Android transitions: Animations

Animations in android are a good way to make your application more user friendly and interactive. Animations are used to give the UI a rich look and feel. Animations in android apps can be performed through XML or android code. Animation is the process of creating motion and shape change. In this post we will take a look at different types of simple animations in android.
Create following XML files for animation in /anim folder under your res/ directory:

1. anim_fade_in.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<set xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:fillAfter="true" >

    <alpha
        android:duration="1000"
        android:fromAlpha="0.0"
        android:interpolator="@android:anim/accelerate_interpolator"
        android:toAlpha="1.0" />
</set>

2. anim_fade_out.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<set xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:fillAfter="true" >

    <alpha
        android:duration="1000"
        android:fromAlpha="1.0"
        android:interpolator="@android:anim/accelerate_interpolator"
        android:toAlpha="0.0" />
</set>

3. anim_slide_down.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<set xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:interpolator="@android:anim/overshoot_interpolator">

    <translate
        android:duration="1000"
        android:fromYDelta="-800%"
        android:toYDelta="0%" />
</set>

4. anim_slide_up.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<set xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">

    <translate
        android:duration="1000"
        android:fromYDelta="800%"
        android:toYDelta="0" />
</set>

5. anim_slide_out_to_right.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<set xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:shareInterpolator="false">
    <translate
        android:duration="400"
        android:fromXDelta="0%"
        android:fromYDelta="0%"
        android:toXDelta="100%"
        android:toYDelta="0%" />
</set>

6. anim_slide_out_to_left.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<set xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:shareInterpolator="false">
    <translate
        android:duration="300"
        android:fromXDelta="0%"
        android:toXDelta="-100%" />
</set>

7. anim_slide_in_from_right.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<set xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:shareInterpolator="false">
    <translate
        android:duration="400"
        android:fromXDelta="100%"
        android:fromYDelta="0%"
        android:toXDelta="0%"
        android:toYDelta="0%" />
</set>

8. anim_slide_in_from_left.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<set xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:shareInterpolator="false">
    <translate
        android:duration="300"
        android:fromXDelta="100%"
        android:toXDelta="0%" />
</set>

9. anim_blink.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<set xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <alpha android:fromAlpha="0.0"
        android:toAlpha="1.0"
        android:interpolator="@android:anim/accelerate_interpolator"
        android:duration="600"
        android:repeatMode="reverse"
        android:repeatCount="infinite"/>
</set>

10. anim_zoom_in.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<set xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:fillAfter="true" >

    <scale
        xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
        android:duration="1000"
        android:fromXScale="1"
        android:fromYScale="1"
        android:pivotX="50%"
        android:pivotY="50%"
        android:toXScale="3"
        android:toYScale="3" >
    </scale>
</set>

11. anim_zoom_out.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<set xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:fillAfter="true" >
    <scale
        xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
        android:duration="1000"
        android:fromXScale="1.0"
        android:fromYScale="1.0"
        android:pivotX="50%"
        android:pivotY="50%"
        android:toXScale="0.5"
        android:toYScale="0.5" >
    </scale>
</set>

12. anim_rotate.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<set xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <rotate android:fromDegrees="0"
        android:toDegrees="360"
        android:pivotX="50%"
        android:pivotY="50%"
        android:duration="600"
        android:repeatMode="restart"
        android:repeatCount="infinite"
        android:interpolator="@android:anim/cycle_interpolator"/>
</set>

Now to implement these animation in your app, just in your activity do the following:

      ImageView image = (ImageView)findViewById(R.id.imageView);
      Animation anim = AnimationUtils.loadAnimation(getApplicationContext(),                                         R.anim.your_anim_file);
      image.startAnimation(anim);

That's all. You can change the animation type you want and apply it to the view as shown above.