How to design the launch screen on iOS?
When we start a new app, we immediately (probably mindlessly) think towards the launch screen is as simple as a background and a logo. But, hang on, a launch screen could serve a different purpose and not just being a branding page.
What is a launch screen?
The generalized definition of a launch screen could be “a screen/page which is shown when a game or a program is launching”. Thus, the name “Launch Screen”
What is the purpose of a launch screen?
The launch screen is there for placeholder purposes. Purely aesthetic and non-functional. There are arguments against the launch screen that it should not be mandatory as it serves absolutely no functional value. But, I would argue that it’s still useful from the branding aspect and functional value to some extent.
Even if an app shows a simple logo with a cool background then it will reinforce the brand to the user, every time user opens the app. That’s the basic principle of any advertisement, to subconsciously program your viewers to think about your products when they see a certain colour or your logo, that’s branding. and that could be just one of the purposes of the launch screens.
While the branding purpose works just fine and MOST of apps do just that. The if we look at the Apple suggested approach, which says the launch screens should act as a non-interactive placeholder for your app’s first interactive screen. A very good example here is Apple’s own Mail app, look at the launch screen and the first screen below, it’s a very seamless and non jarring experience from launch screen to the first screen with your personalised data. Thus, Launch screen is what our users would expect when the app is fully loaded with their personalised data, but just without the data. That does at a little bit functional value, making users feel the app is really fast.
Can we use just an image?
Note: Don’t use a static image for your launch screen. Static images have been deprecated and all App Store apps must use an Xcode storyboard to provide an app’s launch screen by June 30, 2020. Learn more here.
Don’t get anxious. The above note is from Apple itself. It says developers can’t just include the images in the xcassets folder. That’s what we needed to do with LaunchScreen@3x.png, remember? But now, we have to use LaunchScreen.storyboard, even if we just use a UIImageView and set the image anyway. While there’s nothing wrong with using just an image as the launch screen, there’s the aspect of making the users feel the app is fast, smooth, and frictionless.
One could very well use just a brand logo image on the launch screen and get away with it, but that is not good enough for a brand that is not famous. Sure, Twitter can get away with just including their logo and a solid color background as the launch screen, because they are already a billion-dollar brand. If the app is not a famous brand yet, then I’d recommend a launch screen that makes the users feel how fast and responsive the app is, that is what will keep users attracted to the app, at least to a certain degree.
How to optimize the launch screen for localization?
You can’t. Probably, it’s this way for a reason. Apple wants the app launches to be extremely fast given their suggestion of what a launch screen should be. Thus, Apple suggests “Avoid including text on your launch screen. Because launch screens are static, any displayed text won’t be localized.” https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/ios/visual-design/launch-screen/
If they’d allow localization in the launch screen then iOS needs to launch a localization engine (not really an engine, but just a fancy name) of the app before the app launch screen can be shown which is iOS needs to load the app before actually loading the app 🤯. Also, that would add an overhead in app launches, which is not ideal for the end-users.
How to design a good-looking launch screen?
According to Google, 53% of users stop using your website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. I am guessing similar for the apps could be true.
It may seem trivial to even discuss it, but in my opinion, as I have mentioned before, the launch screen should be an exact copy of your app’s first screen, just without the data, let the user feel the responsiveness and quickness of the app, that will surely drive more engagement. Of course, all this is true only if your app does what it says and the content is adding value to your user’s lives.
That’s it folks. Let me know in the comments what are your thoughts for a good launch screen, are you team branding or team speed?
