Apple’s iPhone features a Reduce Motion function that can be activated by going to Settings > Accessibility > Motion and toggling it to green. Reduce Motion is designed to conserve battery life, improve device performance, and speed up app loading.
When enabled, it disables user-interactive animations, app animations, the parallax effect, and dynamic wallpapers.

This results in a decrease in the smoothness of the user interface, an elimination of transition effects between apps and home screens, and a disabled background image and icons.
Additionally, battery life saving animated wallpapers on the home screen are affected.
While it has many benefits, it can also make the user experience feel clunky and bland due to the lack of animations and decreased fluency.
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Turn on Reduce Motion
Turning on Reduce Motion on an iPhone is accomplished by opening Settings, scrolling down, and tapping Accessibility to select Motion and toggle Reduce Motion to green.
This setting helps to conserve battery life, improve iPhone performance, and speed up app loading. Additionally, it disables certain iPhone features and decreases smoothness of user interface.
Transition effects between apps and home screen are toned down, with the parallax effect and dynamic wallpapers disabled.
As a result, battery life is saved, but the 3D effect and animated wallpapers on home screen are lost. The lack of animations causes choppiness and reduced fluency, with simple transitions feeling clunky and bland.
Benefits of Reduce Motion
Activating the setting of reduced motion on an iPhone can bring a number of advantages. | |
---|---|
Saves Battery Life | Improves iPhone Performance |
Disables Certain Features | Decreases Smoothness of UI |
Reduce Motion helps conserve battery life by limiting motion effects. It also frees up resources for other tasks, which helps improve the performance of an iPhone, particularly older models.
Animations when opening and closing apps are eliminated, helping apps run faster and smoother. Uniform effects and user-interactive animations are toned down, while app animations, parallax effect, and dynamic wallpapers are disabled. This may lead to a lack of smoothness in the user interface, but it helps reduce battery drain.
Features Affected
Enabling Reduce Motion on an iPhone may cause certain features to be disabled, including:
- User-interactive animations and uniform effects
- App animations
- The parallax effect
- Dynamic wallpapers
Transition effects between apps and the home screen are also toned down, which results in a minimalistic design. The background image and icons no longer move on the screen, removing the 3D effect. Animated wallpapers on the home screen are also disabled in order to conserve battery life.
Lastly, the lack of animations causes choppiness and reduces the fluency of the user interface. Simple transitions may appear clunky and bland.
Frequently Asked Questions [FAQs]
How do I know if Reduce Motion is enabled?
To determine if Reduce Motion is enabled, open the Settings app, scroll down and select Accessibility, then select Motion. Look for the Reduce Motion feature and check if the toggle is set to green.
What other features are impacted by turning Reduce Motion on?
Reduce Motion enables certain features to be disabled, such as user-interactive animations, app animations, parallax effect, and dynamic wallpapers. This can lead to a decreased smoothness in the user interface, as well as minimalistic design.
How does Reduce Motion affect battery life on newer iPhone models?
The effect of reduce motion on battery life of newer iPhone models is unclear. However, it is possible that reduce motion could help conserve battery life due to its ability to disable certain features and improve performance. It is also possible that the battery life may not be impacted at all.
Is Reduce Motion better for older iPhone models?
Reduce motion can have a positive effect on battery life when applied to older iPhone models, as it helps conserve resources and can result in improved performance. However, it can also lead to decreased smoothness of the user interface.
Does Reduce Motion affect the speed of app loading?
Reduce Motion can affect the speed of app loading by eliminating animations when opening and closing apps. This can lead to faster loading times and smoother running programs.
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