Animations

1. A machine implemented method for animations displayed on a display of a data processing device, comprising:

providing a single animation timer with a user interface animator; and

animating a plurality of different types of animations with the single animation timer, wherein the plurality of different types of animations include at least two of transform, frame, and opacity animations, wherein the transform animation includes a scaling or rotation transform, wherein the single animation timer controls the plurality of different types of animations and determines whether to update the display based on progress information for each of the animations.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of animations comprise transform, frame, and opacity animations.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of animations occur simultaneously.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the frame animation comprises a resizing of a frame, and the opacity animation comprises a change in opacity between opaque and transparent.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the user interface animator comprises a class that specifies an interface for subclasses of animation including transform, frame, and opacity animations.

6. A machine readable non-transitory medium storing executable program instructions which when executed cause a data processing system to perform a method comprising:

providing a single animation timer with a user interface animator; and animating a plurality of different types of animations with the single animation timer, wherein the plurality of different types of animations include at least two of transform, frame, and opacity animations, wherein the transform animation includes a scaling or rotation transform, wherein the single animation timer controls the plurality of different types of animations and determines whether to update the display based on progress information for each of the animations.

7. The medium of claim 6 , wherein the plurality of animations comprise transform, frame, and opacity animations.

8. The medium of claim 6 , wherein the plurality of animations occur simultaneously.

9. The medium of claim 6 , wherein the frame animation comprises a resizing of a frame, and the opacity animation comprises a change in opacity between opaque and transparent.

10. The medium of claim 9 , wherein the user interface animator comprises a class that specifies an interface for subclasses of animation including transform, frame, and opacity animations.

11. In an environment with a user interface software interacting with a software application, an apparatus, comprising:

means for providing a single animation timer with a user interface animator; and

means for animating a plurality of different types of animations with the single animation timer, wherein the plurality of different types of animations include at least two of transform, frame, and opacity animations, wherein the transform animation includes a scaling or rotation transform, wherein the single animation timer controls the plurality of different types of animations and determines whether to update the display based on progress information for each of the animations.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the means for providing a single animation timer includes a user interface animator.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of animations occur simultaneously.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the user interface animator comprises a class that specifies an interface for subclasses of animation including transform, frame, and opacity animations.

15. A machine implemented method for animations displayed on a display of a device, comprising:

providing a single animation timer based on a timing signal associated with a redraw interval of a graphics unit; and

animating a plurality of different types of animations with the single animation timer, wherein the plurality of different types of animations include at least two of transform, frame, and opacity animations, wherein the transform animation includes a scaling or rotation transform, wherein the single animation timer controls the plurality of different types of animations and determines whether to update the display based on progress information for each of the animations.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of animations comprise transform, frame, and opacity animations, wherein the plurality of animations occur simultaneously.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein at least two of the animations are associated with different views of the display.

18. A machine readable non-transitory medium storing executable program instructions which when executed cause a data processing system to perform a method comprising:

providing a single animation timer based on a timing signal associated with a redraw interval of a graphics unit; and

animating a plurality of different types of animations with the single animation timer, wherein the plurality of different types of animations include at least two of transform, frame, and opacity animations, wherein the transform animation includes a scaling or rotation transform, wherein the single animation timer controls the plurality of different types of animations and determines whether to update the display based on progress information for each of the animations.

19. The medium of claim 18 , wherein the plurality of animations comprise transform, frame, and opacity animations, wherein the plurality of animations occur simultaneously.

20. The medium of claim 18 , wherein at least two of the animations are associated with different views of the display.

21. In an environment with a user interface software interacting with a software application, an apparatus, comprising:

means for providing a single animation timer based on a timing signal associated with a redraw interval of a graphics unit; and

means for animating a plurality of different types of animations with the single animation timer, wherein the plurality of different types of animations include at least two of transform, frame, and opacity animations, wherein the transform animation includes a scaling or rotation transform, wherein the single animation timer controls the plurality of different types of animations and determines whether to update the display based on progress information for each of the animations.

22. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the plurality of animations comprise transform, frame, and opacity animations, wherein the plurality of animations occur simultaneously.

23. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein at least two of the animations are associated with different views of the display.

24. A device comprising:

an input panel which is configured to receive user input;

a display device integrated with the input panel;

a central processing unit coupled to the input panel, the processor being configured to create and animate objects, based on at least the user input,

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory being configured to store the objects; and

one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the programs including:

instructions for detecting a movement of an user input on or near the input panel;

instructions for animating one or more views displayed on the display device in response to detecting the user input;

instructions for completing the animating of the one or more views displayed on the display device based on a single timer, wherein animations of the one or more views include at least two of transform, frame, and opacity animations, wherein the transform animation includes a scaling or rotation transform, wherein the single timer controls different types of the animations and determines whether to update the display based on progress information for each of the animations.

25. The device of claim 24 , wherein at least two of the animations are associated with different views of the display.

26. The device of claim 24 , wherein the single timer comprises a timer based on a redraw interval of the display.