One UI is one of the better-looking custom Android skins out there, but Samsung’s proprietary software has also received some criticism over the years on account of feeling a bit on the slow side. Subsequent updates have made One UI even prettier and easier to navigate, but animations have also become lengthier and more lavish especially with the release of One UI 3.0.
Perhaps this was Samsung’s way of highlighting the benefits of using a 90Hz / 120Hz display, but longer animations can also lead to a perceived loss in performance, especially once the proverbial shine is off the apple.
So, just in case you need a reminder of how to enable the hidden Developer options menu before we proceed with the actual tips regarding animation speeds, all you have to do is open the Settings app, swipe up and access About phone, then go to Software information and tap Build number repeatedly until you get an on-screen notice confirming that Developer options have been enabled.
How can you speed up One UI animations?
Once unhidden, the Developer options menu will appear at the bottom of the list inside the Settings app. Access it and scroll all the way to the Drawing category. Here you will find the a variety of options, but what you should be looking for, in particular, are three settings called: Window animation scale, Transition Animation scale, and Animator duration scale.
When tapped, each of these options reveal a drop-down menu which includes a handful of animation speeds (or scales), from .5x to 10x. The default value is 1.0x and animations will play slower the higher the animation scale is. So, for the purpose of this guide, i.e., speeding up your phone, you should select the .5x animation scale option for all three settings. (That’s 0.5x, not 5x).
