This is pedantic, but technically that animation is for opening a link in the background ("Open in Background"). The animation for opening a link in a new tab (

This is pedantic, but technically that animation is for opening a link in the background ("Open in Background"). The animation for opening a link in a new tab ("Open in New Tab") is quite a bit different. Background vs New Tab is a setting in Mobile Safari's preferences. New Tab is the default, so most people have probably never seen the animation you're referring to.