diff --git a/DemoApp/AdvancedOptionsViewController.swift b/DemoApp/AdvancedOptionsViewController.swift
index 38eb90aa7f2..92926f04011 100644
--- a/DemoApp/AdvancedOptionsViewController.swift
+++ b/DemoApp/AdvancedOptionsViewController.swift
@@ -5,11 +5,6 @@
 import UIKit
 
 class MainButton: UIButton {
-    override func tintColorDidChange() {
-        backgroundColor = tintColor
-        setTitleColor(.white, for: .normal)
-    }
-    
     override func updateConstraints() {
         super.updateConstraints()
         translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
@@ -29,15 +24,4 @@ class AdvancedOptionsViewController: UIViewController {
             mainStackView.isLayoutMarginsRelativeArrangement = true
         }
     }
-    
-    override func viewDidLoad() {
-        super.viewDidLoad()
-
-        title = "Advanced Options"
-    }
-
-    override func viewWillAppear(_ animated: Bool) {
-        super.viewWillAppear(animated)
-        navigationController?.isNavigationBarHidden = false
-    }
 }
diff --git a/DemoApp/Base.lproj/Main.storyboard b/DemoApp/Base.lproj/Main.storyboard
index 920c8e2f69a..ccbe75802c6 100644
--- a/DemoApp/Base.lproj/Main.storyboard
+++ b/DemoApp/Base.lproj/Main.storyboard
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
     <device id="retina6_1" orientation="portrait" appearance="light"/>
     <dependencies>
         <plugIn identifier="com.apple.InterfaceBuilder.IBCocoaTouchPlugin" version="17703"/>
+        <capability name="Image references" minToolsVersion="12.0"/>
         <capability name="Named colors" minToolsVersion="9.0"/>
         <capability name="Safe area layout guides" minToolsVersion="9.0"/>
         <capability name="Stack View standard spacing" minToolsVersion="9.0"/>
@@ -120,7 +121,7 @@
                     <navigationItem key="navigationItem" id="u60-gi-N8s"/>
                     <connections>
                         <outlet property="tableView" destination="b2C-Ge-Ivw" id="5sp-Sf-IDQ"/>
-                        <segue destination="yjx-9T-97B" kind="show" identifier="show_advanced_options" id="lV5-dW-IzB"/>
+                        <segue destination="yjx-9T-97B" kind="presentation" identifier="show_advanced_options" id="lV5-dW-IzB"/>
                     </connections>
                 </viewController>
                 <placeholder placeholderIdentifier="IBFirstResponder" id="dkx-z0-nzr" sceneMemberID="firstResponder"/>
@@ -132,11 +133,11 @@
             <objects>
                 <viewController id="yjx-9T-97B" customClass="AdvancedOptionsViewController" customModule="ChatSample" customModuleProvider="target" sceneMemberID="viewController">
                     <view key="view" contentMode="scaleToFill" preservesSuperviewLayoutMargins="YES" layoutMarginsFollowReadableWidth="YES" id="LM0-SF-FGq">
-                        <rect key="frame" x="0.0" y="0.0" width="414" height="896"/>
+                        <rect key="frame" x="0.0" y="0.0" width="414" height="842"/>
                         <autoresizingMask key="autoresizingMask" widthSizable="YES" heightSizable="YES"/>
                         <subviews>
                             <stackView opaque="NO" contentMode="scaleToFill" axis="vertical" spacingType="standard" translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints="NO" id="8QA-pW-MTy">
-                                <rect key="frame" x="0.0" y="104" width="414" height="160"/>
+                                <rect key="frame" x="0.0" y="16" width="414" height="160"/>
                                 <subviews>
                                     <textField opaque="NO" contentMode="scaleToFill" contentHorizontalAlignment="left" contentVerticalAlignment="center" borderStyle="roundedRect" placeholder="Chat API Key" textAlignment="natural" minimumFontSize="17" translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints="NO" id="Jye-aX-OTy">
                                         <rect key="frame" x="0.0" y="0.0" width="414" height="34"/>
@@ -161,7 +162,7 @@
                                 </subviews>
                             </stackView>
                             <button opaque="NO" contentMode="scaleToFill" preservesSuperviewLayoutMargins="YES" layoutMarginsFollowReadableWidth="YES" contentHorizontalAlignment="center" contentVerticalAlignment="center" buttonType="system" lineBreakMode="middleTruncation" translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints="NO" id="NAL-Cp-UKn" customClass="MainButton" customModule="ChatSample" customModuleProvider="target">
-                                <rect key="frame" x="0.0" y="296" width="414" height="44"/>
+                                <rect key="frame" x="0.0" y="208" width="414" height="44"/>
                                 <color key="backgroundColor" name="AccentColor"/>
                                 <constraints>
                                     <constraint firstAttribute="height" constant="44" id="JRh-ZO-YhQ"/>
@@ -175,9 +176,9 @@
                         <constraints>
                             <constraint firstItem="8QA-pW-MTy" firstAttribute="leading" secondItem="tcf-9B-eio" secondAttribute="leading" id="0Hc-zp-VRf"/>
                             <constraint firstItem="tcf-9B-eio" firstAttribute="trailing" secondItem="8QA-pW-MTy" secondAttribute="trailing" id="GAZ-Qz-94z"/>
-                            <constraint firstItem="tcf-9B-eio" firstAttribute="trailing" secondItem="NAL-Cp-UKn" secondAttribute="trailing" id="Zy7-3Y-DqS"/>
+                            <constraint firstItem="NAL-Cp-UKn" firstAttribute="leading" secondItem="iFV-cQ-oZA" secondAttribute="leading" id="Klb-ST-SQC"/>
+                            <constraint firstItem="NAL-Cp-UKn" firstAttribute="trailing" secondItem="iFV-cQ-oZA" secondAttribute="trailing" id="bBg-Fm-XdB"/>
                             <constraint firstItem="8QA-pW-MTy" firstAttribute="top" secondItem="tcf-9B-eio" secondAttribute="top" constant="16" id="gTl-BX-qq8"/>
-                            <constraint firstItem="NAL-Cp-UKn" firstAttribute="leading" secondItem="tcf-9B-eio" secondAttribute="leading" id="mug-kk-zH9"/>
                             <constraint firstItem="NAL-Cp-UKn" firstAttribute="top" secondItem="8QA-pW-MTy" secondAttribute="bottom" constant="32" id="zLe-dh-aXa"/>
                         </constraints>
                     </view>
@@ -235,8 +236,10 @@
                                     </textField>
                                     <button opaque="NO" contentMode="scaleToFill" horizontalHuggingPriority="251" contentHorizontalAlignment="center" contentVerticalAlignment="center" lineBreakMode="middleTruncation" translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints="NO" id="3vQ-eI-nnd">
                                         <rect key="frame" x="363" y="0.0" width="19" height="56"/>
-                                        <color key="tintColor" white="0.0" alpha="1" colorSpace="custom" customColorSpace="genericGamma22GrayColorSpace"/>
-                                        <state key="normal" image="person" catalog="system"/>
+                                        <color key="tintColor" systemColor="labelColor"/>
+                                        <state key="normal">
+                                            <imageReference key="image" image="person" catalog="system" renderingMode="template"/>
+                                        </state>
                                         <connections>
                                             <action selector="addPersonTapped:" destination="rmm-yd-0KJ" eventType="touchUpInside" id="Xai-xu-cPZ"/>
                                         </connections>
diff --git a/DemoApp/LoginViewController.swift b/DemoApp/LoginViewController.swift
index 52742df3f64..57fd096ae3e 100644
--- a/DemoApp/LoginViewController.swift
+++ b/DemoApp/LoginViewController.swift
@@ -46,9 +46,7 @@ class LoginViewController: UIViewController {
         super.viewDidLoad()
         tableView.delegate = self
         tableView.dataSource = self
-        
-        tableView.bounces = false
-        
+                
         // An old trick to force the table view to hide empty lines
         tableView.tableFooterView = UIView()
     }
diff --git a/Sources/StreamChatUI/ChatChannelList/ChatChannelListVC.swift b/Sources/StreamChatUI/ChatChannelList/ChatChannelListVC.swift
index 24b64f7e2d5..0b3b9eed6ec 100644
--- a/Sources/StreamChatUI/ChatChannelList/ChatChannelListVC.swift
+++ b/Sources/StreamChatUI/ChatChannelList/ChatChannelListVC.swift
@@ -16,6 +16,14 @@ open class _ChatChannelListVC<ExtraData: ExtraDataTypes>: _ViewController,
     SwipeableViewDelegate {
     /// The `ChatChannelListController` instance that provides channels data.
     public var controller: _ChatChannelListController<ExtraData>!
+
+    open private(set) lazy var loadingIndicator: UIActivityIndicatorView = {
+        if #available(iOS 13.0, *) {
+            return UIActivityIndicatorView(style: .large).withoutAutoresizingMaskConstraints
+        } else {
+            return UIActivityIndicatorView(style: .whiteLarge).withoutAutoresizingMaskConstraints
+        }
+    }()
     
     /// The `_ChatChannelListRouter` instance responsible for navigation.
     open private(set) lazy var router: _ChatChannelListRouter<ExtraData> = uiConfig
@@ -53,7 +61,7 @@ open class _ChatChannelListVC<ExtraData: ExtraDataTypes>: _ViewController,
 
     override open func setUp() {
         super.setUp()
-        
+
         controller.setDelegate(self)
         controller.synchronize()
         
@@ -80,6 +88,8 @@ open class _ChatChannelListVC<ExtraData: ExtraDataTypes>: _ViewController,
     override open func setUpLayout() {
         super.setUpLayout()
         view.embed(collectionView)
+        collectionView.addSubview(loadingIndicator)
+        loadingIndicator.pin(anchors: [.centerX, .centerY], to: view)
     }
     
     override public func defaultAppearance() {
@@ -244,3 +254,18 @@ extension _ChatChannelListVC: _ChatChannelListControllerDelegate {
         )
     }
 }
+
+extension _ChatChannelListVC: DataControllerStateDelegate {
+    public func controller(_ controller: DataController, didChangeState state: DataController.State) {
+        switch state {
+        case .initialized, .localDataFetched:
+            if self.controller.channels.isEmpty {
+                loadingIndicator.startAnimating()
+            } else {
+                loadingIndicator.stopAnimating()
+            }
+        default:
+            loadingIndicator.stopAnimating()
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/Sources/StreamChatUI/ChatMessageList/ChatMessageListRouter.swift b/Sources/StreamChatUI/ChatMessageList/ChatMessageListRouter.swift
index 6c2228135d2..165aace36c3 100644
--- a/Sources/StreamChatUI/ChatMessageList/ChatMessageListRouter.swift
+++ b/Sources/StreamChatUI/ChatMessageList/ChatMessageListRouter.swift
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ open class _ChatMessageListRouter<ExtraData: ExtraDataTypes>: ChatRouter<_ChatMe
         popup.modalPresentationStyle = .overFullScreen
         popup.modalTransitionStyle = .crossDissolve
 
-        rootViewController.present(popup, animated: true)
+        rootViewController.present(popup, animated: false)
     }
     
     open func showPreview(for attachment: ChatMessageDefaultAttachment) {
diff --git a/Sources/StreamChatUI/ChatMessageList/ChatMessageListVC.swift b/Sources/StreamChatUI/ChatMessageList/ChatMessageListVC.swift
index 1f7d70b37f6..c3743969874 100644
--- a/Sources/StreamChatUI/ChatMessageList/ChatMessageListVC.swift
+++ b/Sources/StreamChatUI/ChatMessageList/ChatMessageListVC.swift
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@ open class _ChatMessageListVC<ExtraData: ExtraDataTypes>: _ViewController,
     public var dataSource: DataSource = .empty()
     public var delegate: Delegate?
 
+    public lazy var impactFeedbackGenerator = UIImpactFeedbackGenerator(style: .medium)
+
     public lazy var router = uiConfig.navigation.messageListRouter.init(rootViewController: self)
 
     public private(set) lazy var collectionViewLayout = uiConfig
@@ -118,6 +120,7 @@ open class _ChatMessageListVC<ExtraData: ExtraDataTypes>: _ViewController,
         super.setUp()
 
         let longPress = UILongPressGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: #selector(didLongPress(_:)))
+        longPress.minimumPressDuration = 0.33
         collectionView.addGestureRecognizer(longPress)
 
         registerMessageCell(uiConfig.messageList.defaultMessageCell)
@@ -313,6 +316,53 @@ open class _ChatMessageListVC<ExtraData: ExtraDataTypes>: _ViewController,
         )
     }
 
+    private func presentReactionsControllerAnimated(
+        for cell: _СhatMessageCollectionViewCell<ExtraData>,
+        with messageData: _ChatMessageGroupPart<ExtraData>,
+        actionsController: _ChatMessageActionsVC<ExtraData>,
+        reactionsController: _ChatMessageReactionsVC<ExtraData>?
+    ) {
+        // TODO: for PR: This should be doable via:
+        // 1. options: [.autoreverse, .repeat] and
+        // 2. `UIView.setAnimationRepeatCount(0)` inside the animation block...
+        //
+        // and then just set completion to the animation to transform this back. aka `cell.messageView.transform = .identity`
+        // however, this doesn't work as after the animation is done, it clips back to the value set in animation block
+        // and then on completion goes back to `.identity`... This is really strange, but I was fighting it for some time
+        // and couldn't find proper solution...
+        // Also there are some limitations to the current solution ->
+        // According to my debug view hiearchy, the content inside `messageView.messageBubbleView` is not constrainted to the
+        // bubble view itself, meaning right now if we want to scale the view of incoming message, we scale the avatarView
+        // of the sender as well...
+        UIView.animate(
+            withDuration: 0.2,
+            delay: 0,
+            options: [.curveEaseIn],
+            animations: {
+                cell.messageView.transform = CGAffineTransform(scaleX: 0.95, y: 0.95)
+            },
+            completion: { _ in
+                self.impactFeedbackGenerator.impactOccurred()
+
+                UIView.animate(
+                    withDuration: 0.1,
+                    delay: 0,
+                    options: [.curveEaseOut],
+                    animations: {
+                        cell.messageView.transform = .identity
+                    }
+                )
+                
+                self.router.showMessageActionsPopUp(
+                    messageContentFrame: cell.messageView.superview!.convert(cell.messageView.frame, to: nil),
+                    messageData: messageData,
+                    messageActionsController: actionsController,
+                    messageReactionsController: reactionsController
+                )
+            }
+        )
+    }
+
     private func didSelectMessageCell(_ cell: _СhatMessageCollectionViewCell<ExtraData>) {
         guard let messageData = cell.message, messageData.isInteractionEnabled else { return }
 
@@ -328,11 +378,11 @@ open class _ChatMessageListVC<ExtraData: ExtraDataTypes>: _ViewController,
             return controller
         }
 
-        router.showMessageActionsPopUp(
-            messageContentFrame: cell.messageView.superview!.convert(cell.messageView.frame, to: nil),
-            messageData: messageData,
-            messageActionsController: actionsController,
-            messageReactionsController: reactionsController
+        presentReactionsControllerAnimated(
+            for: cell,
+            with: messageData,
+            actionsController: actionsController,
+            reactionsController: reactionsController
         )
     }
 
diff --git a/Sources/StreamChatUI/ChatMessageList/Reactions/ChatMessageReactionsBubbleView.swift b/Sources/StreamChatUI/ChatMessageList/Reactions/ChatMessageReactionsBubbleView.swift
index 51f7ad15078..cd12d569b55 100644
--- a/Sources/StreamChatUI/ChatMessageList/Reactions/ChatMessageReactionsBubbleView.swift
+++ b/Sources/StreamChatUI/ChatMessageList/Reactions/ChatMessageReactionsBubbleView.swift
@@ -35,6 +35,15 @@ open class _ChatMessageReactionsBubbleView<ExtraData: ExtraDataTypes>: _View, UI
     // MARK: - Life Cycle
 
     override open func updateContent() {
+        // TODO: Fix this when refactoring reactions.
+        // We check if we have available images for the given type of reaction, if not, we hide the reaction.
+        guard !(content?.reactions.compactMap { uiConfig.images.availableReactions[$0.type] }.isEmpty ?? false)
+        else {
+            isHidden = true
+            return
+        }
+
+        isHidden = false
         contentView.content = content.flatMap {
             .init(
                 useBigIcons: $0.style.isBig,
diff --git a/Sources/StreamChatUI/MessageActionsPopup/ChatMessagePopupVC.swift b/Sources/StreamChatUI/MessageActionsPopup/ChatMessagePopupVC.swift
index b4658dc16c2..8ac1fd6a031 100644
--- a/Sources/StreamChatUI/MessageActionsPopup/ChatMessagePopupVC.swift
+++ b/Sources/StreamChatUI/MessageActionsPopup/ChatMessagePopupVC.swift
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ open class _ChatMessagePopupVC<ExtraData: ExtraDataTypes>: _ViewController, UICo
 
     public var message: _ChatMessageGroupPart<ExtraData>!
     public var messageViewFrame: CGRect!
+    public var originalMessageView: UIView!
     public var actionsController: _ChatMessageActionsVC<ExtraData>!
     public var reactionsController: _ChatMessageReactionsVC<ExtraData>?
 
@@ -53,6 +54,13 @@ open class _ChatMessagePopupVC<ExtraData: ExtraDataTypes>: _ViewController, UICo
 
     override public func defaultAppearance() {
         view.backgroundColor = .clear
+        blurView.alpha = 0
+
+        reactionsView?.alpha = 0
+        reactionsView?.transform = .init(scaleX: 0.5, y: 0.5)
+        
+        actionsView.alpha = 0
+        actionsView.transform = .init(scaleX: 0.5, y: 0.5)
     }
 
     override open func setUpLayout() {
@@ -144,7 +152,6 @@ open class _ChatMessagePopupVC<ExtraData: ExtraDataTypes>: _ViewController, UICo
 
     override open func viewWillAppear(_ animated: Bool) {
         super.viewWillAppear(animated)
-
         // Initially, the `applyInitialContentOffset` invocation was in `viewDidLayoutSubviews`
         // since the content offset can be applied when all the views are laid out
         // and `scrollView` content size is calculated.
@@ -157,15 +164,22 @@ open class _ChatMessagePopupVC<ExtraData: ExtraDataTypes>: _ViewController, UICo
         //  2. postpones it to the next run-loop iteration which guarantees it happens after `viewDidLayoutSubviews`
         DispatchQueue.main.async {
             self.applyInitialContentOffset()
+            
+            Animate {
+                self.scrollToMakeMessageVisible() // Makes the animation look a bit weird, but it's much faster...
+                self.blurView.alpha = 1
+
+                self.actionsView.alpha = 1
+                self.actionsView.transform = .identity
+            }
+            
+            Animate(delay: 0.1) {
+                self.reactionsView?.alpha = 1
+                self.reactionsView?.transform = .identity
+            }
         }
     }
     
-    override open func viewDidAppear(_ animated: Bool) {
-        super.viewDidAppear(animated)
-
-        scrollToMakeMessageVisible()
-    }
-
     open func applyInitialContentOffset() {
         let contentOffset = CGPoint(x: 0, y: max(0, -messageViewFrame.minY + spacing + reactionsViewHeight))
         scrollView.setContentOffset(contentOffset, animated: false)
@@ -173,7 +187,7 @@ open class _ChatMessagePopupVC<ExtraData: ExtraDataTypes>: _ViewController, UICo
 
     open func scrollToMakeMessageVisible() {
         let contentRect = scrollContentView.convert(contentView.frame, to: scrollView)
-        scrollView.scrollRectToVisible(contentRect, animated: true)
+        scrollView.scrollRectToVisible(contentRect, animated: false)
     }
 
     // MARK: - Actions
diff --git a/Sources/StreamChatUI/Utils/Animation.swift b/Sources/StreamChatUI/Utils/Animation.swift
index 5adcc92279c..a5a48bc25a1 100644
--- a/Sources/StreamChatUI/Utils/Animation.swift
+++ b/Sources/StreamChatUI/Utils/Animation.swift
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 import UIKit
 
-func Animate(_ actions: @escaping () -> Void, completion: ((Bool) -> Void)? = nil) {
+func Animate(delay: TimeInterval = 0, _ actions: @escaping () -> Void, completion: ((Bool) -> Void)? = nil) {
     guard !UIAccessibility.isReduceMotionEnabled else {
         actions()
         completion?(true)
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ func Animate(_ actions: @escaping () -> Void, completion: ((Bool) -> Void)? = ni
     
     UIView.animate(
         withDuration: 0.25,
-        delay: 0,
+        delay: delay,
         usingSpringWithDamping: 0.8,
         initialSpringVelocity: 4,
         options: .curveEaseInOut,