Goal
Every iOS app shows something while it loads — this is where you set yours. You’ve got two ways to build it:
- Auto-generate — MAM builds the splash for you by centering your app icon on a solid background color. This is the default, and it’s the right call for most apps.
- Upload a custom splash screen — you supply a finished full-screen image and MAM uses it as-is.
Below you’ll find both paths, the dimensions each one wants, and exactly when MAM rebuilds the auto-generated image — so you never have to wonder if it’s gone stale.
Prerequisites
- An admin account with access to Mobile App Mgr → Publish App. The Launch Screen panel lives there, next to the App Icon panel.
- If you’re using the auto-generate path: an app icon already uploaded in the App Icon panel. The splash is built from that icon, so set the icon first. See Upload your app icon (and avoid the Apple alpha-channel rejection).
- If you’re uploading a custom splash: a full-screen image ready in your Media Library (see Step 3 for size).
Auto-generate depends on that icon being there first. No icon set means MAM skips generation and logs that the icon is missing — nothing gets produced until you add one.
How the two paths work
At the top of the Launch Screen panel is a single choice, presented as two radio buttons:
- Auto-generate from app icon and background color
- Upload a custom splash screen
Pick one and its controls appear while the other tucks out of view. Your choice is saved along with the rest of App Setup the next time you save the page.
Auto-generate (default)
Select auto-generate and you get exactly one control: a Background Color picker. Behind the scenes, MAM composites your app icon — centered — onto a canvas filled with that color, and saves the result as your splash image.
A few details worth knowing, since they shape how that image comes together:
- The output is a portrait PNG sized 1125×2436 (the iPhone X-class portrait resolution).
- Your icon is scaled to roughly 40% of the canvas’s shortest side and centered both horizontally and vertically.
- Any transparency in your icon carries through, so a logo with transparent corners sits cleanly against whatever background color you’ve chosen.
Because the splash is rebuilt from your current icon and color every time, there’s no editing it directly in this mode — change the icon or the background color, and let MAM handle the rebuild.
Upload a custom splash screen
Switch to custom and the color picker gives way to an image picker. Choose a 1125×2436 (or larger, same aspect ratio) PNG or JPG from your Media Library, and MAM stores your selection and uses it exactly as uploaded — no compositing the icon, no background color applied in this mode.
Steps
1. Open the Launch Screen panel
Go to Mobile App Mgr → Publish App and find the Launch Screen panel. Its description reads, “Displayed while your app is loading. Auto-generates from icon + color, or upload your own.”
2. Choose a path
Select either Auto-generate from app icon and background color or Upload a custom splash screen.
3. Configure the path you chose
If auto-generate: use the Background Color picker to set the solid color behind your centered icon. It defaults to white (#ffffff) — pick something that matches your icon and brand, since the icon sits centered on this color, full-screen.
If custom: click the image picker (it reads “Click to select splash screen” when empty) and choose your full-screen image. Aim for 1125×2436 or a larger image with the same aspect ratio.
4. Save
Save the page by clicking Save App Settings. MAM stores your choice and, on the auto-generate path, rebuilds the splash if needed (more on when, in the next section). A Current splash screen preview appears right in the panel, so you can confirm what you’ll be shipping.
When MAM regenerates the auto-built splash
MAM isn’t rebuilding this image on every save — only when something that actually affects it has changed. On the auto-generate path, your splash regenerates whenever you save and any of these is true:
- You just switched from custom back to auto-generate.
- Your app icon changed (a new icon is set).
- Your launch screen background color changed.
If none of those changed, your existing splash stays right where it is. On the custom path, MAM simply stores the image you picked and generates nothing.
Tip: splash looking stale after you edit the icon? Re-save the Publish App page — a change to the icon or the background color is exactly what triggers the rebuild.
What gets sent to the app
When your app’s data payload — the bundle of data your app downloads from your site — gets built, the splash image you configure here rides along with the app icon and other assets, tagged as splash_screen_2. That’s the same auto-generated (or custom-uploaded) image the app shows on launch; there’s no separate upload step for it. (A second slot, splash_screen_1, also exists in the payload, but it’s set outside this panel.)
Troubleshooting
Nothing generated / no preview appears (auto path). Check that an app icon is set in the App Icon panel — the generator needs a valid icon file to work from, and skips generation entirely when one’s missing.
My custom splash didn’t take. Make sure Upload a custom splash screen is selected (not auto-generate) and that you picked an image before saving. The custom image only comes into play while that option is active.
The splash didn’t update after I changed the icon. Re-save the Publish App page — regeneration only fires when MAM detects a change to the icon or background color at save time.
Color looks off behind my logo. Keep in mind the background color fills the whole canvas and shows through any transparent areas of your icon. Adjust it in the Background Color picker — or switch to a custom image if you need a gradient or artwork the auto-generator just can’t produce.
Related articles
- Upload your app icon (and avoid the Apple alpha-channel rejection) — set the icon the auto-generated splash is built from.
- Upload and manage app images (logos, icons, and placeholders)
- Run the app publishing wizard end to end
- Clear the pre-publish readiness checklist
