Android 17 adds Motion Assist, an on-screen overlay meant to reduce motion sickness in vehicles

Motion Assist is one of the headline additions in Google's September 2026 Android Drop. It places a light bubble overlay on top of whatever is on your screen, and those bubbles shift in step with the movement of the vehicle you are travelling in.

The reasoning behind it is that motion sickness while reading in a moving car or bus comes partly from a mismatch between what your eyes are focused on and what your body feels. Google describes the overlay as helping bridge that gap. You can change the colour, shape and opacity of the bubbles, and there is an option to have them shift appearance every few seconds. Android can also switch the overlay on by itself when it detects you are moving in a car, bus or train, and there is a Quick Settings tile for turning it on manually.

Google says Motion Assist requires Android 17 or later, which limits it to newer and recently updated phones. It is rolling out as part of the September Drop rather than as a separate app update.