- Motion Cues could be ready to launch on Android
- Fight motion sickness while traveling
- We first saw hints of the feature around this time last year.
A year ago, a new Android feature called Motion Cues was spotted hidden in the Google Play Services code, with a release apparently imminent. It hasn’t appeared yet, but that could be about to change.
Once again, we are indebted to the team at Android Authority for doing the necessary research and it looks like the feature is still there. However, a restriction in the capabilities of Android itself is the reason it has not been released yet.
Motion Cues, like the equivalent feature on iOS, will draw dots on the screen that move in relation to the actual movement of the phone, in theory reducing nausea, because it means your brain won’t be as confused about whether you’re moving or not.
However, drawing those dots on top of key settings panels requires elevated security permissions that Motion Cues doesn’t yet have. The limitations exist to prevent hackers from overlaying elements over icons and menus that control how your phone works.
Will you arrive soon?
Look
In the latest version of Android Canary, the pre-beta software where Google engineers test new features, it appears that responsibility for Motion Cues is being transferred to a more fundamental part of Android, with additional security rights.
That means the dots that sync with your phone’s movement will be able to cover the entire screen, even if you’re viewing important system settings or have the Quick Settings panel pulled down from the top of the screen.
Once this new approach has been tested and established, that should mean it will be made public. It could well appear as part of the Android 17 update which we expect to hear more about in the coming months.
Apple’s version of this, called Vehicle Motion Cues, was introduced with iOS 18 and works similarly: you can manage and enable the feature from the main Settings screen by tapping Accessibility > Movement > Vehicle Movement Signs.
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