me out in a matter of minutes.
To my amazement, I felt mostly fine. After the half-hour was up, I was left wondering where this trick had been my whole life.
So I then kept using it on and off for the rest of the road trip, wishing I’d found it early.
I can’t say it’s a total cure. I imagine if you were using your phone for hours on end while winding through hilly countryside, you might still struggle.
But it definitely seemed to reduce the effects of motion sickness for me, which is no small feat.
