Swiftui Motion

SwiftUI Motion

SwiftUI animation core. Loaded for any SwiftUI project (iOS, macOS, multi-target Apple). Concise rules here. Deep-dive in references/. Pair with ../motion-principles/SKILL.md (foundation) and ../mobile-principles/SKILL.md (touch UX).

Animation API decision tree

Rule: start with withAnimation. Reach for PhaseAnimator only when you have 3+ ordered states. Reach for KeyframeAnimator only when you need parallel time-based tracks.

Springs (the only easing you should care about)

SwiftUI ships 4 named springs (iOS 17+). Use them. Tune response / dampingFraction only when a preset is wrong.

response is the time the spring takes to settle (lower = snappier, higher = softer). dampingFraction is the overshoot intensity in 0...1 (1 = no overshoot, 0 = perpetual oscillation - never use 0). For UI work, stay in response: 0.2...0.5 and dampingFraction: 0.7...1.0. Deep-dive: references/springs-cheatsheet.md.

iOS 17+ also exposes .spring(duration:bounce:) where bounce is 0...1 (0 = critically damped, 1 = full bounce). It's the same spring, exposed in a more designer-friendly way:

.animation(.spring(duration: 0.4, bounce: 0.3), value: state)

Implicit vs explicit animations

// Implicit - via .animation modifier (binds to a value)
Circle()
    .scaleEffect(scale)
    .animation(.spring(.snappy), value: scale)

// Explicit - via withAnimation block
Button("Grow") {
    withAnimation(.smooth) { scale = 1.5 }
}

Rule: prefer explicit (withAnimation) for state changes triggered by user actions; use implicit when any change to a value should always animate (e.g., a progress bar that updates from anywhere). Never both on the same property - the outer withAnimation wins, but the implicit .animation modifier still runs and stacks confusingly.

Transitions

Transitions drive insertion / removal of views inside an if, switch, or ForEach. They run when the parent's animation context fires (so wrap state mutations in withAnimation).

if visible {
    Card().transition(.asymmetric(
        insertion: .move(edge: .bottom).combined(with: .opacity),
        removal: .opacity.animation(.easeIn(duration: 0.15))
    ))
}

BAD - vanish into a black hole:

Card().transition(.scale)  // scales to 0, the universal "broken" feel

GOOD - never scale to 0:

Card().transition(
    .scale(scale: 0.95).combined(with: .opacity)
)

iOS 17+ also has the .transition(_:) modifier with custom transitions via the Transition protocol - useful for shared timing across many views. For 90% of work, the built-in combinators (.move, .opacity, .scale, .slide, .push, .asymmetric, .combined(with:)) are enough.

matchedGeometryEffect (hero animations)

Tag two views with the same id in the same Namespace. SwiftUI interpolates frame and position when the source view is replaced.

struct Gallery: View {
    @Namespace private var ns
    @State private var expanded = false

    var body: some View {
        ZStack {
            if expanded {
                LargeCard()
                    .matchedGeometryEffect(id: "card", in: ns)
                    .onTapGesture { withAnimation(.spring(.smooth)) { expanded = false } }
            } else {
                SmallCard()
                    .matchedGeometryEffect(id: "card", in: ns)
                    .onTapGesture { withAnimation(.spring(.smooth)) { expanded = true } }
            }
        }
    }
}

isSource: true (default on the source-of-truth view) tells SwiftUI which frame to interpolate from. Common gotchas: id collisions across unrelated namespaces, view identity instability (use stable ids, not array indices), and animating out of an if branch where the destination view doesn't exist yet (wrap both branches inside the same parent, use opacity to hide instead of removing).

PhaseAnimator (iOS 17+)

For ordered state choreography. Define a CaseIterable + Hashable enum, SwiftUI walks through phases sequentially, settling on the last one.

enum SuccessPhase: CaseIterable { case start, scaleUp, rotate, settle }

struct SuccessCheck: View {
    @State private var trigger = false

    var body: some View {
        Image(systemName: "checkmark.circle.fill")
            .font(.system(size: 64))
            .foregroundStyle(.green)
            .phaseAnimator(SuccessPhase.allCases, trigger: trigger) { view, phase in
                view
                    .scaleEffect(phase == .start ? 0 : phase == .settle ? 1 : 1.2)
                    .rotationEffect(.degrees(phase == .rotate ? 360 : 0))
                    .opacity(phase == .start ? 0 : 1)
            } animation: { phase in
                switch phase {
                case .start: .smooth(duration: 0.05)
                case .scaleUp: .spring(.bouncy, blendDuration: 0.25)
                case .rotate: .spring(response: 0.4, dampingFraction: 0.8)
                case .settle: .smooth(duration: 0.2)
                }
            }
            .onTapGesture { trigger.toggle() }
    }
}

trigger: is optional - omit it to advance through phases automatically once on appear. Use it when you need an external signal (button tap, model update). Phases run sequentially, never in parallel - if you need parallelism, use KeyframeAnimator.

KeyframeAnimator (iOS 17+)

For continuous, time-based animations with parallel tracks. Each KeyframeTrack animates one keypath independently; SwiftUI runs them all together.

struct AnimationValues {
    var scale: Double = 1
    var rotation: Angle = .zero
    var opacity: Double = 1
}

struct HeartTap: View {
    @State private var counter = 0

    var body: some View {
        Image(systemName: "heart.fill")
            .font(.system(size: 64))
            .foregroundStyle(.pink)
            .keyframeAnimator(initialValue: AnimationValues(), trigger: counter) { content, values in
                content
                    .scaleEffect(values.scale)
                    .rotationEffect(values.rotation)
                    .opacity(values.opacity)
            } keyframes: { _ in
                KeyframeTrack(\.scale) {
                    SpringKeyframe(1.3, duration: 0.15)
                    SpringKeyframe(1.0, duration: 0.3, spring: .bouncy)
                }
                KeyframeTrack(\.rotation) {
                    CubicKeyframe(.degrees(15), duration: 0.1)
                    CubicKeyframe(.degrees(-15), duration: 0.2)
                    CubicKeyframe(.degrees(0), duration: 0.15)
                }
            }
            .onTapGesture { counter += 1 }
    }
}

Four keyframe types: LinearKeyframe (constant velocity between points), SpringKeyframe (settles with spring), CubicKeyframe (cubic bezier ease), MoveKeyframe (jump cut, no interpolation). Trigger on a value change to re-run the animation. Deep-dive: references/phase-keyframe-deep.md.

Animatable / @Animatable

For custom drawing that needs interpolation. The @Animatable macro (iOS 17+) auto-synthesizes animatableData for any Equatable properties; the older Animatable protocol still works.

struct ProgressRing: Shape {
    var progress: Double  // 0...1

    var animatableData: Double {
        get { progress }
        set { progress = newValue }
    }

    func path(in rect: CGRect) -> Path {
        var p = Path()
        p.addArc(
            center: CGPoint(x: rect.midX, y: rect.midY),
            radius: rect.width / 2,
            startAngle: .degrees(-90),
            endAngle: .degrees(-90 + 360 * progress),
            clockwise: false
        )
        return p
    }
}

ProgressRing(progress: progress)
    .stroke(.tint, lineWidth: 6)
    .animation(.spring(.smooth), value: progress)

For multi-property shapes use AnimatablePair<A, B> (or nested pairs) as animatableData. The @Animatable macro removes that boilerplate when properties are Equatable + Animatable.

Gestures

let tap = TapGesture().onEnded { print("tap") }
let drag = DragGesture().onChanged { value in offset = value.translation }
ZStack { ... }
    .gesture(tap.simultaneously(with: drag))

Three composition operators: .simultaneously(with:) (parallel recognition), .sequenced(before:) (one must complete first), .exclusively(before:) (one or the other, not both). For fine-grained control over when child views can claim the gesture, use .simultaneousGesture(_, including: GestureMask) with .gesture, .subviews, .all, or .none. Deep-dive: references/gestures-swiftui.md.

Anti-Patterns (BAD / GOOD)

1. Deprecated .animation form (no value binding)

// BAD - implicit-anim-everywhere, deprecated in iOS 15+
Circle().scaleEffect(scale).animation(.easeInOut)

// GOOD - bind to a specific value
Circle().scaleEffect(scale).animation(.easeInOut, value: scale)
// OR
withAnimation(.easeInOut) { scale = 1.5 }

2. Animating frame size directly

// BAD - .frame() drives layout pass every frame, drops fps under load
Card().frame(height: expanded ? 400 : 100)
    .animation(.spring(), value: expanded)

// GOOD - animate transform-equivalents (scale, offset) that the compositor handles
Card()
    .frame(height: 400)
    .scaleEffect(expanded ? 1 : 0.4, anchor: .top)
    .animation(.spring(), value: expanded)
// OR for actual layout transitions, use matchedGeometryEffect

3. Scale to 0 (the vanish-into-nothing trap)

// BAD - element vanishes into a black hole, feels broken
Card().transition(.scale)

// GOOD - minimum scale 0.9-0.95 + opacity
Card().transition(.scale(scale: 0.95).combined(with: .opacity))

4. withAnimation inside body

// BAD - body runs on every render, animation re-fires arbitrarily
var body: some View {
    let _ = withAnimation(.spring()) { scale = 1.2 }  // never do this
    Circle().scaleEffect(scale)
}

// GOOD - trigger from user actions or .onChange
var body: some View {
    Circle()
        .scaleEffect(scale)
        .onTapGesture {
            withAnimation(.spring()) { scale = scale == 1 ? 1.2 : 1 }
        }
}

Reduced motion respect

Mandatory. SwiftUI exposes the iOS / macOS "Reduce Motion" accessibility setting via the environment. See ../motion-principles/SKILL.md for the cross-platform rationale.

struct Hero: View {
    @Environment(\.accessibilityReduceMotion) var reduceMotion
    @State private var shown = false

    var body: some View {
        Text("Welcome")
            .opacity(shown ? 1 : 0)
            .offset(y: shown ? 0 : (reduceMotion ? 0 : 20))
            .animation(reduceMotion ? .none : .spring(.smooth), value: shown)
            .onAppear { shown = true }
    }
}

Rule: cross-fades and opacity are still allowed under reduced motion; large translations, scale-from-zero, parallax, and looping motion must be neutralized.

Quick Reference: Loading sub-skills

Sources

• twostraws/SwiftUI-Agent-Skill
• GetStream/swiftui-spring-animations
• amosgyamfi/open-swiftui-animations
• AvdLee/SwiftUI-Agent-Skill
• Apple SwiftUI Animations
• Apple PhaseAnimator
• Apple KeyframeAnimator
• WWDC23 Animate with springs
• WWDC23 Wind your way through advanced animations