Enable Some Cool Window Animations in Ubuntu 24.04 GNOME

This tutorial shows how to enable some cool animations, when moving, opening, closing, minimizing and restoring app windows in Ubuntu with default GNOME Desktop.

All the animations here are handled by GNOME shell extensions, meaning they will also work in Fedora Workstation, RHEL 9, and other Linux with GNOME desktop.

NOTE: These animations will consume more energy and system resources. It’s NOT recommended for laptop running without power supply, and lower end PC with very old CPU and low memory.

Preparation:

If you don’t even know how to install an extension in Ubuntu with GNOME Desktop, then:

either, search for and install “Extension Manager” by using App Center (or Ubuntu Software for Ubuntu 22.04).
Install Extension Manager in Ubuntu Software/App Center

Then, launch the tool and use it to search & install extensions.
or, press Ctrl+Alt+T to open up a terminal window. Then run command to install the agent package, for being able to install extensions via web browser, and extensions app (gnome-shell-extension-prefs) to turn on/off, and configure extension options.
```
sudo apt install chrome-gnome-shell gnome-shell-extension-prefs
```
Also, you need to visit extensions.gnome.org page, install the browser extension, and finally refresh.

1. Wobbly Windows

This is a popular animation inspired by Compiz. It applies an animation to make app window wobbly when drag moving it.

To get the animation, either search for and install “Compiz windows effect” in Extension Manager app:

Or, go to the extension web page and use ON/OFF switch to install.

The extension so far supports all recent GNOME versions, from version 3.28 to 46. And, it provides some (use either GNOME Extensions or Extension Manager) configuration parameters, such as X tiles, Y tiles, friction, speedup factor, and more.

2. Magic Lamp

https://ubuntuhandbook.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/magic-lamp-ubuntu.webm?_=1

This is also an animation inspired by the Compiz ones, and maintained by the same person who is behind the Wobbly Windows extension.

It applies an animation, when you minimize and restore app windows. Just like a genie coming out and backing in the magic lamp.

Also, you can either search for and install the extension from Extension Manager app:

or, use the ON/OFF switch in this web page to install/uninstall it.

Like wobbly windows, the extension also supports for GNOME 3.28 to 46, and provides options to configure the animation speed, X tiles, and Y tiles.

3. Burn My Windows

https://ubuntuhandbook.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/burnmywindows.webm?_=2

This is my most favorite animation, which also consume the most system resources.

It by default applies burning fire animation when closing or opening an app window. Though, it supports 20 more other animations for window open/close action. They include:

Apparition
Broken Glass
Doom
Energize A / B
Glide
Glitch
Hexagon
Incinerate
Matrix
Paint Brush
Pixelate
Pixel Wheel
Pixel Wipe
Portal
Snap of Disintegration
T-Rex Attact
TV Effect
TV Glitch
Wisps.

You can either enable one of them for certain animation, or part (or all) of them for random animation. And, each of them has its own animation time and other configuration parameters.

To install the extension, either search for and install it from Extension Manager.

Or use ON/OFF switch in this web page. So far, it supports GNOME version from 3.36 to 46.

4. Coverflow Alt-Tab

https://ubuntuhandbook.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/coverflow-alttab.webm?_=3

This animation replace system default app window switch layout, when pressing Alt + Tab, with Windows 7 Aero Flip 3D style.

Besides the default coverflow style (see the last video), it also supports time-line style switcher as the screenshot below shows you:

To install it, either search for and install “coverflow alt tab” in Extension Manager app:

Or use the ON/OFF toggle switch in this web page. And, the extension so far supports all GNOME versions from 3.2 to 46.

5. Desktop Cube

Desktop Cube is inspired by Compiz plugin. It replaces system default workspaces (in overview) with 3D style.

By dragging the top-bar, it shows all desktops (workspaces) in a 3D cube with all opened app windows floating over. With the extension, GNOME overview is also changed to the 3D style.

To install the extension, either use Extension Manager to search & install “Desktop Cube”:

Or use ON/OFF toggle switch in this web page. It so far supports GNOME version from 40 to 46.

Summary:

In this post, I’ve show you 5 extensions to enable cool animations for GNOME Desktop, which can be installed either from extensions.gnome.org or by using “Extension Manager” app (available in App Center). They include: