Podcast Summary
Discussing the browser transitions API proposal and its potential impact on web development: The browser transitions API proposal aims to improve website experiences by providing developers with new tools for creating engaging and seamless transitions. Prismic, a headless CMS, was praised for its simplicity and versatility, while LogRocket was introduced as a valuable tool for debugging user interactions.
The browser transitions API proposal aims to bridge the gap between website and native app experiences by providing developers with new tools to create more engaging and seamless transitions. During this episode of SYN, Scott Talinsky and Wes Boss discussed this proposal, which is still in the proposal stage, and provided insights into its potential impact on web development. They also highlighted the sponsors of the episode, Prismic and LogRocket. Prismic, a headless CMS, was praised for its simplicity and versatility, as it can be used with various frameworks and technologies, including Next.js, Nuxt, Gatsby, Svelte, and vanilla JavaScript. Prismic offers a REST API and GraphQL support, making it an attractive choice for developers. Additionally, Prismic provides helpful resources, such as an intro to headless CMS and content modeling, which can be crucial when designing content types and structuring relationships between them. LogRocket, the second sponsor, was introduced as a valuable tool for debugging and understanding user interactions. By offering session replays, LogRocket enables developers to see exactly what a user did when an error occurred, allowing them to gain insights and resolve issues more effectively. Overall, the episode provided a mix of technical discussions and sponsor highlights, making it a valuable resource for developers looking to stay informed about the latest web development trends and tools.
New proposal for an API to enable smooth animations on the web: A new API aims to make web animations smoother and more performant, allowing for a more competitive user experience with native apps
LogRocket provides a detective-like experience for developers to analyze and solve issues on their websites by offering video evidence of user interactions. This tool allows for a faster resolution of issues compared to traditional methods, as developers can observe the exact behavior causing the problem. Additionally, the web is at a disadvantage when it comes to browser animations compared to native apps. Developers often have to use JavaScript libraries to create page transitions, which can be less performant than letting the browser handle the animations itself. A new proposal for an API aims to address this issue by enabling smooth animations between views or pages on the web with minimal effort, making the web more competitive with native apps in terms of user experience.
New feature in web development: Persistent animations: Persistent animations allow for full-page transitions and seamless UI morphing, improving user experience and making animation implementation more accessible and enjoyable for developers.
The discussion revolves around a new feature in web development called "persistent animations" or "shared element transitions." This goes beyond basic fade transitions between pages and allows for full-page animations and the morphing of UI elements from one page to another. The intention is to create a more engaging and seamless user experience. For instance, clicking on a card in a grid could cause the card to open up into the full page, with the card's elements animating into their new positions on the next page. While these animations are possible with existing tools and libraries, the discussion expresses excitement about this feature being integrated directly into the web development process, making it more accessible and enjoyable for developers. This is a significant improvement over the current methods, which can be cumbersome and require more effort to implement. These animations were initially part of design specifications like Material Design, but implementing them has been a challenge. Now, with this new feature, the process is expected to be smoother and more intuitive.
New animation technique eliminates need for duplicating elements during transitions: A new animation technique allows a single element to morph and move to its new position, eliminating the need for complex frameworks and simplifying the animation process
The new animation technique being discussed eliminates the need for duplicating elements during page transitions in animation. Instead, a single element morphs and moves to its new position on the screen. This method, which likely relies on the browser handling the animation behind the scenes, offers several advantages. It eliminates the need for complex frameworks and the associated learning curve, making it more accessible to developers. Additionally, it allows for a more standardized approach to animations, as everyone can use the same techniques. This method is also performant and can be used for both entry and exit animations, such as a new element fading in as an old one fades out. However, the specifics of how this is accomplished at a technical level remain unclear, and further research may be necessary for a complete understanding. Overall, this new animation technique has the potential to simplify and streamline the animation process for developers, making it more efficient and effective.
Control transitions between pages with the Page Transition API: The Page Transition API allows developers to create seamless animations and manage events effectively during page transitions using standardized methods and new JavaScript events.
The Page Transition API is a new standardized way to control transitions between pages, allowing developers to create seamless animations and manage events more effectively. The API includes new JavaScript events like before page show or page hide, as well as the ability to control document transitions using the createDocumentTransition method. Developers can also use the Web Animations API and requestAnimationFrame for setting up animations. This API offers several advantages, such as being standardized, reducing the need for custom implementations in different frameworks, and potentially leading to easier coding with the use of plugins or components. The API is similar to the Web Animations API, with the option to use simpler methods for most common use cases. An example of this can be found in the linked code, and it's interesting to note that Chris Coyer, a well-known web developer, had written about a similar concept over a year before the API was announced.
Microsoft Edge's abandoned page transitions API: Microsoft Edge's proprietary page transitions API using meta tags is no longer in use, but Sarah Drasner's demo offers a glimpse into the potential future of page transitions and animations, now only accessible through Chrome Canary with a specific flag enabled.
Before Microsoft Edge adopted Chromium as its engine, it had a proprietary page transitions API using meta tags. This API allowed for content revealing transitions, but it was eventually scrapped when Microsoft switched to Chromium. Sarah Drasner, a web designer, had created a popular demo of this feature in 2018, which is now only accessible through Chrome Canary with a specific flag enabled. Although this feature is not yet standardized or widely available, it offers an intriguing glimpse into the potential future of page transitions and animations. If you're interested in experimenting with this cutting-edge technology, you can try it out in Chrome Canary by enabling the document transition API flag. Keep in mind, however, that this is not something that should be used for production purposes. Instead, it could serve as an opportunity to explore and master the latest web design trends and technologies.
Exploring the Potential of CSS Multi-column Layout Level 3: The new CSS feature, Multi-column Layout Level 3, could revolutionize web design with visually appealing and complex layouts, but it might take a year or two before it's widely available.
The web design community is excited about the potential of a new CSS feature called "Multi-column Layout Level 3" or MCL3. This feature could allow for more complex and visually appealing layouts without the need for JavaScript. The speakers in the discussion compare it to other CSS features like Grid and Flexbox, which took a significant amount of time to be fully implemented in browsers. They speculate that it might take a year or two before MCL3 is widely available. The possibilities of this feature are vast, including seamless page transitions and the ability to add sound effects. Some designers are even dreaming of creating web versions of video mixers and their cheesy transitions. Overall, the community is looking forward to the creative possibilities that MCL3 could bring to web design.
