Dock Magnify

How this effect works

Every icon computes one number from the cursor: an influence that's 1 when the cursor is right over it and fades to 0 by SPREAD pixels away, on a smooth bell curve. That one value drives both moves: the icon's scale goes from 1 up to MAX, and — because each icon grows from its bottom edge — it also appears to lift out of the dock. The neighbours get a smaller slice of the same curve, so the whole row swells into that familiar dock hump instead of one icon popping alone.

The motion is smoothed with a chase (value += (target - value) * EASE) so it feels springy, not snappy. Bounce is separate: clicking an icon kicks off a little decaying hop. Turn lift off and the icons only scale; turn magnify off and the dock goes flat so you can see what the curve was doing. Move across it, or watch it demo itself.