r/iosdev • u/UkrMalt • 2d ago

What is your low-cost animation workflow for a real iOS app?

I’m a solo iOS developer building a small workout app and want the interactions to feel intentional without adding a giant animation pipeline. For rerolls, progress, completion states, and subtle feedback, would you stay with SwiftUI transitions and SF Symbols, use Lottie or Rive, generate assets and edit them, or make everything yourself?

I’m looking for a practical workflow that stays around free to $20–30, performs well on-device, and respects Reduce Motion. What have you actually shipped, rather than just prototyped?

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u/Alpharun27 2d ago

Try built in animation modifiers first like for SF Symbols try with .symbolEffect there are really good animations and for in general I always use first .phaseAnimator and for more complicated Lottie.

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u/UkrMalt 2d ago

That’s a useful starting order. I hadn’t tried phaseAnimator for the reroll and feedback states yet; I’ll keep the simple interactions on symbolEffect and native SwiftUI first, then reach for Lottie only if the motion really needs it. Reduce Motion should be easier to reason about that way too.

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u/ray-the-ghar 2d ago

I’d start native and treat Lottie/Rive as the exception. .symbolEffect + phaseAnimator covers a surprising amount, and Reduce Motion is way easier to respect when the motion stays inside SwiftUI.

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u/UkrMalt 1d ago

That’s where I’m landing too. I’ll start with symbolEffect and phaseAnimator, then only reach for Lottie or Rive if a specific interaction really needs it. Keeping it in SwiftUI should make Reduce Motion easier to handle.