# Apple Vehicle Motion Cues

59 Hacker News commenters recommended Apple Vehicle Motion Cues and 13 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 0.25 years (5 owners).

**Verdict:** Free iPhone setting that adds moving dots to ease motion sickness when reading the screen in a car. Critics say it only partly helps and does not work for everyone.

## Why people recommend it

- Makes phone use in cars tolerable (9 comments): "The dots on the iPhone do help a little bit. I wouldn't say it cures me, but I can at least check messages on the ride without immediately feeling like death." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48564156)) "these dots help me at least check messages here and there without immediately feeling like I'm going to throw up" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49078747)) "It helps, doesn't completely cure it for me but makes looking at google maps / iMessage more bearable." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48558400))
- Works in cars, trains and Ubers (8 comments): "it's a game changer on the Pendolino trains I get to work as they tilt going around corners" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49088644)) "This works really well in the Tesla Ubers here in NYC when i'm working on my MacBook" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48559132)) "It's a great feature, I've been testing it while we drive in the Greek mountains." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48560492))
- Helps people prone to motion sickness (4 comments): "Has worked very well for my wife who notably couldn’t look at her phone for even a few seconds without feeling ill" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48558175)) "Since they put this setting on, they can happily use their phone with no motion sickness." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49102221)) "As someone with persistent BPPV, I need anti-nausea dots in life." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48561435))
- Easy to set to automatic (3 comments): "It really works. Just put it on auto and let the phone's accelerometer control when it turns on." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48562568)) "which is useful for quickly enabling / disabling without digging through the settings" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48562238)) "There is an automatic mode that works perfectly for me." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48562575))

## What people warn about

- Only partial relief, not a cure (6 comments): "The dots on the iPhone do help a little bit. I wouldn't say it cures me, but I can at least check messages on the ride without immediately feeling like death." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48564156)) "it doesn't solve motion sickness for me when looking at my phone in a car, but it does seem to make it a little less severe" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49082036)) "It helps, doesn't completely cure it for me but makes looking at google maps / iMessage more bearable." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48558400))
- Did not help some people (4 comments): "Unfortunately it does not work for me. If anything, the dots just distract me or make it worse." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49102465)) "tried over the course of several weeks, unfortunately it didn't help" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48564130)) "I gave this feature a try and it didn't work for me." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48558194))
- Distracting or annoying to use (3 comments): "Unfortunately it does not work for me. If anything, the dots just distract me or make it worse." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49102465)) "I tried it for about 30 seconds and was so annoyed by how distracting I found it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48558990)) "it feels kind of nonsensical and just annoying" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49104930))
- Doesn't work in electric cars (2 comments): "this feature works for me and its amazing! BUT one interesting caveat - it doesnt work when im in an electric car" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48563578)) "unlike Apple's system it does not count for acceleration" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49080387))

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Apple Vehicle Motion Cues", https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-vehicle-motion-cues/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).