Google's clever Android 17 motion sickness feature is finally rolling out

Google is gradually rolling out its new Motion Assist feature on Android 17, starting with Pixel phones. The feature helps users reduce motion sickness when using their phones in a moving vehicle.

Some users in our contributor Aseemble Debug’s Telegram group have reported seeing Motion Assist on their Pixel phones. However, the rollout doesn’t seem to have gone wide just yet. We do have the feature on our Pixel 11 Pro XL, but it’s currently missing on our Pixel 10 Pro XL running Android 17. This suggests that Google is rolling out Motion Assist in phases.

What is Motion Assist, and how does it work?

We first spotted the feature, then known as Motion Cues, in December 2024. Google has since continued working on it, and the feature is now making its way to users as Motion Assist with Android 17.

Motion Assist can be found in Google Play Settings. To access it, head to Settings > Your profile > All services, then scroll down to the Personal & device safety section and select Motion Assist.

The main Motion Assist screen has a toggle that automatically starts the feature when the phone detects you’re in a moving vehicle.

Google also lets you add a Motion Assist Quick Settings tile, allowing you to manually turn the feature on or off without digging through Settings.

When Motion Assist is active, Android displays a notification that lets you know the feature is running. Tapping the notification also gives you an option to turn it off.

The feature offers several customization options. Users can change the color, shape, and opacity of the motion indicators, while the Randomization option automatically varies these settings.

The idea behind Motion Assist is to display moving visual cues around the edges of the screen that correspond with the motion of the vehicle.

The current implementation is also better than what we initially spotted in how it handles Android’s system-level restrictions on screen overlays.

When we first spotted Motion Cues, a.k.a Motion Assist, the feature relied on Android’s “Display over other apps” permission. That implementation had a major limitation, and the motion dots couldn’t appear over certain system UI elements, including the Settings app, status bar, notifications, Quick Settings, lock screen, or volume panel.

However, Google has since worked on OS-level API changes specifically for this feature, and the motion dots now appear over other apps as well as system UI elements.

For now, Google appears to be rolling out Motion Assist gradually, and its availability can vary even among Pixel devices running Android 17. If you don’t see it yet, it may simply not have reached your device.