2021 has been a whirlwind for us all! That’s why we want to get a headstart on a stellar new year by spotlighting all the awesome features and updates we’re bringing into 2022, for all the brilliantly creative minds in the SVGator community.
Let’s dive right into the roadmap milestones we have scaled up in order to grow SVGator into the versatile SVG animation tool that it is today!
The following lead up to SVGator 3.0’s Release:
January 2021 - More Node Types
Adding more node types was a big move for making SVGator’s graphic tools exponentially more efficient to use. It allowed users to speed up their animating workflow like never before. There are now four types of nodes in a path’s attribute list:
- Straight – without handles, for creating straight paths
- Mirrored – with mirrored handles that move in sync, for creating curved paths
- Disconnected – for creating paths with handles that are entirely independent
- Asymmetric – for creating curved paths that move at different distances from the node, but share the same angle
February 2021 - Custom Fonts
Applying custom fonts to a text directly in SVGator’s interface was one of the many baby steps that brought along the tool’s evolution from an SVG animator to a full-scale SVG creator and animator that has absolutely no third-party dependencies. Following this update, you could now choose from an extensive list of fonts to customize the text in your designs and animations and have full control over the text’s appearance inside the tool. SVGator offers all the fonts available in the Google Fonts library, including all of their styles and variants. You can also add your own custom fonts.
Even greater things were just around the corner, as the team was already making leaps of progress toward SVGator 3.0’s launch – behind the scenes!
May 2021 - SVGator 3.0 Release
SVGator matured into a full-featured no-code SVG creator and animator and launched SVGator 3.0 with a series of breakthrough updates that solidified its status as a stand-alone design and animation tool. And just like that, importing static .svg files in order to animate became a secondary option, as you can now create outstanding animations from start to finish in SVGator.
Take a look at the SVGator 3.0 updates that forever changed the game of browser-based SVG animation:
- SVG creator – SVGator becomes the online tool that can do it all – packed with all the familiar vector editing tools, advanced animators, and a growing asset library. You can now create elaborate SVG animations from start to finish without ever leaving the tool’s intuitive interface.
- Zero third-party dependencies – With no need to import static .svg to start animating, we leave behind even the tiniest of external reliances. SVGator is now the only SVG animation tool that doesn’t require any third-party software/plugins to create and export performance-friendly animations.
- Faster preview and export – It takes just one click on the Export button to open the all-inclusive single panel where you can preview your animation and test out all the available interactivity settings in real time. The list of export options and settings grew soon after this major release.
- More control over the interface – With the addition of collapsible and scalable sections, you can now easily customize the tool’s interface and set up your workspace to better fit your needs every step of the way.
- Still absolutely no code writing – We’ve stayed the course on our way to breaking the barriers between graphic designers and SVG animation by taking code writing out of the equation. The tool generates the code on export and gives you a single lightweight .svg file that’s ready for direct implementation/dev handoff.
This release was followed by (close to) monthly feature launches – all aimed at broadening the horizon of visual creators that animate with SVGator, streamlining their creative process.
June 2021 - “Save to Library” Option
SVGator’s asset library is rich in ready-made assets that you can add to your canvas to start animating even faster. You can find a wide range of characters, animals, nature elements, vehicles, tools, furniture, finance icons, and even technology assets for quick device mock-ups.
The “Save to Library” feature came into play to further smoothen the animation workflow by allowing you to save both static and animated assets to your SVGator library. With the “create once, reuse infinite times” formula, this update proved itself to be a valuable timesaver, especially when working on several projects where themes or concepts intermingle.
August 2021 - SVGator Blog Launch
There’s no shortage of information on SVG animation (CSS or Javascript). But there’s a definite gap in knowledge sharing when it comes to no-code SVG animation. For this reason, and as a result of the growing interest in our tool, we launched the SVGator Blog!
Our vision for this digital space is to have it become a hub for SVG design and animation inspiration, animation resources, SVGator tutorials, and “how-to” guides. In this dynamic and resourceful corner of the internet, you’ll also find all the latest news and updates we put out.
If you want us to keep you in the loop with all new posts, come join us on any of our socials: Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
September 2021 - Mobile Export Feature Launch
SVGator leaps forward and paves the way for an entirely new venture: creating mobile app animations without having to write a single line of code! The mobile export feature makes it simple for you to create, export, and implement animations for native apps (iOS & Android).
One Click to Export Mobile App Animations for React Native and Flutter
Our online SVG animation editor can now export a single lightweight file for two of the most popular frameworks: React Native (.js) and Flutter (.dart). We already had a comprehensive list of how-to posts in SVGator’s Help Center that show users how to use SVG animation in HTML, Wordpress, Webflow, Angular, etc. Following this new export option’s release, we also added React Native and Flutter export and implementation guides to help get your stunning mobile animations working in-app quickly and easily.
Easy-Breezy Developer Handoff
Every step of the process, whether you’re creating a React Native SVG animation or a Flutter SVG animation, can be done without any plugins or third-party apps. The exported files are ready for a seamless dev handoff as-is. The only “extra” install a dev will need is the React Native WebView/Flutter WebView, depending on their preferred framework.
Performance-Friendly Mobile App Animations
SVG animation is already leaps and bounds ahead of raster formats in terms of performance, both on the web and on mobile. To ensure peak performance for your mobile apps when running animations made with SVGator, we introduced the single player node module for even smaller APK and IPA file sizes.
Interactivity Options That Encourage User Engagement
It’s now easier than ever to get users to interact with the visual storytelling you’re creating with mobile app animations! You can have your animated assets start on load or on tap, and see the same perfectly smooth transitions on iOS or Android as you would inside a website.
Step-by-Step Tutorials & Inspiration Posts to Get You Started Confidently
There’s no guesswork involved when using SVGator’s mobile export feature! We’re continuously sharing tips on how you can create and use outstanding in-app animations with our SVG animation tool. You can follow tutorials that walk you through the process from start to finish or get some inspiration before you start animating your first mobile app animation:
- How to Create Mobile App Animations With SVGator by Envato Tuts+
- Meet SVGator’s New Cross-Platform Mobile Export Feature by SVGator
- How to Create an Animated Rocket by SVGator
October 2021 - Gradient Update
Improving the ease in creating gradient transitions with SVGator is one of the small but mighty updates that we’re particularly excited about. You can now animate both the two-color stops and the transition between them. Seeing as the gradient design trend is here to stay, it only made sense to give creatives better control over the limitless color blends they use while animating.
November 2021 - More Premade Animated Assets in the Library
Smack dab in the middle of the shopping season, with Black Friday campaigns pushing designers into tight deadlines, we released SVGator’s first set of free SVG animated icons to download and customize to any brand’s needs. Our free ecommerce icon pack came with a quick guide on how to use animated ecommerce icons to sell more.
The icons come in three different styles: outline, solid duotone, and colorful duotone, and can be downloaded as static or animated. With a few quick tweaks, any of the icons can become on-brand assets that take the online shopping experience to the next level. We’re planning on consistently adding more free SVG animations to our library to help users get ahead in productivity!
Final Thoughts
We put together this “year at a glance” SVGator review simply to keep all the amazingly talented people in our community in the loop and spotlight some of the smaller upgrades you might have missed. We also plan on looking back on this retrospective post at the end of the year and report all the exciting new updates we’ve added to the best SVG animation tool in 2022!
We would like to end this with a heartfelt “Thank you!” to all the creative minds that inspire us to continuously improve and build up SVGator. Feel free to message us at contact@svgator.com with any feature or improvement suggestions you might have, or just to have a chat!
