Web/API/Animation/currentTime

This is an experimental technologyCheck the Browser compatibility table carefully before using this in production.

The Animation.currentTime property of the Web Animations API returns and sets the current time value of the animation in milliseconds, whether running or paused.

If the animation lacks a timeline, is inactive, or hasn't been played yet, currentTime's return value is null.

Syntax

var currentTime = Animation.currentTime;
Animation.currentTime = newTime;

Value

A number representing the current time in milliseconds, or null to deactivate the animation.

Examples

In the Drink Me/Eat Me game, Alice's height is animated so it can go from small to large or large to small. At the start of the game, her height is set between the two extremes by setting her animation's currentTime to half her KeyframeEffect's duration:

aliceChange.currentTime = aliceChange.effect.timing.duration / 2;

A more generic means of seeking to the 50% mark of an animation would be:

animation.currentTime =
  animation.effect.getComputedTiming().delay +
  animation.effect.getComputedTiming().activeDuration / 2;

Reduced time precision

To offer protection against timing attacks and fingerprinting, the precision of animation.currentTime might get rounded depending on browser settings. In Firefox, the privacy.reduceTimerPrecision preference is enabled by default and defaults to 20us in Firefox 59; in 60 it will be 2ms.

// reduced time precision (2ms) in Firefox 60
animation.currentTime;
// 23.404
// 24.192
// 25.514
// ...


// reduced time precision with `privacy.resistFingerprinting` enabled
animation.currentTime;
// 49.8
// 50.6
// 51.7
// ...

In Firefox, you can also enabled privacy.resistFingerprinting, the precision will be 100ms or the value of privacy.resistFingerprinting.reduceTimerPrecision.microseconds, whichever is larger.

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
Web AnimationsThe definition of 'currentTime' in that specification.	Working Draft

Browser compatibility

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
`currentTime` Experimental'	Chrome Full support 39	Edge Full support 79	Firefox Full support 48 Full support 48 No support 46 — 48 Disabled' Disabled' From version 46 until version 48 (exclusive): this feature is behind the `dom.animations-api.core.enabled` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	IE No support No	Opera Full support 26	Safari No support No	WebView Android Full support 39	Chrome Android Full support 39	Firefox Android Full support 48 Full support 48 No support 46 — 48 Disabled' Disabled' From version 46 until version 48 (exclusive): this feature is behind the `dom.animations-api.core.enabled` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	Opera Android Full support 26	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android Full support 4.0

Legend

Full support: Full support
No support: No support
Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.': Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.
User must explicitly enable this feature.': User must explicitly enable this feature.