Contrary to what some of the replies imply (that a smooth animation is always better than a discrete one), I have a solid example where animation definitely har

Contrary to what some of the replies imply (that a smooth animation is always better than a discrete one), I have a solid example where animation definitely harms the UX. One of the language apps (either Hemingway or grammarly) had this issue stepping through search results. As you moved, it would change the colour of the matching text, but slowly and subtly, via animation. That makes it much, much harder to actually spot where, in a wall of text, the match actually is. An instant change is far more visible.