Difference between implicit and explicit animations in Flutter

Animations are one of the most important features in enhancing the user experience and adding dynamic nature to your mobile applications. In Flutter, a popular open-source UI software development kit, animations can be categorized into two main types which are implicit and explicit animations. Both these animation approaches are powerful in their own nature and are used for different purposes.

Implicit animations

Implicit animations in Flutter are a high-level abstraction that allows developers to create smooth and visually appealing transitions without manually defining the animation's start and end states.

However, implicit animations rely on a widget's built-in properties and built-in transitions to handle the animation internally. Flutter provides several widgets for implicit animations, such as

• AnimatedContainer,

• AnimatedOpacity,

• AnimatedDefaultTextStyle.

Advantages of implicit animations:

• Simplicity: Implicit animations are easy to use as they hide away much of the animation boilerplateBoilerplate code refers to the repetitive and standard sections of code that must be written for a particular task, which does not directly contribute to the main logic of the program. code, making them accessible to developers of all skill levels

• Efficiency: Flutter optimizes implicit animations by only rebuilding a specific part of the widget tree, which helps reduce performance overhead and ensures a smooth user experience.

Use cases of implicit animations

• Simple state changes: Implicit animations are perfect for cases where you need to animate basic state changes like size, opacity, or color.

• Quick prototyping: When you need to rapidly test different visual transitions to see which suits the theme of your mobile application, implicit animations come in handy, thanks to their simplicity.

If you want to learn more about implicit animations and their usage, read this.

Explicit animations

Explicit animations in Flutter require developers to manually specify the animation's start and end states, as well as the interpolation curveInterpolation curve is a mathematical function that determines the rate and manner of transition between two values during an animation..

This level of control provides greater flexibility and precision, allowing developers to create custom animations according to their own preferences. Flutter offers animation controller classes, such as

• AnimationController

• Tween

Advantages of explicit animations

• Customization: Explicit animations enable developers to customize the animation's behavior and appearance in detail, resulting in a more personalized and polished user experience.

• Complex animations: When dealing with difficult animations that involve multiple properties and intermediate steps, explicit animations offer a more suitable approach.

Use cases of explicit animations

• Interactive animations: Explicit animations are ideal for building interactive animations that respond to user input or gesture-based interactions.

• Complex transitions: When you need to create sophisticated animations that span across multiple screens or involve dynamic content, explicit animations provide the level of control required.

If you want to learn more about explicit animations and their usage, read this.

Comparison: implicit vs. explicit animations

The differences between these two types of animations can be crucial to understand in order to use them in your application.

Ease of implementation

Implicit animations are beginner-friendly due to their simplicity, as they require minimal setup and configuration. On the other hand, explicit animations demand more coding effort and expertise, making them better suited for experienced developers.

Level of control

Implicit animations abstract much of the animation process, providing limited control over the animation's behavior. In contrast, explicit animations offer complete control over the animation's timing, curves, and intermediate states.

Animation performance

Implicit animations are generally more efficient in performance, as Flutter optimizes the rendering process. If not implemented carefully, explicit animations may lead to performance issues, especially with complex animations.

Animation types

Implicit animations are well-suited for simple property-based transitions, like opacity and size changes. Explicit animations, however, can handle both property-based animations and complex transitions involving multiple properties simultaneously.

Reusability

Implicit animations are generally easier to reuse across different parts of an application since their logic is encapsulated within the widget itself. Once an implicit animation widget is defined, it can be placed anywhere in the widget tree without much modification. On the other hand, while explicit animations can be reused, they often require more customization based on the context in which they are used. The custom nature of explicit animations might make them less reusable in different parts of the app.

Learning curve

Due to their simplicity, implicit animations have a lower learning curve, making them accessible to developers who are relatively new to Flutter or animation concepts. However, learning to work with explicit animations may take more time and effort, particularly for those without prior experience in managing animations with the AnimationController, Tween, and curves.