Page transition
A page transition is the animation that carries the visitor from one page to the next without a blank flash.
Also known as: page transition animation · view transition
In an ordinary navigation the screen goes white for a moment and the new page appears. A transition removes that break: the old page leaves, the new one arrives, and the two feel like parts of one place.
Modern browsers now provide this natively through the View Transitions API, which means it no longer requires turning the whole site into a single-page application — the cost that used to make transitions expensive.
When to use it
When it makes sense
On sites where the visitor moves between several pages and you want the whole to feel continuous.
When it is unnecessary
When the transition is slower than the page load. An animation that adds half a second to every navigation is a tax, not a feature.
Common questions
Does it break the back button?
It should not. Done properly the transition runs on normal navigation and history keeps working. Transitions built on custom routing are where the back button usually breaks.
What happens in browsers that do not support it?
The navigation happens without the animation. Nothing is lost; the transition is an enhancement, not a requirement.
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