Capacitor: bug: iOS 14 Black screen always on initial app launch prior to actually showing the splash screen [SplashScreen]

[Exocomp]

This bug is for the SplashScreen plugin described here.

Create an ionic app with capacitor, deploy it on the simulator or physical device:

1) Launch the application
2) Get black screen <-- this was not here prior to iOS 14
3) Transition to the actual splash image

Here is an example of a project where you can reproduce it: https://github.com/Exocomp/demo-ionic-swippable-modal.git

Ionic:

   Ionic CLI                     : 6.11.8 (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/@ionic/cli)
   Ionic Framework               : @ionic/angular 5.2.3
   @angular-devkit/build-angular : 0.1000.8
   @angular-devkit/schematics    : 10.0.8
   @angular/cli                  : 10.0.8
   @ionic/angular-toolkit        : 2.3.3

Capacitor:

   Capacitor CLI   : 2.4.1
   @capacitor/core : 2.4.1

Utility:

   cordova-res : 0.15.1
   native-run  : 1.1.0

System:

   NodeJS : v10.13.0 (/usr/local/bin/node)
   npm    : 6.4.1
   OS     : macOS Catalina

[AE1NS]

Same here. Does someone have a workaround/quickfix for this?

[Deepfreezed]

Launch screen with image stopped working with iOS 14, Xcode 12. Only workaround currently is to not use an image.

[media4learning]

Same issue here, ios 14 fresh cap app launch screen on ios is black. If anyone finds a solution please post

[bolivir]

I see the same issue happening, launch app --> black screen --> Splash

[francodelsancio]

I see the same issue happening, workaround for now, not use background image, replace it with a view and make the launch screen in there by hand.

[chrisdelambert]

I have noticed a lot of apps displaying a black screen briefly before the launch screen on ios 14. I changed my SplashScreen plugin config to the below and the launch screen now displays: (delete the delay param)

"SplashScreen": {
"launchAutoHide": false
}

[Exocomp]

I see the same issue happening, workaround for now, not use background image, replace it with a view and make the launch screen in there by hand.

@francodelsancio can you please provide some steps on how to do this.

@chrisdelambert "launchAutoHide": false doesn't work still has the black screen.

[francodelsancio]

@francodelsancio can you please provide some steps on how to do this.
Sure, i remove the ImageView in LaunchScreen.storyboard and set a view instead, then i set the background color to the view, and added the logo with auto layout. I noticed that the images appear in the SDK but not in the device unless they are added in Bundle Resources (Build Phases).

[Exocomp]

@francodelsancio thanks for the steps, I tried it and it's not solving the issue. Correct me if I'm wrong but your steps just set the initial logo it doesn't affect the splash screen.

So this is what I see after your steps:

1) Launch app
2) See logo
3) Transition from logo to black screen
4) Transition from black screen to splash screen

So unfortunately it is still not working.

[bolivir]

I have noticed a lot of apps displaying a black screen briefly before the launch screen on ios 14. I changed my SplashScreen plugin config to the below and the launch screen now displays: (delete the delay param)

"SplashScreen": {
"launchAutoHide": false
}

Above was the solution for me, i removed the other entries i had in there like launchShowDuration.
Now my config only contains the launchAutohide key. I just rebuilded the app and now i see no black screen appearing.

[francodelsancio]

@Exocomp i am sorry to hear that this not solve your problem, it seems, in my case, that the back screen is the background color coming from the imageView, because at run time its not loading from the resources, thats why i modify the launchscreen.storyboard, remove the imageView, added a view, set the background color, and put the logo.
In configuration I also set it to start with that storyboard. Regards

[Exocomp]

@francodelsancio it makes sense what you're saying but as soon as I add an image it goes to black, can you please include your LaunchScreen.storyboard file that will really help.

[francodelsancio]

@Exocomp i attach above an image of the tree in the splashscreen.storyboard if you change the background color of the elements you will notice that it is not loading the images. to load them you must attach them in the resource bundle. The assets folder are in the resource bundle, why are not loaded I don’t know. But the workaround works. All this assuming that we have the same problem. Regards

[JU1CYC0DY]

Are there any updates on this problem here? Facing the same issues with the example app and its a pain point for me to see every time this black screen.
Appreciate every help/workaround; the ones mentioned above didn't work for me.

Best regards

[ghost]

Same problem here, black screen of the dead... it's totally anoying for user experience. I'v not found workaround... any solution here ? an update ?

[Faisal49m]

Same issue here, tried all workarounds explained above didn't work, I was able to fix it in Cordova by removing the UILaunchStoryboardName from the .plist file but it didn't work here

[eddyD45]

I've tried all the proposed workarounds posted above and still have the same issue, usually with the black screen lasting for about 30 seconds to a minute before fully launching the app. It only happens on the first launch after installation; opening the app again a second time does not yield the black screen anymore. Are there any updates on this issue?

[kinggolf]

TLDR: What worked for me was to reduce file size of launch images.

I have 3 current Ionic/Capacitor/Angular apps. Two of them exhibit the same problem described here, initial black screen on app start prior to displaying actual launch image. The third never showed this problem and always started up fine.

After digging through all set-ups, configs, dependencies, ..., I found nothing to help my 2 problem apps. Just this morning I noticed the file size differences of the launch images:
good app: 29KB
problem apps: 145KB and 104KB

First I just pulled the launch images from the good app to one of problem apps and launch screen at start up was perfect, i.e. no black screen. Then I ran the launch images from 2 problem apps through squoosh - 145KB images reduced to 37KB and 104KB images reduced to 45KB. Put these new launch screen images into respective iOS apps and built onto my iPhone. Both app now start up perfectly with no black screen image.

Interesting note - both problematic apps are older and previously released to AppStore and have always worked fine. Something with iOS 14 definitely created this issue. Issue is not related to Xcode 12.

Possibly cordova resources would help this if used, but I have not tried.

I learned about squoosh from React Native Radio Podcast one of the most informative dev podcasts I've come across - even though I do no React Native development.

[nachshonfertel]

I have 3 current Ionic/Capacitor/Angular apps. Two of them exhibit the same problem described here, initial black screen on app start prior to displaying actual launch image. The third never showed this problem and always started up fine.

Tried this and it does not work for me.

[kinggolf]

Additional set up info in my apps, in case it helps, I am not using any splash screen plugin (Capacitor or Cordova). And no splash screen settings in capacitor.config.json. Just seems to work better for me.

[eddyD45]

TLDR: What worked for me was to reduce file size of launch images.

I have 3 current Ionic/Capacitor/Angular apps. Two of them exhibit the same problem described here, initial black screen on app start prior to displaying actual launch image. The third never showed this problem and always started up fine.

After digging through all set-ups, configs, dependencies, ..., I found nothing to help my 2 problem apps. Just this morning I noticed the file size differences of the launch images:
good app: 29KB
problem apps: 145KB and 104KB

First I just pulled the launch images from the good app to one of problem apps and launch screen at start up was perfect, i.e. no black screen. Then I ran the launch images from 2 problem apps through squoosh - 145KB images reduced to 37KB and 104KB images reduced to 45KB. Put these new launch screen images into respective iOS apps and built onto my iPhone. Both app now start up perfectly with no black screen image.

Interesting note - both problematic apps are older and previously released to AppStore and have always worked fine. Something with iOS 14 definitely created this issue. Issue is not related to Xcode 12.

Possibly cordova resources would help this if used, but I have not tried.

I learned about squoosh from React Native Radio Podcast one of the most informative dev podcasts I've come across - even though I do no React Native development.

Strangely enough, this _somewhat_ fixed the issue for me. After reducing the splash image size, my app will load the splash image immediately. However, this only seems to be masking the underlying issue, as I still have a 1~2 minute hang-time before my app properly loads and hides the splash image. Either way, this fixes the original issue at hand, so thank you.

[arcbus]

I'll just throw my hat in the ring and also mention that i'm seeing this.

Had an older cordova project where indeed removing the UILaunchStoryboardName from plist worked, but haven't been able to solve it in capacitor :(

[aparajita]

Hang in there, next week I'll be releasing a new splash screen plugin that will fix all of these problems.

[Exocomp]

It turned out to be an image resolution for me, it was 2700x2700 initially, I dropped it down to 2300x2300 and I don't get the black screen anymore. If you try this just make sure to backup your original image so once this issue is fixed you can start using the higher resolution again. Note that the size on the disk stayed pretty much the same so not a size on disk issue. Thumbs up if this works for you too. 👍

[yacut]

@aparajita Any progress on this? We really waiting for this fix... 😞

[aparajita]

@yacut Hopefully this week. I'm actually working on 3 killer plugins: splash screen, biometric auth, and console. It will be worth the wait. 😁

[angelolencina]

@aparajita hi my friend! any progress on this?

[aparajita]

@angelolencina 3 killer plugins became 4 😁, and I had a lot of work to do for my job, so it was a busy week. It looks good for releasing the splash screen plugin this week.

[angelolencina]

@angelolencina 3 killer plugins became 4 😁, and I had a lot of work to do for my job, so it was a busy week. It looks good for releasing the splash screen plugin this week.

Ok. Thank you!! 😁👍

[AE1NS]

Hey @aparajita, do you have any news about the splash screen plugin?

At the moment our iOS App has a black screen and the Android App has a colored background (instead of a stretched image) before the ionic splash is displayed. Unfortunately there seems to be no proper solution until you rescue us 👍 Thank you for your effort, this sounds really great!

[aparajita]

This week for sure. Just releasing a secure storage plugin today, splash screen will be next.

[bradmartin]

@aparajita - I'm coming here from searching on solutions for other frameworks. This issue is with iOS 14. I've been trying to implement the UILaunchScreen key in the plist of project by setting the UIImageName to an imageasset declared in the assets. However, the sizing is very difficult to determine for all the iPhone screens.

Curious how you're approaching this. As this key is also something only for iOS 14, and if you support previous iOS versions the storyboard is supposed to be working. I have a worry this is something we're going to be waiting on an iOS patch release for this to stabilize.

Would appreciate any insight you have regarding this, as I'm digging deep into native projects and still can't find a solid solution. See: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/63978396/launch-screen-not-working-on-ios-14-with-xcode-12 for more context on the impact hitting developers not just using Capacitor or Ionic as it's iOS 14 that seems to have the issue respecting the previous storyboard configuration. Cheers :)

[aparajita]

@bradmartin I will be releasing my Super Splash Screen plugin tomorrow that does everything you want. So you may not want to spend too much more time on it.

[bradmartin]

I don't think any plugin in any framework is going to fix the issue as this seems to be something in iOS 14 causing it.

Storyboards for the launch screen work according to this table below:

```iPad (8th generation) - SUCCESS
iPad Air (4th generation) - SUCCESS
iPad Pro (9.7 inch) - SUCCESS
iPad Pro (11 inch 2nd generation) - SUCCESS
iPad Pro (12.9 inch 4th generation) - SUCCESS

iPhone 8 - SUCCESS
iPhone 8 Plus - FAILURE
iPhone 11 - SUCCESS
iPhone 11 Pro - FAILURE
iPhone 11 Pro Max - FAILURE
iPhone 12 - FAILURE
iPhone 12 Pro - FAILURE
iPhone 12 Pro Max - FAILURE
iPhone 12 mini - FAILURE

iPhone SE (2nd generation) - SUCCESS
iPod Touch (7th generation) - SUCCESS
```

So it seems that the storyboard for launch screen is failing on "special" devices like the plus, pro max, etc.

According to apple, storyboards should work on iOS 14, since if you want to support anything prior to 14 you cannot use the new UILaunchScreen as part of the plist file to specify a UIImage to render.

[franciscomontiel]

I am having the same problem and still decided to push to testflight/appstore , the problem with the black screen that happened in our development cellphones did not happened when downloading from store. Hope it helps.

[aparajita]

@bradmartin Storyboards are working for me on iOS 14 on those devices, at least in the simulator.

[bolivir]

@aparajita is the update live? Or when do you expect it to go live?

[bradmartin]

@aparajita - I've actually had a colleague have his storyboards working as well. It has to be a combination of iOS, devices and possibly xcode 12. Too many reports of the black launch screen on iOS with storyboards for it to not be an "issue" somewhere. I'm glad some people aren't encountering it, but it's a bummer because a lot of people are still facing it across various frameworks and apps.

See this SO post to get an idea of how spread the issue is and the various approaches devs have taken to resolve, but with no one having concrete information on a solution. Again, that's great you're not facing the issue, but sadly, it's an issue somewhere and I've not found any solid information to address it anywhere. Since the documentation states that it should work just fine :)

[aparajita]

@bradmartin That's an iOS bug that has nothing to do with Capacitor, so technically the discussion doesn't belong here.

@bolivir Hopefully going live today, have to write documentation.

[bradmartin]

May not belong here, but this issue is becoming prevalent via search engines due to the number of devs encountering it, more info the better for developers in my opinion.

However, I'm inquiring your fellow expertise because I wonder if you're going to run into the same issues with your plugin in Capacitor, at any rate best of luck but looks like there is no solid solution even if you have a working plugin since this is an iOS issue impacting native iOS apps and other frameworks that build native apps. Cheers.