Splash Screen in Capacitor

Configure and customize splash screens for iOS and Android.

When to Use This Skill

• User wants to customize splash screen
• User needs splash screen assets
• User wants animated splash
• User has splash screen issues

Quick Start

Install Plugin

bun add @capacitor/splash-screen
bunx cap sync

Basic Configuration

// capacitor.config.ts
import type { CapacitorConfig } from '@capacitor/cli';

const config: CapacitorConfig = {
  plugins: {
    SplashScreen: {
      launchShowDuration: 2000,
      launchAutoHide: true,
      backgroundColor: '#ffffff',
      androidSplashResourceName: 'splash',
      androidScaleType: 'CENTER_CROP',
      showSpinner: false,
      splashFullScreen: true,
      splashImmersive: true,
    },
  },
};

Programmatic Control

import { SplashScreen } from '@capacitor/splash-screen';

// Hide after app is ready
async function initApp() {
  // Initialize your app
  await loadUserData();
  await setupServices();

  // Hide splash screen
  await SplashScreen.hide();
}

// Show splash (useful for app refresh)
await SplashScreen.show({
  autoHide: false,
});

// Hide with animation
await SplashScreen.hide({
  fadeOutDuration: 500,
});

Generate Assets

Using Capacitor Assets

bun add -D @capacitor/assets

# Place source images in resources/
# resources/splash.png (2732x2732 recommended)
# resources/splash-dark.png (optional)

bunx capacitor-assets generate

iOS Sizes

Android Sizes

iOS Storyboard

<!-- ios/App/App/Base.lproj/LaunchScreen.storyboard -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<document type="com.apple.InterfaceBuilder3.CocoaTouch.Storyboard.XIB" version="3.0">
    <scenes>
        <scene sceneID="1">
            <objects>
                <viewController id="2" sceneMemberID="viewController">
                    <view key="view" contentMode="scaleToFill" id="3">
                        <rect key="frame" x="0" y="0" width="414" height="896"/>
                        <color key="backgroundColor" systemColor="systemBackgroundColor"/>
                        <subviews>
                            <imageView
                                contentMode="scaleAspectFit"
                                image="splash"
                                translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints="NO"
                                id="4">
                            </imageView>
                        </subviews>
                        <constraints>
                            <constraint firstItem="4" firstAttribute="centerX" secondItem="3" secondAttribute="centerX" id="5"/>
                            <constraint firstItem="4" firstAttribute="centerY" secondItem="3" secondAttribute="centerY" id="6"/>
                        </constraints>
                    </view>
                </viewController>
            </objects>
        </scene>
    </scenes>
</document>

Android Configuration

XML Splash Screen (Android 11+)

<!-- android/app/src/main/res/values/styles.xml -->
<resources>
    <style name="AppTheme.NoActionBarLaunch" parent="Theme.SplashScreen">
        <item name="windowSplashScreenBackground">@color/splash_background</item>
        <item name="windowSplashScreenAnimatedIcon">@drawable/splash</item>
        <item name="windowSplashScreenAnimationDuration">1000</item>
        <item name="postSplashScreenTheme">@style/AppTheme.NoActionBar</item>
    </style>
</resources>

Colors

<!-- android/app/src/main/res/values/colors.xml -->
<resources>
    <color name="splash_background">#FFFFFF</color>
</resources>

<!-- android/app/src/main/res/values-night/colors.xml -->
<resources>
    <color name="splash_background">#121212</color>
</resources>

Dark Mode Support

// capacitor.config.ts
plugins: {
  SplashScreen: {
    launchAutoHide: false, // Control manually
    backgroundColor: '#ffffff',
    // iOS will use LaunchScreen.storyboard variations
    // Android uses values-night/colors.xml
  },
},

// Detect dark mode and configure
import { SplashScreen } from '@capacitor/splash-screen';

const isDark = window.matchMedia('(prefers-color-scheme: dark)').matches;

// Show appropriate themed content
await SplashScreen.hide({
  fadeOutDuration: 300,
});

Animated Splash

Lottie Animation

import { SplashScreen } from '@capacitor/splash-screen';

async function showAnimatedSplash() {
  // Keep native splash while loading
  await SplashScreen.show({ autoHide: false });

  // Load Lottie animation in web
  const lottie = await import('lottie-web');

  // Show web-based animated splash
  document.getElementById('splash-animation').style.display = 'block';

  const animation = lottie.loadAnimation({
    container: document.getElementById('splash-animation'),
    path: '/animations/splash.json',
    loop: false,
  });

  animation.addEventListener('complete', async () => {
    // Hide native splash
    await SplashScreen.hide({ fadeOutDuration: 0 });
    // Hide web splash
    document.getElementById('splash-animation').style.display = 'none';
  });
}

Best Practices

1. Keep it fast - Under 2 seconds total
2. Match branding - Use consistent colors/logo
3. Support dark mode - Provide dark variants
4. Don't block - Load essentials only
5. Progressive reveal - Fade out smoothly

Troubleshooting

Resources

• Capacitor Splash Screen: https://capacitorjs.com/docs/apis/splash-screen
• Capacitor Assets: https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor-assets
• Android Splash Screens: https://developer.android.com/develop/ui/views/launch/splash-screen