Smoother animation ImageSwitcher

Question

I'm using fade_in and fade_out animations avaible android.R.anim.fade_in(fade_out). Basically I can change duration of animation but no matter if it's 0,5 or 2 seconds animation is still not smooth. Is there any way to make a fade in/out animation smoother? Thanks a lot!

Code:

imageSwitcher = (ImageSwitcher) findViewById(R.id.imageswitcher);

    slide_in_left = AnimationUtils.loadAnimation(this, R.anim.fade);
    slide_out_right = AnimationUtils.loadAnimation(this, R.anim.fade_out);

    imageSwitcher.setInAnimation(slide_in_left);
    imageSwitcher.setOutAnimation(slide_out_right);

*XML fade_out:*

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<set xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <alpha
        android:duration="1500"
        android:fromAlpha="1.0"
        android:toAlpha="0.0"
        android:interpolator="@android:anim/accelerate_interpolator" />
</set>

Answer 1

There are several things you can do to improve the Animation. First, enable hardware acceleration in your Android Manfiest, by adding the application attribute:

android:hardwareAccelerated="true"

Next, try some different *interpolator*s. You may find @android:anim/linear to be smoother.

Finally, if this does not work, you can always do this programmatically use Property Animations (you can use NineOldAndroids for older API versions).

Answer 2

What worked for me is also minimizing my app's background image's file size.