ios 7 zooming induces nausea + motion sickness

Motion sickness and dizziness are relatively common in the human population and statistics show that some 20% of population is affected. The two major causes are inner ear and/or visual oculor motor system.

People experiencing motion sickness in front of a small screen like a smartphone will also likely have same or bigger symptoms during other life situations: elevators, roofs, boats, reading in a car, watching a movie with a fast moving object, watching kids while they have fun in a carrousel, etc. Other related symptoms might be photophobia (excess light sensitivity) causing to use sunglasses even in cloudy days, making a rapid head movement, difficulties in evaluating distances for example while parking a car, etc.

Unfortunately it is not a specific technology, it is the inability of some people to meet the requirements of some envinronmet situations.

I would suggest to investigate with a clinical evaluation by an otorhinolaryngologist (specialized in vestibular disorders) and an optometrist (specialized in vision therapy).

I have seen and treated a huge number of people with motion sickness disorders and the treatment is relatively easy allowing a more enjoyable life not just watching a smartphone screen but also in many other life situations.

I'm not having any issues with headaches or nausea when using my iPhone and iPad running iOS7 and I suffer from motion sickness. I can't read anything when sitting in the back of a vehicle.

This is the third time I have tried to post my list of complaints, and it is removed because of ranting. But it is a list of my problems with ios 7.

Hello,

I am extremely disappointed in ios7.

The zooming effect of the apps makes me ill.

Setting the date on the calendar makes me ill - the dates get bigger as they get closer....why?

Switching from app to app makes me ill. The apps keep moving as I swipe. Not like before.

I can barely read the time or the date or even Swipe to Open. It is so washed out.

I can barely read the text on my app boxes that have multiple apps. The color is the same as the background. Crazy.

Why should I have to squint to use this tool?

Turning the Reduce Motion does not help, as many forums and articles suggest.

Making the text larger does not help.

Making the text bold does not help (and I don't like that).

The entire experience of ios7 is a great disappointment. I do not enjoy using my iPad anymore, and I advised my elderly cousin to not update. An elderly person would have an even more difficult time than I.

Even if all the lack of contrast and extra motion and moving change of font size (calendar) doesn't make me ill, it is really irritating. I do not need fancy zooms and whizzes to just see the weather, check my email, read the news, shop online, play sudoku, or whatever, and I would like to see the labels on my groups of apps without acting like a 99-year-old in the process, squinting my eyes and leaning into the iPad (I am in my mid 40s).

Using the iPad is not like playing a video game. I do not want special effects. This is a tool for me that I use every day for many, many reasons, and I don't need all this fancy stuff. It was fancy and very cool enough for me before this. Now it is nauseating, and if there won't be an option for changing it, I will give this iPad to my kids and buy an Android something or other.

Wendy

I cannot believe how pathetic people are. If you really get motion sickness from ios7 then you must pass out if you see an android with live wallpaper. I'm a pulmonary physician assistant and based on my medical expertise the fact that some people are saying that ios7 was the cause of their diarrhea and ect. Is just ridiculous. Maybe it was that gas station sushi you ate. Apple finally made their operating system perfect and this is what they get. My advice is downgrade to a flip up phone and just use it to make phone calls. Don't bother even watching tv then you might go to the hospital. Grow up.

Yes, I agree all the discussion and articles about motion sickness related to ios7 are simply pathetic.

As I wrote before in this discussion, there are detailed clinical explanation about motions sickness and dizziness, their causes and proved available treatments.

If someone experience (for real) motion sickness while watching the screen of a smartphone, then the answer is only one: he/she has an health problem and he/she should visit a doctor.

A useful article here on possible causes:

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/sep/27/ios-7-motion-sickness-nausea

I'm surprised to see this thread being trolled. It's not like people here are asking for much, just a switch to turn off the zoom in/out would fix for me and I'd be quite happy.

Emin RCP, As a medical professional, I find your intolerant attitude disturbing. The idea that "one size fits all" and "It's my way or the highway" is closed minded. Please go to settings -> general -> accessibility and tell me that all the people who might need to use those various settings should go back to a flip phone.

Yes, I have a real condition. Yes, I'm a grown up. I'm in my mid-forties, and also have to use reading glasses. I can't ride any kind of roller coaster or amusement ride with my child. I can't go boating with my family. All car, plane and train travel requires Sea Bands, an eye mask and earplugs. I used to be a in console video game development, but left and went to web deveopment, when all all console games were 3D. It's hard to make a game you can't play.

So I should go to the doctor? For what? This is software, software can have options. I've been able to use the iPhone in all it's previous versions for 5 and a half years with no difficulty.

And finally, a non-medical reason, all the animations are just too slow. The system is powerful enough to respond instaniously to my input. It's about time. Sonic for the SEGA genesis had a 1/60 of a second response time. 20 years later and we have to wait.

I can't ride amusement park rides either due to motion sickness, yet iOS 7 has zero effect on me. I'm starting to think people are making up excuses not to like it simply because they don't like change.

Maybe the problem is with people who use their phone to text while driving. 😉

Emin RCP wrote:

I cannot believe how pathetic people are. If you really get motion sickness from ios7 then you must pass out if you see an android with live wallpaper. I'm a pulmonary physician assistant and based on my medical expertise the fact that some people are saying that ios7 was the cause of their diarrhea and ect. Is just ridiculous. Maybe it was that gas station sushi you ate. Apple finally made their operating system perfect and this is what they get. My advice is downgrade to a flip up phone and just use it to make phone calls. Don't bother even watching tv then you might go to the hospital. Grow up.

Let's keep in mind that 50% of all pulmonary physician assistants finished in the bottom half of their classes, so not all opinions are equally valid.... 😉

I too believe that the diarrhea story either an exaggeration or an extreme case. The reality is, most of us having this issue are experienceing milder symptoms of headaches, dizzyness, and feelings of nausea. But real and uncomfortable, nonetheless.

I don't think anyone can deny that some 3D movies and 3D video games can cause *some* people headaches and dizzyness, maybe a small percentage like 5-10%. This simulated animated motion is not natural and it can potentially affect how our eyes and brain and other motion-related senses react. I think most would agree with this basic statement. (And if you don't, spend some time talking to a real medical professional or even just googling it...)

So if you agree with the above statement, it shouldn't be too much of a stretch to understand that some people can be affected by the simulated zooming in/out animation on an iPhone, even with a 4" screen. Once again, most people will be fine and feel absolutely nothing, but 5-10% may find this simulated motion to cause problems.

For the record, I like my iPhone 5 and I like IOS 7. I like Apple products, as my household is filled with multiple iMacs, iPods and iPhones... The only thing is the zoom in and out animation makes me feel a bit dizzy after a day of normal use. I am 100% healthy otherwise, I am an active adult with no other ailments. I enjoy playing sports, riding my motorcyle, going snowboarding, or even riding roller coasters so it's not motion that affects me. But simulated 3D motion does have a very real effect on me.

All we're asking for is Apple to include an option to disable this app zooming animation.

There are many articles written about this so I expect Apple to address this issue soon. In the mean time, this article has some suggestions to reduce the nauseating effects: http://helpios7.com/reducing-motion-sickness-ios-7/

I have the same issue as well 😟. I tried to endure it for three days but I am definitely not getting used to it. Same deal - I use it for 5-10 minutes, I get a headache. If I use it throughout the day, the motion sickness starts to kick in.

I tried reverting back to iOS6 but iTunes gives an error because Apple server did not authenticate it. Or if I turn off Internet/go offline, it still won't authorize since it wants to connect to an Apple server.

For most people, including me, the ios7 effects are cool and fun. They don't cause me to get motion sickness. the only time i got motion sickness was when i was playing a videogame on my iphone while i was in the back seat being driven around. i started to feel sick to my stomach and had to get them to stop the car so i could get a snack and walk around for a bit..

it's not fun to get motion sickness.. try having a bit more empathy, just because it doesn't affect you doesn't mean it's not important for apple to fix. i hope they add a setting to accessability to fix this issue for people.

I also don't understand why for the multi-tasking there are only 3 or 3 1/2 icons that show up - so I have to keep swiping, which makes things move and move and move - they don't stop moving. Why now show 5-6 apps? And why the movement or yes, please offer something that will turn it off. It makes me sick watching it. I also have to close my eyes.

I don't understand all the judgement about people who don't like the movement.

I love roller coasters (but not the really spinny rides), can read in the car for hours. I do get motion sickness from driving for many hours, like 4-5. And in the past I have had vertigo once in a while. But overall, I am a functioning adult and I would like this tool to not be like a teen video game.

Yes, like someone stated - the color schemes are like a teen scheme - and why? The text is hard to read.

If they don't offer a solution, I'm done with the iPad, that is for sure.

You might be the most arrogant and ignorant person on the internet. How could you possibly "know" anything about other peoples reactions. You are not a god. You have a limited experience and are simply incappable of knowing anything about how other people are affected by this.

I got motion sickeness from ios7 within a few seconds of using. I've been an iPhone user since 2008 with no issues. Its laughable that you think I'm lying and making this up. For what purpose?