Recreating the Prefer Cross-Fade Transitions setting on iPhone on MacBook Pro M1

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Level 1

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Recreating the Prefer Cross-Fade Transitions setting on iPhone on MacBook Pro M1

I have an iPhone 16 Pro running on iOS 26.0.1. While going through the accessibility settings, I noticed a setting which enables Cross-Fade Transitions. This setting drastically improves my ability to use a computer screen. Is there any way to replicate this setting on the MacBook Pro M1? It would help me with work and regular everyday life. I'm amazed at how turning on this one setting both decreased the pain I feel behind my eye and decreased the frequency of my visual-stimuli induced headaches.

If I could, I would develop it myself. I'm sure I'm not the only person who would benefit from adding this setting that exists on the iPhone to the MacBook Pro.

MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 15.5

Posted on Oct 12, 2025 1:58 PM

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Answer 1

Oct 13, 2025 1:18 AM in response to aLazyLion18

Thank you for pointing out Accessibility->Motion->Prefer Cross-Fading Transitions.

I am trying it right now on my iPhone.

The thing is, iOS and macOS are used differently.

In iOS you only see one app at a time, so you are basically constantly switching.

On the Mac, however, you can have multiple applications shown on your screen at the same time.

AFAICT, there is no comparable setting in macOS, but there are some adjustments you may want to try, both in the System Settings, and the way you handle switching between applications.

In System Settings->Accessibility->Motion, you can turn on Reduce Motion.

And if you are often using the Dock to switch between applications, and hiding windows, perhaps using Command-tab instead will work better.

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Answer 2

aLazyLion18 Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 12, 2025 3:34 PM in response to Old Toad

The cross fade transition wouldn't be for photos. It's a general cross fade that is applied to tiles on the screen. On my phone, when I close an app, instead of it switching straight to the content... it will cross fade so the transition is smooth, and isn't a complete change of the content on the screen. It's almost like the image is softened and then the old image fades away as the new one enters the soft space.

On a MacBook, it'd be the same as changing the animation that minimizes tiles to something that makes their image soften and disappear into the dock without the animation of the tile shrinking and moving into the dock.

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Answer 3

Old Toad

Level 10

215,214 points

Oct 12, 2025 3:34 PM in response to aLazyLion18

Do you mean the transition in a Photos slideshow?

There is no cross fade transition in macOS Photos. Only the Dissolve transition which, if slowed down, works very well. It's only available in the Classic theme.

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Answer 4

Old Toad

Level 10

215,214 points

Oct 12, 2025 4:09 PM in response to aLazyLion18

What theme are you using? With the Classic theme and the Dissolve tradition set to the slowest it is very smooth.

If you want a different transition you'll have to try another slideshow app. The best I've found is FotoMagico,

Also, Apple's Keynote can produce some very sophisticated slideshows.

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Answer 5

aLazyLion18 Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 13, 2025 5:29 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

I think you're right, the application on the screen is presented differently on the iOS and macOS.

Reducing the motion helped a little bit. The movement still messes with my vision, but hey... it's ok. I'll use command-tab like you suggest. It works well for the most part.

Using the four-finger gesture to raise the app recreates a similar experience to the iOS setting. I'll go with that for now on.

Thanks!

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Answer 6

aLazyLion18 Author

Level 1

5 points

Oct 12, 2025 3:36 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Accessibility > Motion > Prefer Cross-Fade Transitions

iOS 26.0.1

iPhone 16 Pro

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Answer 7

Oct 12, 2025 2:12 PM in response to aLazyLion18

exactly what setting is that?

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