UI Terms visual dictionary

Animations

Push transition

A transition where a new view slides in from the side, pushing the current view off-screen.

Push transitions express going deeper into a hierarchy. On iOS, tapping a row in a navigation list pushes the detail view in from the right; the back gesture reverses it. The directionality matters — pushing forward feels like progressing, sliding back feels like returning. SwiftUI's NavigationStack and Android's standard activity transitions both implement it.

Also called

drill transitionslide-in navigation

When to use

  • Drill-down hierarchies (list → detail → sub-detail)
  • Mobile flows where forward and back motion reinforce navigation
  • Anywhere users mentally model 'deeper into' the content

When not to use

  • Lateral navigation between peer views (use a crossfade or tab change)
  • Modal flows (use a modal presentation instead)

Source

Apple HIG ('Navigation push'); standard on iOS via UINavigationController and SwiftUI NavigationStack.