iOS 7 comes with a bunch of fancy animations and effects that add some depth and overall make the OS feel alive and cool. Apps zoom in and out of the Home Screen and backgrounds even exhibit a neat parallax effect. But Apple figured back when the OS was released that some people may not like the parallax effect, either aesthetically or because of motion sickness. What they apparently didn’t count on was how the app zooming effect would affect not only people’s motion sickness, but their productivity as well.
Thankfully with the release of iOS 7.0.3, Apple has increased the scope of the “Reduce Motion” setting to also disable the zooming of apps when unlocking the screen and switching between apps. To activate the setting, head into the Settings app, tap General, Accessibility, Reduce Motion, and enable the toggle next to Reduce Motion.
Reduce Motion within the Accessibility Settings
The ultimate benefit to doing this is that it actually makes switching between apps and unlocking the device much quicker than when the fancy effects are left on. In its place is a simple fade effect. Ultimately I believe Apple needs to increase the speed at which tasks can be completed in iOS 7 between the various animations. Until then, I’ll be keeping the “Reduce Motion” setting toggled “on.”