Bug #10808

Consider disabling GNOME Shell graphical animations

Added by intrigeri 2015-12-31 04:11:00 . Updated 2016-01-09 17:18:52 .

Status:
Resolved
Priority:
Normal
Assignee:
Category:
Target version:
Tails_2.0
Start date:
2015-12-31
Due date:
% Done:

100%

Feature Branch:
Type of work:
Communicate
Blueprint:

Starter:
Affected tool:
Deliverable for:
269

Description

They are slow on some hardware. Let’s see if disabling animations changes bad-performance-induced UX substantially on such hardware.

Subtasks

Related issues

Related to Tails - Feature #7311: Investigate using GNOME Shell for Jessie Resolved 2014-06-11

History

#2 Updated by intrigeri 2016-01-01 11:55:22

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface enable-animations false disables some animations (e.g. the one when entering the Activities view, top menu-bar menus’ fade-in, sliding effect while switching desktops).

On a ThinkPad X200 (Core 2 Duo P8700, integrated graphics): my personal feeling is that the animations feel smooth, not sluggish. Disabling them gives a feeling of things happening slightly more abruptly.

On a ThinkPad X61 (Core 2 Duo T7100, integrated graphics, 1GB RAM, that is: way below our current documented memory requirements): without large apps running, everything is a tiny little bit slow, but it feels totally usable; disabling animations doesn’t substantially affect how I feel it. Once Tor Browser is started: everything becomes seriously slow and painful to use, and disabling desktop animations does not really help.

#3 Updated by intrigeri 2016-01-01 11:56:35

  • related to Feature #7311: Investigate using GNOME Shell for Jessie added

#4 Updated by intrigeri 2016-01-01 11:59:34

  • Status changed from Confirmed to In Progress
  • % Done changed from 0 to 30

At this point I’m not convinced that disabling animations would seriously improve things, but I’m going to ask for tests and feedback to the people who experienced sluggishness.

#5 Updated by intrigeri 2016-01-01 12:09:46

  • % Done changed from 30 to 50
  • Type of work changed from Test to Communicate

Asked these 3 people to test with animations disabled.

#6 Updated by sajolida 2016-01-03 16:41:50

For what it’s worth I tried disabling animations (activities view, change of desktop) and I’d defend keeping these animations. They are minimal and give a good sense of what’s happening.

#7 Updated by intrigeri 2016-01-09 17:18:52

  • Status changed from In Progress to Resolved
  • Assignee deleted (intrigeri)
  • % Done changed from 50 to 100

intrigeri wrote:
> Asked these 3 people to test with animations disabled.

No answer there, and two of us voiced support to keep them, with usability arguments => let’s keep the animations.