Mac · Reviewed

One-second animations slow switching workspaces and fullscreen

Raised by 105 people over 16 years (2011–2026), in 16 of them.

What people report

2011-07
taking apps full-screen in Lion seems to involve a nearly tedious animation
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2018-10
The slide from desktop to desktop feels like I need a split second to orient myself after being spun in a chair.
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2023-03
they force me to sit through an animated transition when switching between screens/workspaces/whatever
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2025-07
It proceeded to open quicklook with an incredibly slow >5s animation, very annoying
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2026-07
I agree it's annoying to have to tolerate a glacial animation just to switch between apps when they happen to be fullscreen.
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Principle

Flexibility and efficiency of use

People report that fixed-length transition animations for Spaces and full screen add a delay to every switch, which frequent users feel most and cannot turn off.

A fix

Let switches triggered by keyboard shortcuts or repeated gestures complete instantly or with a much shorter crossfade, and offer a clear setting to disable workspace and full-screen animations entirely.

Grouping, principle and fix drafted with Claude and reviewed by Justusability. Counts are people whose comment Claude labelled a usability complaint about this issue; see Method for how, and its limits. Something wrong here?

All 119 source comments