Tooltip
Also called: hint, info bubble, title popup.
A small label that appears when you point at or focus something, to explain what it does. It disappears when you move away.
Point at the icon with a mouse, or use the switch on a phone.
Hidden
Say it in a prompt
Show a tooltip above the icon button on hover and on keyboard focus: dark background, white 13px text, a small arrow, fading in and growing from 90% to 100% over 150ms. Seen on
- Linear: Tooltips open by fading in while growing from 90% to 100% size.
You might describe it as
- little label when I hover an icon
- small text bubble that explains the button
- hint that shows on mouse over
Not to be confused with
- Dropdown menu
A tooltip only explains; a dropdown menu gives you choices to click.