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20
October

Apple patents CSS transform and animation

In a frightening move, Apple decided to patent their CSS transform and animation properties. Unfortunately this was not part of the CSS3 specifications and they have all the rights to do so. Now we will have to wait and see what are Apple intentions with this patent. Other browser vendors could decided to not implement those specifications in case Apple turns all gun blazing, which would be a shame.

While I still think most of what you can do with this should be Javascript bound, I see applications where it could be really useful, notably with :hover.

You can see the patent yourself here.


6 Comments on this article

  1. Patrick says:

    It is definitely a bold move, but practical? It’s also extremely egotistical for being the creators of a mediocre browser.

    I’d put 10 bucks on it having to do with Safari for the iPhone/iPod touch.

    Patrick Lyver
    Kleurvision Inc.

  2. [...] Apple patents CSS transformand animation | La patente en cuestión Categorías:CSS Etiquetas:apple, patente Comentarios (0) [...]

  3. Steven Fisher says:

    Frightening? No. Troubling, maybe.

    Could be they’re just tired of getting slapped by stupid patent trolls years later.

    Better to wait and see what they plan to do with it.

  4. Syrion says:

    I don’t mind it… if those would be selected for CSS 3: why not condone marquee, blink or inverting site-colours in rapid succession?

    CSS should stick to basic styling in my opinion,

  5. Cedric Dugas says:

    @Syrion I mostly agree with you,

    Like I said I can see a utility for animation on hover effect. You can already move let’s say a left property with :hover, but this could add a nice transition without the need of javascript

  6. [...] This will certainly garner the attention of big tech media in the near future. For now it’s low on the radar. | View an example of CSS animation and CSS transforms in a recent build of Google Chrome or [...]

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