Pixel Phones Get Motion Assist: What Android 17 Users Should Know

Motion Assist is an Android 17 feature designed to help reduce motion sickness for users who use their Pixel phones in moving vehicles. The feature uses animated screen cues, such as moving dots or shapes around the edges of the display, to provide visual movement that corresponds with the phone's motion. This helps to reduce the sensory mismatch that can cause nausea when the brain receives conflicting signals from the eyes and inner ear.

Users can customize the indicators, including their color, shape, and opacity, and the feature can activate automatically when the phone detects it's in a moving vehicle or can be switched on manually through a Quick Settings tile. The feature has been in development for some time, and Google has added operating system-level API support to make the visual cues more useful, allowing them to appear over apps and system interface elements.

Motion Assist has been spotted on select Pixel phones running Android 17, but Google has not yet announced its wider availability. Pixel owners can check for the feature by opening Settings, selecting their profile, choosing All services, and looking under Personal & device safety for Motion Assist.