Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by thrdbndndn 1339 days ago
I don't mind animation in general, but I hate smooth scrolling (first thing I disable when installing any browser).

There is a trend of adding fake smooth scrolling using js/css, unfortunately.

2 comments

Real smooth scrolling where its actually tied to the movement of your finger is very good. Fake smooth scrolling where it's trying to interpolate between scroll events is shit.

I don't know why desktop mice are still stuck in this 80s era of jittery scrolling while trackpads and phones have been scrolling with pixel perfect accuracy for over a decade. And now every product page is tying animations to scroll position which looks great on smooth scroll devices but play as 1fps animations for mice users.

Counter-point: Smooth scrolling is an essential feature for me. I bought a specific mouse for this because I find sudden line-jumps so disorienting.
My mouse scroll wheel isn't "smooth" so it makes no sense for it to be smooth for me.

> sudden line-jumps

This is definitely something needs to get used to. But the biggest advantage of non-smooth scrolling is that it starts and stops instantly with zero overshoot, which is what I hate of smooth scrolling.

To be more clear, I actually use all three types of scrolling, for different scenarios.

I manually drag scroll bar for finer control, and it has no suden jump issue. I also use auto-scroll (middle click) for super quick scrolling (which is kinda like smooth scrolling).

If you use a trackpad or touchscreen and keep your fingers on, there is no overshoot. This only happens if you move and lift to give it some momentum, or fake JS smooth scrolling.
Yeah, I have no problem using "smooth scrolling" when using fingers or touchpad (is there even non-smooth scrolling for these types of inputs?); they pretty much act like dragging scroll bar using your cursor.

I only hate it with mouse wheel.