Please, please, more of this! If you were disappointed with the lack of new features in the latest Windows 11 preview build, this should help quell your disappointment.
Windows 11 build 25188 contains a neat UI change that you will be delighted to know about.
Microsoft has been testing animated icons in the Settings app.
As spotted, this is a small little change in the user interface of the OS, but one that could be the harbinger of bigger things to come. UI has been one of the primary concerns for Microsoft lately, and it aims to truly streamline the user interface of its flagship operating platform Windows 11.
To that end, these slick new animations are now part of the package:
These new animations can be viewed when clicking any primary sections of the Settings app. Redmond calls these subtle animations “unexpected moments of joy with purpose”, which is a weird way to name things.
But there you have it.
These little animations appear across the operating system when you minimize an app, click a button in the control center, change volume or brightness, or select items from dropdown menus.
Basically, all the casual things you do in Windows 11 all through the day.
The software titan has not officially announced the new animations for the Settings app, likely because they are currently in the earliest stages of testing. However, you can enable them using the always reliable ViveTool app.
Since Windows Terminal has now taken over proceedings in Windows 11 starting with this build, you will need to launch it as Administrator and switch the app to the Command Prompt profile.
Navigate to where you have extracted ViveTool, type the following command, and hit the Enter key.
vivetool /enable /id:34878152
This should bring a little eye candy to the Settings app, which you can view by hovering over and clicking through its primary sections.
Do keep in mind that these new icon animations are just an experiment for now, meaning Microsoft can pull them out of the operating system at any time. It has done it before and can do it again. Still, for the time being, you have the option of trying out these slick little animations on your test installation.
