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A throbber is a kind of animation that shows an end user that a program is working on a task. These animated graphics are often composed of simple asterisks or shapes, where the moving parts act as the representation of the computer’s progress.
A throbber may also be known as a spinner, although some sources say that spinners are used specifically to refer to graphics that spin.
Techopedia Explains Throbber
Throbbers were built into early browsers. Netscape’s moving "N" logo is often credited for giving this term its name, because it expanded and contracted – or throbbed – as processing occurred. The whirling rainbow symbol on the Macintosh computer is another familiar example of this kind of tool.
One challenge in developing throbbers is converting bitmaps and other graphics into AVI files. This multimedia container is a common format for throbbers, which may be part of various software applications and tools for devices.
