If you want your Flutter app to feel “premium,” then you’ll need to embrace a certain degree of dynamic motion in various parts. Modals, drawers, step-based interfaces…if any of these come off as jarringly abrupt or disorienting, that damages a critical component in how good people feel while they’re using your app.
Great simple UI can be changed into something people will return to time and again, through very smooth transitions, understated passage and interactive fx.The best part? Flutter makes animations surprisingly easy. Whether you are creating micro-interactions, page transitions or rich animated components — with Flutter it’s easy to do in a clean way.
In this guide, I’m going to cover everything you need to know — from the fundamentals right through to some real-world examples — so that by the end of the article, you can start integrating beautiful animations into your app today.
Overview
Flutter offers both implicit animations and Explicit animations.
If you’re striving for fast, seamless transitions, then implicit animations are your new best friend. To have more control, and customize it, you can use explicit animations to manage animation curves, durations and controllers.Here’s a quick snapshot:
- Implicit Animations (such as AnimatedContainer, AnimatedOpacity) - good when the transitions are simple and straightforward.
- Explicit animations (e.g., AnimationController, Tween, AnimatedBuilder) - for more complex and flexible animation.
- Animation widgets- Hero, Lottie(animation widgets come with an optional package) which make difficult thing a piece of cake.
Why Use Animations
Why should you even care about animation in your Flutter UI? Here are the main reasons:
- Better user experience: it shows some visual feedback.
- Makes your UI feel premium — animations display effort and time.
- Guides user’s eye so navigation feels natural.
- Engages more users, by making your app even more fun.
- Competitive advantage — a Better UI is an advantage in itself.
Step-by-Step Guide
1. Start With Implicit Animations
If you are new to Flutter animations, start with implicit widgets. And, property changes animate automatically — no controller required.
AnimatedContainer(
duration: Duration(milliseconds: 400),
curve: Curves. easeInOut,
width: isActive? 200 : 120,
height: 60,
color: isActive? Colors. blue : Colors. grey,
child: Center(child: Text("Tap Me")),
);
2. Transition to explicit animations for more control
If you take your pick on custom timing, chaining animations, or directing multiple effects, explicit animations are intended for you.
class ScaleDemo extends StatefulWidget {
I have a following piece of code: Copy the contents into dartpad.dev then see in 'Open editor' I can actually insert level.
@override
_ScaleDemoState createState() => _ScaleDemoState();
}
class _ScaleDemoState extends State<ScaleDemo>
with SingleTickerProviderStateMixin {
late AnimationController controller;
late Animation scale;
@override
void initState() {
controller = AnimationController(
duration: Duration(milliseconds: 500),
vsync: this,
);
scale = Tween(begin: 0.8, end: 1.2). animate(
CurvedAnimation(parent: controller, curve: Curves. easeInOut),
);
controller. repeat(reverse: true);
super.initState();
}
@override
Widget build(BuildContext context) {
return AnimatedBuilder(
animation: scale,
builder: (context, child) {
return Transform. scale(
scale: scale. value,
child: child,
);
},
child: Container(
width: 80,
height: 80,
color: Colors. orange,
),
);
}
@override
void dispose() {
controller. dispose();
super.dispose();
}
}
3. Add Hero Animations for the Screen Transitions
Hero widgets enables stunning transitions when navigating screens. These are great for photos, cards, and buttons.
4. Use Curves for Natural Motion
Curves such as easeOut, fastOutSlowIn and bounceIn give animations their vavavoom.
5. Combine Multiple Animations Using TweenSequence
Great when you want something like “fade in → scale up → slide.”
Best Practices
-
- Keep animations on the subtle side - be careful to not go overboard.
- Use RepaintBoundary for better performance.
- Use an implicit animation whenever possible, unless you require more control.
- Uniform animation duration across your app.
- Always test animations on a real device.
- AnimatedOpacity – For a smooth fade transition that looks great.
- TweenAnimationBuilder is ideal for animations that occur once.
- To optimize UX, animate on user interaction.
- Use AnimationController. forward() after async operations (also before all is ok, happy state).
Examples
Wanna see an implementation of a good-looking button press animation?
GestureDetector(
onTapDown: (_) => controller. forward(),
onTapUp: (_) => controller. reverse(),
child: ScaleTransition(
scale: scale,
child: Container(
padding: EdgeInsets. symmetric(vertical: 16, horizontal: 32),
color: Colors. blue,
child: Text('Press Me', style: TextStyle(color: Colors. white)),
),
),
);
Another example: animated list items with fade & slide:
TweenAnimationBuilder(
duration: Duration(milliseconds: 500),
tween: Tween(begin: 0.0, end: 1.0),
builder: (context, value, child) {
return Opacity(
opacity: value,
child: Transform. translate(
offset: Offset(0, (1 - value) * 20),
child: child,
),
);
},
child: ListTile(title: Text('Animated Item')),
);
Conclusion
Flutter animations aren’t just for show — they can have a huge impact on the way users experience your app. With just a few lines of code, you can get your UI to look smooth, modern and cheerful.
Start out small with implicit animations, step up to explicit when you need to, and mess around with the curves and transitions a bit. The more you mess around with motion, the more natural your UI will be.
Ready to upgrade your Flutter UI? Begin incorporating animations today and bring your app to life.
FAQ
1. Are animations bad for performance?
No — Flutter is built with animation in mind. In summary, don't build unnecessarily and keep animations lightweight.
2. Should I go with implicit or explicit animations?
Implicit for simple state changes, explicit when you want a delicate touch.
3. Can animations run at 60fps?
Yes. With Skia for rendering, Flutter can also bring 60fps performance or even up to 120fps on some devices.
4. Is Hero animation expensive?
Not at all. They are very quick, and they are built into the render system of Flutter.
5. How can I string more than one screen animation to another?
Use CurvedAnimation +-TweenSequence, or multi AnimieController w.