It is intended as a lighter alternative to animated GIFs and APNG files for use in the web and mobile and desktop applications.

[4] Additionally, Torrisi released a renderer for the format with a JavaScript-based player for modern browsers.

[1] [5] 2017 - it was the work of engineers Brandon Withrow (iOS), Gabriel Peal[6] (Android), and Leland Richardson (React Native) along with lead animator Salih Abdul-Karim at AirBnB that saw the creation of the first Lottie libraries[7] to render the animations in different platforms.

[13] 2024 - The Lottie Animation Community has been established to standardize the file format.

[14] 2024 - The npm package lottie-player, that allowed playing animations in hosting web pages, was temporarily compromised to insert code that targeted cryptocurrency holders.