How can I transition width of content with width: auto?

Solution 1:

As I commented, one can't animate auto (yet), so either use the max-width/max-height trick, or, if you need it to be more exact, set the width using a script.

With the max-width/max-height trick, give it a value big enough to accommodate the widest.

Stack snippet

.myspan {
  display: inline-block;
  font-size: 30px;
  background-color: #ddd;
  vertical-align: bottom;
}
.myspan::after {
  content: " \00a0\f12a ";
  font-family: ionicons;
  font-size: 80%;  
  display: inline-block;
  max-width: 0;
  transition: max-width .6s;
  vertical-align: bottom;
  overflow: hidden;
}
.myspan:hover::after {
  max-width: 80px;
  transition: max-width 1s;
}
<link href="https://code.ionicframework.com/ionicons/2.0.1/css/ionicons.min.css" rel="stylesheet" />

<span class="myspan">Hello!</span>