Picking APNG or animated WebP for UI motion is mostly about where you want to trade: fidelity, bytes, or tooling. Both are widely supported in modern browsers.
When to prefer APNG
Use APNG when you need lossless frames, predictable alpha, and a PNG-based pipeline. Icons, stickers, and design-system animations often benefit. Editors and design tools already speak PNG; APNG drops in with minimal workflow change.
When to prefer animated WebP
Use animated WebP when transfer size dominates and slight lossy artifacts are acceptable. Hero banners, marketing loops, and high-motion content often compress better as WebP. Serve WebP with an APNG or PNG fallback if you need broad legacy support.
Visual quality
APNG: Lossless, full alpha.
WebP: Lossy or lossless; lossy can show artifacts.
Typical size
APNG: Larger for same frame count.
WebP: Often 20–40% smaller at similar perceived quality.
Browser coverage
APNG: Very wide; first-frame fallback common.
WebP: Wide; no first-frame fallback in old PNG-only viewers.
Practical approach: author and review in APNG for quality, then convert to WebP for production delivery when every kilobyte matters.
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