Jetpack Compose Animations — Bring Your UI to Life in 2025

3 min readMay 10, 2025

✨ Introduction

In 2025, Jetpack Compose is the definitive way to build Android UIs — fast, declarative, and elegant. But a truly modern UI is more than static components and clean layouts. It’s alive. It’s expressive. It communicates through animation.

Animations in Jetpack Compose aren’t just decorative; they’re functional. They guide users, indicate changes, and create delightful experiences that feel polished and modern. In this article, you’ll dive into the core animation APIs in Compose, learn when and how to use them, and walk through real-world examples to help you build truly interactive and responsive UIs.

🚀 Why Use Animations?

Before diving into code, let’s understand what animations bring to your UI:

Provide visual feedback (e.g., button pressed or success shown)
Improve navigation context (e.g., screen transitions, element reveal)
Delight users (e.g., playful micro-interactions)
Guide focus (e.g., focus shifts in form inputs)

Done right, animations are subtle but powerful tools that improve user experience significantly.

⚙️ Basics: animate*AsState

The animate*AsState functions (like animateDpAsState, animateFloatAsState, etc.) allow smooth transitions between values.

🧪 Example: Animate Button Width

@Composable
fun AnimatedButton() {
    var expanded by remember { mutableStateOf(false) }
    val width by animateDpAsState(
        targetValue = if (expanded) 200.dp else 100.dp,
        animationSpec = tween(durationMillis = 500)
    )

    Button(
        onClick = { expanded = !expanded },
        modifier = Modifier.width(width)
    ) {
        Text("Tap me")
    }
}

💡 Use tween(), spring(), or keyframes() to customize animation behavior.

🧩 Visibility Transitions with AnimatedVisibility

Want to show/hide components with animation? Use AnimatedVisibility.

@Composable
fun ExpandableCard() {
    var expanded by remember { mutableStateOf(false) }

    Column {
        Button(onClick = { expanded = !expanded }) {
            Text("Toggle Content")
        }

        AnimatedVisibility(visible = expanded) {
            Text(
                "Here’s some additional info",
                modifier = Modifier.padding(8.dp)
            )
        }
    }
}

You can even customize enter/exit transitions:

AnimatedVisibility(
    visible = expanded,
    enter = fadeIn() + expandVertically(),
    exit = fadeOut() + shrinkVertically()
)

🔁 Transition APIs

When multiple values change together, use updateTransition.

@Composable
fun MultiStateBox() {
    var selected by remember { mutableStateOf(false) }
    val transition = updateTransition(targetState = selected, label = "SelectionTransition")

    val color by transition.animateColor(label = "ColorAnimation") {
        if (it) Color.Green else Color.Red
    }

    val size by transition.animateDp(label = "SizeAnimation") {
        if (it) 100.dp else 60.dp
    }

    Box(
        modifier = Modifier
            .size(size)
            .background(color)
            .clickable { selected = !selected }
    )
}

updateTransition is powerful for orchestrating multiple animations based on state changes.

🌀 Animating Lists with LazyColumn

Animating content inside a list is a bit trickier — but possible with animateItemPlacement() or manual key changes.

LazyColumn {
    items(items, key = { it.id }) { item ->
        Text(
            item.name,
            modifier = Modifier.animateItemPlacement()
        )
    }
}

Want to animate item entry/exit? Combine this with AnimatedVisibility.

📦 Custom Animations: Infinite Repeat + Lottie

Use infiniteTransition for looping animations:

@Composable
fun PulsingDot() {
    val infiniteTransition = rememberInfiniteTransition()
    val size by infiniteTransition.animateFloat(
        initialValue = 10f,
        targetValue = 20f,
        animationSpec = infiniteRepeatable(
            animation = tween(800),
            repeatMode = RepeatMode.Reverse
        )
    )

    Box(
        modifier = Modifier
            .size(size.dp)
            .background(Color.Blue, CircleShape)
    )
}

Want advanced animations? Integrate Lottie:

@Composable
fun LottieAnimationView(resId: Int) {
    val composition by rememberLottieComposition(LottieCompositionSpec.RawRes(resId))
    val progress by animateLottieCompositionAsState(composition)

    LottieAnimation(
        composition,
        progress,
        modifier = Modifier.size(200.dp)
    )
}

Add Lottie dependency in libs.versions.toml:

[libraries]
lottie-compose = { group = "com.airbnb.android", name = "lottie-compose", version = "6.1.0" }

🧪 Testing Animated Composables

Animations can complicate UI testing. Use ComposeTestRule.waitUntil() to synchronize with animations if necessary. Or test them in their final states.

Keep animation durations short in test builds to avoid flaky results.

✅ Conclusion

Animations in Jetpack Compose are declarative, intuitive, and powerful. Whether you’re building subtle transitions or full-screen effects, Compose gives you the tools to animate anything with clean and expressive code.

In 2025, great apps aren’t just functional — they feel alive. Start small, experiment with motion, and elevate your Android UI to the next level.

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