Ask HN: Anyone else annoyed by smartphone animations?

2 pointsby eecsninjavor 10 Jahren2 comments

Android user here. I'm talking about the little transitions when you switch between apps, opening menus, etc. I wonder how much faster it would be to navigate around the OS without these animations. I feel like even the simplest task switching takes too long -- about a second, when I mentally expect that it should take only milliseconds (i.e. appear to be instantaneous).

I remember that on Windows OS in the pre-smartphone days, you could turn off animations for opening menus or minimizing windows. I wish there were such an option in Android.

2 comments

byoung2vor 10 Jahren

It is a developer option in Android 5. Go to Settings->About Device. Tap Build Number 10 times (you'll see a countdown for the last few taps). When it says you're a developer go back one menu. You will see developer options. In there under the drawing section you can change animation duration or disable it entirely.

Zigurdvor 10 Jahren

With a GPU, you're not saving noticeable time or battery life if you turn off animations, and it's been several years since anyone built a phone without a GPU.

In the case of an embedded system using and extremely low-cost CPU, you might consider turning off transition animations as a build option.