Google’s motion sickness helper for Android is breaking free of Pixels

After months of testing, Google rolled out Motion assist, its take on iPhone's Motion Cues, to the Pixel 11 family in late August. As part of the September Android Feature Drop, the company announced further expansion of the feature to non-Pixel devices. And now, a couple of weeks later, Motion assist is generally available for devices running Android 17.

Mishaal Rahman, community engagement for Android at Google, announced Motion assist's wider availability in a post on X. For now, the feature is only available on phones running Android 17 or newer. That's basically a small subset of the Android devices from Samsung and Google itself.

Motion assist adds small bubbles along the edges of your phone’s screen when you’re in a moving car. The bubbles use data from the phone’s motion sensors to move in sync with the vehicle. This should help reduce motion sickness, which is common when you use your phone in a moving vehicle.

Below is how Mishaal Rahman describes the feature:

"This feature shows small, subtle visual bubbles along your screen edges. These bubbles move in real-time using your phone's motion sensors. They’ll match how the vehicle turns, speeds up, or brakes and help your brain synchronize what your eyes see with what your body feels, making your phone usage more comfortable during travel."

Once enabled, the Motion assist bubbles will appear on your phone's screen when you're in a moving car. It's also possible to customize the bubble's size, opacity, and color. By default, they use a color theme based on your phone’s wallpaper.

The feature is inspired by Apple's Motion Cues, which was introduced in 2024 with iOS 18.

Turn on Motion assist before your next car ride

If you have an Android phone running Android 17, head over to Settings > Profile > All Services and tap Motion assist under the Personal and device safety section. You can also add a Quick Settings tile from here for faster access.

In case you don't see the option, make sure your phone is running the latest Google Play Services build available.

Most non-Pixel Android phones already come with a Motion assist-like feature, so this wider rollout will primarily benefit Pixel, Samsung, and Motorola phones. However, most users will have to wait for their phones to receive the stable Android 17 update before they can use the feature.