RAMAnimatedTabBarController
A Swift library that adds animations to iOS tab bar items and icons.Ramotion/animated-tab-bar
- Stars
- 11.1k
- Forks
- 1.3k
- Licence
- MIT
- Language
- Swift
- Last update
- 4.8 years ago
- Type
- Library
No commits in over a year — check for forks or alternatives before adopting.
What it is
Animated Tab Bar is an iOS library written in Swift that lets developers add motion effects to the buttons in an app's bottom tab bar, such as bounce, rotation, flip, and frame animations. It works by replacing the standard tab bar controller and items with Ramotion's custom classes, then attaching an animation to each item. It is aimed at developers who want a more lively tab bar than the default iOS look.
- Give each tab in an iOS app a bounce or rotation animation when it is selected
- Choose from the included animations such as RAMFlipLeftTransitionItemAnimations or RAMFumeAnimation
- Write a custom animation by subclassing RAMItemAnimation and implementing the playAnimation and deselectAnimation methods
Great for
- iOS developers who want animated tab bar icons without writing the animation logic from scratch
- Developers building a UI prototype who want a quick visual upgrade to navigation
- Teams already using CocoaPods, Carthage, or manual folder import for iOS libraries
Not ideal for
- Developers targeting Android or web, since the library is iOS-only (reason: it is built with UIKit classes)
- Projects that need actively maintained code, since the last push was January 2022 and the latest release is 5.1.0 (reason: the README does not state current support status)
- Teams using SwiftUI's TabView exclusively, since the README describes UITabBarController-based setup (reason: the README does not mention SwiftUI)
How to get it
- 1
Install with a package manager
You'll need: Xcode 10.2 (per README) · iOS 9.0+ target (per README)
Install with CocoaPods (add to Podfile)
pod 'RAMAnimatedTabBarController' - 2
Run it
- Create a UITabBarController in your storyboard or nib and set its class to RAMAnimatedTabBarController
- Set each UITabBarItem's class to RAMAnimatedTabBarItem and give it a custom icon image
- Add an animation to each item by adding an NSObject set to an included animation class and connecting its outlet to the item
- Run the app and select tabs to see the animations
- 3
Get the most out of it
- Use the README's example RAMBounceAnimation as a template for writing your own animation
- Override selectedState so the tab shows its selected look when the controller first loads
- Check the demonstration video linked in the README for the storyboard wiring step
Downloads
Strengths
- Ships with nine ready-made animations that can be attached in Interface Builder or code
- Simple setup: swap in the library's tab bar controller and item classes, then add an animation
- Available through CocoaPods, Carthage, Swift Package Manager, or direct folder import, and released under MIT
Trade-offs
- The last push was 2022-01-26 and the README lists Xcode 10.2, so compatibility with current Xcode and iOS versions is unverified
- The README is brief and does not document the full API or how it behaves with complex layouts
- Some included examples are animation-only; there is no documented support for SwiftUI
How it compares
| Project | Stars | Type | Level | Updated | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| animated-tab-bar (this) | 11.1k | Library | intermediate | 4.8 years ago | iOS developers who want animated tab bar icons without writing the animation logic from scratch |
| folding-cell | 10.2k | Library | intermediate | 2.5 years ago | iOS developers building list screens with expandable items |
| Hero | 22.5k | Library | intermediate | 1.8 years ago | iOS developers who want custom screen transitions without writing UIKit animation code by hand |
| Material | 12k | Library | intermediate | 4.5 years ago | iOS developers who want Material Design-style components without building them from scratch |
| SkeletonView | 12.9k | Library | beginner | 5 months ago | iOS developers building apps that load data from the network |
| FSCalendar | 10.6k | Library | intermediate | 2.2 years ago | iOS developers who need a calendar or date-picker view in their app |
Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.