Increasing Animation Speeds on Android Guide

Android Guides
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In this guide, I will explain how to control animation speeds on your Android phone.

Why Adjust Animation Speeds?

Animations on phones (such as opening apps, transitioning between screens, and minimizing windows) are often visually appealing, but they can slow down the overall responsiveness of the device. By adjusting these animations, you can:

  • Speed up app transitions: Reducing animation times can make apps open and close faster.
  • Improve overall responsiveness: Your device will feel more responsive when you reduce or eliminate the animations.

*This is not a suggestion to do on EVERY Android phone. If your phone seems buggy or slow (when opening/exiting apps, sliding across pages in the home screen, etc.) then this is an idea to help fix it.

Enable Developer Options

  1. Open Settings: Start by opening the Settings app on your device.
  2. Scroll Down and Find “About Phone”: Navigate to the bottom and tap on About Phone.
  3. Tap on “Build Number”: In the About Phone section, look for the Build Number field. Tap it 7 times in rapid succession. You’ll receive a message saying, “You are now a developer.”
  4. Go Back to Settings: Once Developer Options are enabled, go back to the main settings screen.

How to Access and Adjust Animation Speeds

  1. Open Developer Options:
  2. Go to Settings and scroll down to System.
  3. Tap Developer Options (this section might also be directly visible in the main settings screen in some devices).
  4. Adjust Window, Transition, and Animator Duration. Look for the options labeled:
    • Window animation scale
    • Transition animation scale
    • Animator duration scale
  5. Change the Values:
    • By default, these are usually set to “1x,” which represents the standard animation speed.
    • To speed up the animations, tap each one and change the setting to “0.5x”.
    • To disable animations entirely, you can set them to “Animation off”.
    What each option does:
    • Window animation scale: Controls the animation that happens when you open or close a window.
    • Transition animation scale: Controls the transition animations when you switch between screens or apps.
    • Animator duration scale: Affects the duration of animation for visual effects, such as button presses or other UI interactions.

Impact of These Changes

  • 0.5x Speed: Reduces the animation speed by half, giving a noticeable improvement in responsiveness.
  • Animation Off: Completely removes all animations, which can make the phone feel much quicker but might also make the interface feel less polished.

I hope this helps you with your phone endeavors!

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