We’ve talked recently about micro-interactions and the animations that support them. It’s espescially important to think about why something is animated, not just how. This article by Nick Babich has some useful examples of animation that supports specific intentions in the interface.

Animation is a big part of user experience. When it comes to transitions in mobile apps, there are a lot of things you can communicate very subtly with animation. Send the message, open Settings, check the box, navigate to another page — these are all moments of change. Animating a transition is an excellent way to reinforce the user’s action. In this article, we’ll review the common cases when functional animation can complement the visual design and support interactions.

https://uxplanet.org/animated-transitions-in-mobile-apps-412b8e8478e7