Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Pixel 11 owners just got a car sickness fix, but there's a catch

Motion Assist has finished rolling out to Pixel and Samsung Galaxy phones running Android 17, two weeks after Google announced it in the September Android Drop. It puts moving shapes along the edges of your screen to ease car sickness, so if you own a Pixel 11 Pro XL or a Galaxy Z Fold 8, it is likely already waiting in your settings.

Motion Assist is live on Pixel 11 and Galaxy Z Fold 8 phones after a slow start

Google announced Motion Assist on September 1 as part of the September Android Drop, in a blog post. As of today, a new report says it is widely live on every Pixel and Galaxy Z Fold 8 it has running Android 17, with Google Play services version 26.33.32.



The fine print on its Android Drop page says results vary, a small percentage of users may feel worse and it should not be used while driving, which is sensible advice for anything that draws shapes over your screen in a moving car.

Motion Assist vs Vehicle Motion Cues on the iPhone 17 Pro Max: what changes for you

Once it's on, Motion Assist can start on its own when the phone detects you're in a car, bus or train, and Google also recommends adding its Quick Settings tile so you can flip it on and off from any screen.



Apple got here first, of course. It announced Vehicle Motion Cues in May 2024 and shipped it with iOS 18 that September, and when we tested it on an iPhone, we found the dots worked over the lock screen and inside apps like YouTube, and we called the idea pure genius, while the Android alternatives at the time were third-party apps from the Play Store.

So if you're holding an iPhone 17 Pro Max, nothing changes for you today, since you've had this for two years and Apple has no reason to worry about a feature port. Galaxy owners are the more interesting case, because Samsung's own answer to motion sickness was a separate app playing a 100 Hz tone, which we looked at back in March, and the Fold 8 now gets Google's overlay on top of that.

Who gets Motion Assist, and how to turn it on

The catch is Android 17. Motion Assist arrives through Play services, but Google says it needs the new OS, so a Pixel 10 or Pixel 11 and the Galaxy Z Fold 8 series are covered today, while everyone else waits on their manufacturer's Android 17 update.

Here's how to turn on Motion Assist on Android 17

1. Open the Settings app and search for "motion assist," or go the long way through Settings, Google, the All services tab, then Personal and device safety.
2. Turn on "Start in a moving vehicle" so the shapes appear automatically in a car, bus or train.
3. If the menu isn't there yet, restart your phone and make sure Google Play services has updated.

Two years late is still better than never

But the version that shipped is a bit more customizable than Apple's, with shapes and randomization on top of color and opacity, and it arrives on Samsung phones the same day as Pixel, which isn't something Google always manages.

For now, I'd love to hear whether the shapes help you or just get in the way, because Google itself admits they won't work for everyone.

More on Motion Assist and Android 17:

• See how Apple's Vehicle Motion Cues held up when we tried them on an iPhone
• Everything you need to know about the Pixel 11 Pro
• What's new in Android 17 and which phones are getting it

• Follow me on X and Threads

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