With this free Android app you can easily play all GIF and WEBP animations on your Android smartphone or tablet.
This article explains all options of this unique app, to enjoy your animation collection as you like best.
You find these options on the Preferences screen. Not sure how to get there? See full instructions in our post on the GIF-Viewer Extra App User Interface.
GIF Viewer Extra: app Preferences
If checked, also animations and/or images in sub-folders (and sub-sub-folders etc.) below the currently selected folder, will be included in the selected. If unchecked, only the files visible in the File Selection screen are shown.
If unchecked, you will see a message if the start or end of your selection is reached (as explained in the GIF Viewer app User Interface post). If checked, you can endlessly loop through your selection, without any message.
The default of this option is 100% or normal speed. You can view your GIF animations up to four times slower (25%). If instead of slow motion you want a faster playback, that is possible up to 200%.
This app offers unique functionality for playing GIF and WebP animations. However, you have the option to also select images or only select images. This preference setting determines which files are show in the File Selection window. If for example you want a slideshow with a mix of your favorite animations and JPEG of PNG images, you can do so via the “Both” option above. The default is “Animations only”.
You can adjust the size of the thumbnails shown on the File Selection screen (see example of the default Medium size in the GIF Viewer select animations in the app post). Every GIF is shown in a square tile, regardless of actual shape of the animation.
If checked, the square thumbnails in the File Selection screen are animated as well. It is nice to see many of your favorite GIF files play at the same time, but it requires a lot of memory and processing power of your Android device. Therefore, only active this option on a high-end smartphone or tablet.
If unchecked (default), the files are shown in the order in which they are stored. Activate this option if you want to see a different animation play every time you start this app.
For a change in this Random File Selection preference to take effect, you must open and close File Selection screen. This will set the selection of your GIF files in the newly selected order.
With this option you set the duration each animation or image is shown during slideshow. The default is 5 seconds (5,000 milliseconds). You can select any duration between two and ten seconds, in steps of 100 milliseconds (one tenth of a second.
This preference has no effect if the GIF-Viewer Extra app is not in slideshow mode.
You can set the length of the transition from one GIF animation to the next from zero to two seconds. The default is half a second (500 milliseconds).
This preference has no effect if the Type of Transition (below) is set to “None”. In that case a new GIF is immediately shown, without any delay or effect.
With this preference you determine the type of transition with which one GIF animation is replaced by the next in slideshow mode. If you select “Random” then a choice is made from the other options at each transiation to a new animation or image. You can expect more options in future releases.
Outside of slideshow mode, if you browse GIFs one by one via tap or swipe gestures, only the shift transition is used. The direction of the shift (left or right) indicates if you are transitioning to the next or previous file.
After a few minutes in slideshow mode, your screen starts to dim. This is standard Android behaviour after the screen is not touched for some time, to extend battery life. For that reason, this preference is unchecked as default.
However, if you want to enjoy a slideshow of your favorite GIFs for a longer period without having to touch the screen every few minutes, then this option is for you. Please do not leave your smartphone unattended while playing a slideshow, as this can cause the battery to run empty within a few hours.
You can secure this app with a pin code. In case you don’t want other users of your Android smartphone to see your GIF collection, when accidentally starting this app.
The four-digit pin-code you select must be exactly retyped, to make sure you entered it correctly the first time. A pin-code of “0000” (four zeroes) is not allowed, as this is a reserved value.
If you forget your pincode, you must remove this app from your smartphone and then install GIF-Viewer Extra again from the Google Play store. Don’t worry, this will have no effect on your collection of GIF animations stored on your Android device.
After a pin-code is successfully set, the button of this preference changes as shown above. Tapping on this button removes the pin-code. After that, you can start the app without having to enter a four-digit pin-code.
With this option, you can change the font size of all texts on the File Selection, Preferences and Help screens. You can make the font size up to 50% smaller (half as large) or twice as large (plus 100%). This preference has no effect on the toolbar and the sidebar menu.
Auto-save of your new Preferences settings
If you close the Preferences screen, the new settings are saved automatically.
Free for your Android smartphone or tablet: unique GIF Viewer app
Click here to get this flexible and unique GIF/WebP animation player Android app.
Enjoy your GIF collection wherever you go!
