I'm getting my app ready to submit to the app store and have been reading the guidelines on the startup screen. It seems apple prefer it to be something that makes it look like your app is already loaded even when it isn't.
I decided to use the background image of my app as the startup screen. That way the skeleton of the app will be there and the buttons and text will load in.
I used a copy of the image but renamed it to Default-568h#2x.png.
It works but when it launches, it has that default zoom affect but it seems to zoom in bigger than the actual image size and so doesn't transition nicely into the app.
Any ideas why this happens and what I can do?
Thanks
On the iPhone, the default.png image should contain the status bar (if it is visible in your app).
On the iPad, the status bar shall be left out.
Thus, the default image size should be (source):
This could be an issue with the status bar being included or excluded in the Default images. According to apple all the iPhone Default.pngs should have the status bars included while iPad should have the status bar left out. (Unless of course your application hides the status bar)
OK, I found a way around this.
I found out that the status bar at the top is 40 pixels for retina and 20 for non retina.
I then created a black background in the size of the full iphone 5 resolution. I then got my startup image (actually the background for my app) but resized it down 40 pixels vertically.
I then put this on top of the black background I created and lined up the bottom.
I then merged the layers and used this as the startup image. It worked perfectly, the startup image loads up and then my app opens up right on top of it perfectly aligned.
I built an iphone app and in one of the views(buit using IB), I put an activity indicator ( little spinner indicating network activity) in the middle. It works fine on my iphone but once I use an Ipad the spinner goes to the to left corner. So the spinner never correspond to the intended location on Ipad no matter where I move it in IB.
Any suggestion to solve this problem? Do I have to rebuild the app specifically for ipad?
Thanks
In Interface Builder, select the Activity Indicator and open the Size Inspector.
Default shortcut in Xcode 4 is ⌥ ⌘ 5, icon looks like a ruler.
Second section, on the left, a box labeled "Autosizing". The bars around the outside turn each anchor on or off, and the arrows inside turn autoresizing on/off for either direction (x / y)
With the indicator centered in the view, turn all four anchors on.
Solid red is on, semitransparent is off.
This is probably something simple but I'm having a problem with my Default.png file. I created it using the XCode organizer to take a screenshot and having it assign it as the Default image. According to this post (Best way to create Default.png image for iPhone app) iOS is supposed to draw the real status bar over top of the status bar in my Default.png but that's not happening; it shows two status bars stacked on top of each other until the app completely loads and everything is normal. This is distracting and obviously looks like crap.
I've tried hiding the status bar during startup and reenabling it during application:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions: but the status bar in my Default.png is still at the top.
I'm sure it's something simple but I can't figure it out.
Apparently the XCode screenshot tool takes a screenshot that's conveniently just a little too tall, making it safe to trim off the top. I cut the status bar out of the picture using Seashore and it's all good now.
Is your Default.png 320 x 480 pixels in size? (You can use the Inspector in Preview to show the size.)
Can anyone help me with the small buttons/icons used within the iphone apps. I am fairly new to the app world and trying to make some buttons(viz the tick box) for my app. I am not sure if we should start with a 50X50 and autoresize in the app or just have a 20X20 which exactly fits the space...
Any help on this is appreciated..
According to Apple, buttons should be at least 44px wide, and 44px high (unless they're by themselves with nothing near them, in which case 22px high). If you're laying out buttons in IB, I'd say get them placed correctly, and set their 'springs and struts' to autosize for you.
Try to do like this,
Put 50*50 button that you need in your project ,and add an image to your interface builder,
select the image that you put recently in Button attributes and select button size by ctrl+3
and set it to 20*20 it works ,it works for me also...
Originally I though I'll just take a screenshot of my app on the iPhone then tweak it in Photoshop.
The images should be 480 x 320 according to Apple doc, and the dimensions of my screenshot are 480 x 320. But, the screenshot contains notification area (where reception bars, battery life, etc. are displayed)
So, if I chop that part off my image will be a bit shorter and not 480px high.
What do I do? Submit a shorter image? Stretch it up so it's 480px but without the notification bar? Submit it with the notification bar in the image?
How did you create your Default.png?
There is support in Xcode for creating the default image. With the device connected, open the Organizer (Window > Organizer). Click the Screenshot tab, take a screenshot and click "Save as default image..." Choose your project and bingo jingo, you're done.
You can leave the notification area in the screenshot. The iPhone will draw the real notification bar over it.
iOS 7 update: the iOS 7 Transition Guide explicitly requires this:
Update the launch image to include the status bar area if it doesn’t already do so.
I think the best way to do it is to use the Xcode screenshotter & edit some of the GUI elements out, like the artwork or text on your buttons so people don't get frustrated when pushing 'buttons' on the Default.png doesn't make your app respond.
If you have a status bar, then you should design 320x460 (less 20 pixels).
Though it is correct that you can leave it at 320x480 and have the real status bar paint over the default.png, it will look weird when the phone is in Internet tethering mode or has a call on hold (another 20 pixels).
By cropping to 320x460, it looks better when in tethering mode.
Just edit out the notification area to match the background of the rest of the image. As long as your image is 480x320 you should be fine.
However, if your app takes more than a few seconds to load, you may want to rethink using a screenshot of your app as the startup screen. People might get confused and think the app is finished loading, when in fact it is not. I've seen some apps produce a "stylized" version of their UI in Photoshop, making it clear that it's just an image and not the actual UI.
you should remember that you maybe need also some space for an In-Call status bar or the Tethering status bar. this bar has a height of 20 pixels. Even apple does not make it right. Put a call on hold and start "Photos" or the "Weather" app, then you can see what I mean. To test that you can use the menu "Toggle In-Call Status Bar" in the iPhone Simulator app.
you can use a real 480x320 image if you add the boolean key UIStatusBarHidden to your Info.plist file and set it as true.
Take a screen shot as many of the answers already mention. However, if your screen shot includes the status bar, you should remove it/replace it with a transparent strip instead. It is true that the iPhone will cover this part of Default.png with the current status bar however, if you run the iPhone app on the iPad, you will still be able to see this part of Default.png.
I built a slightly modified version of the initial view in IB, ran the app with that and took a screen shot. That way, everything looks very iPhoney, no Photoshop needed. Don't worry too much about clipping the top, it will mirror how the view actually looks when loaded if more stuff covers it.
Apple recommends something similar to what the user will see when the app loads. E.g. for my Sudoku app, instead of the grid, the default.png shows a "please wait" message. When the app is loaded, that disappears and you see the grid you can interact with. It looks fluid, and it's obvious when it's loading and when you can interact.
Finally, the interface uses some toolbar buttons. In the default.png they are in the disabled state (grey text). When the app is loaded, they are enabled and change color.