Web/API/Element/animate

From Get docs


The Element interface's animate() method is a shortcut method which creates a new Animation, applies it to the element, then plays the animation. It returns the created Animation object instance.

Elements can have multiple animations applied to them. You can get a list of the animations that affect an element by calling Element.getAnimations().


Syntax

var animation = element.animate(keyframes, options); 

Parameters

keyframes

Either an array of keyframe objects, or a keyframe object whose property are arrays of values to iterate over. See Keyframe Formats for more details.

options
Either an integer representing the animation's duration (in milliseconds), or an Object containing one or more timing properties: 
id Optional
A property unique to animate(): a DOMString with which to reference the animation.
delay Optional
The number of milliseconds to delay the start of the animation. Defaults to 0.
direction Optional
Whether the animation runs forwards (normal), backwards (reverse), switches direction after each iteration (alternate), or runs backwards and switches direction after each iteration (alternate-reverse). Defaults to "normal".
duration Optional
The number of milliseconds each iteration of the animation takes to complete. Defaults to 0. Although this is technically optional, keep in mind that your animation will not run if this value is 0.
easing Optional
The rate of the animation's change over time. Accepts the pre-defined values "linear", "ease", "ease-in", "ease-out", and "ease-in-out", or a custom "cubic-bezier" value like "cubic-bezier(0.42, 0, 0.58, 1)". Defaults to "linear".
endDelay Optional
The number of milliseconds to delay after the end of an animation. This is primarily of use when sequencing animations based on the end time of another animation. Defaults to 0. 
fill Optional
Dictates whether the animation's effects should be reflected by the element(s) prior to playing ("backwards"), retained after the animation has completed playing ("forwards"), or both. Defaults to "none".
iterationStart Optional
Describes at what point in the iteration the animation should start. 0.5 would indicate starting halfway through the first iteration for example, and with this value set, an animation with 2 iterations would end halfway through a third iteration. Defaults to 0.0.
iterations Optional
The number of times the animation should repeat. Defaults to 1, and can also take a value of Infinity to make it repeat for as long as the element exists.

You can also include a composite operation or iteration composite operation in your options list:

composite Optional
Determines how values are combined between this animation and other, separate animations that do not specify their own specific composite operation. Defaults to replace.
  • add dictates an additive effect, where each successive iteration builds on the last. For instance with transform, a translateX(-200px) would not override an earlier rotate(20deg) value but result in translateX(-200px) rotate(20deg).
  • accumulate is similar but a little smarter: blur(2) and blur(5) become blur(7), not blur(2) blur(5).
  • replace overwrites the previous value with the new one. 
iterationComposite Optional
Determines how values build from iteration to iteration in this animation. Can be set to accumulate or replace (see above). Defaults to replace.

Return value

Returns an Animation.

Examples

In the demo Down the Rabbit Hole (with the Web Animation API), we use the convenient animate() method to immediately create and play an animation on the #tunnel element to make it flow upwards, infinitely. Notice the array of objects passed as keyframes and also the timing options block.

document.getElementById("tunnel").animate([
  // keyframes
  { transform: 'translateY(0px)' }, 
  { transform: 'translateY(-300px)' }
], { 
  // timing options
  duration: 1000,
  iterations: Infinity
});

Implicit to/from keyframes

In newer browser versions, you are able to set a beginning or end state for an animation only (i.e. a single keyframe), and the browser will infer the other end of the animation if it is able to. For example, consider [[../../../../../../../mdn.github.io/dom-examples/web-animations-api/implicit-keyframes|this simple animation]] — the Keyframe object looks like so:

let rotate360 = [
  { transform: 'rotate(360deg)' }
];

We have only specified the end state of the animation, and the beginning state is implied.

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
Web Animations Level 2The definition of 'KeyframeAnimationOptions.iterationComposite' in that specification. Draft Added the iterationComposite option.
Web AnimationsThe definition of 'animate()' in that specification. Working Draft Initial definition

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

animate

Experimental'

Chrome

Full support 36

Edge

Full support 79

Firefox

Full support 48

IE

No support No

Opera

Full support 23

Safari Full support 13.1


Full support 13.1


Full support Yes

Disabled'

Disabled' This feature is behind the Web Animations preference and the CSS Animations via Web Animations preference.

WebView Android

Full support 37

Chrome Android

Full support 36

Firefox Android

Full support 48

Opera Android

Full support 24

Safari iOS

Full support 13.4

Samsung Internet Android

Full support 3.0

composite option

Experimental'

Chrome Full support 79

Disabled'

Full support 79

Disabled'

Disabled' From version 79: this feature is behind the Experimental Web Platform Features preference. To change preferences in Chrome, visit chrome://flags.

Edge Full support 79

Disabled'

Full support 79

Disabled'

Disabled' From version 79: this feature is behind the Experimental Web Platform Features preference.

Firefox Full support 80


Full support 80


No support 63 — 79

Disabled'

Disabled' From version 63 until version 79 (exclusive): this feature is behind the dom.animations-api.compositing.enabled preference. To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config. No support 53 — 63

Disabled'

Disabled' From version 53 until version 63 (exclusive): this feature is behind the dom.animations-api.core.enabled preference. To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.

IE

No support No

Opera Full support 66

Disabled'

Full support 66

Disabled'

Disabled' From version 66: this feature is behind the Experimental Web Platform Features preference.

Safari

No support No

WebView Android

No support No

Chrome Android Full support 79

Disabled'

Full support 79

Disabled'

Disabled' From version 79: this feature is behind the Experimental Web Platform Features preference. To change preferences in Chrome, visit chrome://flags.

Firefox Android Full support 63

Disabled'

Full support 63

Disabled'

Disabled' From version 63: this feature is behind the dom.animations-api.compositing.enabled preference. To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config. No support 53 — 63

Disabled'

Disabled' From version 53 until version 63 (exclusive): this feature is behind the dom.animations-api.core.enabled preference. To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.

Opera Android

No support No

Safari iOS

No support No

Samsung Internet Android

No support No

id option

Experimental'

Chrome

Full support 50

Edge

Full support 79

Firefox

Full support 48

IE

No support No

Opera

Full support 37

Safari

No support No

WebView Android

Full support 50

Chrome Android

Full support 50

Firefox Android

Full support 48

Opera Android

Full support 37

Safari iOS

No support No

Samsung Internet Android

Full support 5.0

Implicit to/from keyframes are supported

Experimental'

Chrome No support No

Notes'

No support No

Notes'

Notes' Currently Chrome Canary only

Edge

No support No

Firefox

Full support 75

IE

No support No

Opera

No support No

Safari Partial support 13.1

Notes'

Partial support 13.1

Notes'

Notes' Implementation seems somewhat buggy. More information will follow when available.

WebView Android

No support No

Chrome Android No support No

Notes'

No support No

Notes'

Notes' Currently Chrome Canary only

Firefox Android

No support No

Opera Android

No support No

Safari iOS Partial support 13.4

Notes'

Partial support 13.4

Notes'

Notes' Implementation seems somewhat buggy. More information will follow when available.

Samsung Internet Android

No support No

iterationComposite option

Experimental'

Chrome

No support No

Edge

No support No

Firefox Full support 80


Full support 80


No support 63 — 79

Disabled'

Disabled' From version 63 until version 79 (exclusive): this feature is behind the dom.animations-api.compositing.enabled preference. To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config. No support 51 — 63

Disabled'

Disabled' From version 51 until version 63 (exclusive): this feature is behind the dom.animations-api.core.enabled preference. To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.

IE

No support No

Opera

No support No

Safari

No support No

WebView Android

No support No

Chrome Android

No support No

Firefox Android Full support 63

Disabled'

Full support 63

Disabled'

Disabled' From version 63: this feature is behind the dom.animations-api.compositing.enabled preference. To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config. No support 51 — 63

Disabled'

Disabled' From version 51 until version 63 (exclusive): this feature is behind the dom.animations-api.core.enabled preference. To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.

Opera Android

No support No

Safari iOS

No support No

Samsung Internet Android

No support No

pseudoElement option

Experimental'

Chrome Partial support 81

Notes' Disabled'

Partial support 81

Notes' Disabled'

Notes' A valid animation object is returned but the targeted pseudoelement is not visually animated. Disabled' From version 81: this feature is behind the Experimental Web Platform Features preference. To change preferences in Chrome, visit chrome://flags.

Edge Partial support 81

Notes' Disabled'

Partial support 81

Notes' Disabled'

Notes' A valid animation object is returned but the targeted pseudoelement is not visually animated. Disabled' From version 81: this feature is behind the Experimental Web Platform Features preference.

Firefox

Full support 75

IE

No support No

Opera Partial support 68

Notes' Disabled'

Partial support 68

Notes' Disabled'

Notes' A valid animation object is returned but the targeted pseudoelement is not visually animated. Disabled' From version 68: this feature is behind the Experimental Web Platform Features preference.

Safari

No support No

WebView Android

No support No

Chrome Android Partial support 81

Notes' Disabled'

Partial support 81

Notes' Disabled'

Notes' A valid animation object is returned but the targeted pseudoelement is not visually animated. Disabled' From version 81: this feature is behind the Experimental Web Platform Features preference. To change preferences in Chrome, visit chrome://flags.

Firefox Android

No support No

Opera Android

No support No

Safari iOS

No support No

Samsung Internet Android

No support No

Legend

Full support  
Full support
Partial support  
Partial support
No support  
No support
Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.'
Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.
See implementation notes.'
See implementation notes.
User must explicitly enable this feature.'
User must explicitly enable this feature.


See also