UILaunchImages, new extensions

Biggerplay

A heads up as there might be something odd going on with launch images and XCode 5/iOS7.

I've spent the last 3 hours, trying to get Sparrow to display a Default-568h@2x.png image for a launch image without any success.

Then I noticed something that I've not seen before in the .plist called UILaunchImages, which seems to be what is setup by XCode 5 from the launch images you try to give it in the general tab.

Problem is, it doesn't seem to recognise the old extensions.

Here's some links to discussions on the matter.

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/18976412/launch-screens-supporting-ios6-and-ios7-forced-to-splash-screen/

https://discussions.apple.com/message/23363591

I'm still trying to get it to work, hopefully it's not a Sparrow/XCode5/iOS7 issue and I'll have my launch image in there soon enough, but I'll report back when I get it working.

Been playing around with it for another hour. I can get a new Default@2x.png to appear, but no matter what I do I can't get an iPhone5 launch image to appear, the UILaunchImages Dictionary has 2 entries, and they both seem correct with the UI Launch Image size being 320,568 which is correct, but all I get is a black screen on loading.

*Update*

Still haven't got it working, this might be useful

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/18758882/launch-images-in-ios-7-with-xcode-5

I might try using an Asset Catalogue.

Using an Asset Catalogue still not working, as it seems the iPhone 5 extensions have all changed in iOS7. See here...

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/18744554/image-assets-catalog-doesnt-recognise-retina-4-photos-in-xcode5

Anyone actually reading any of this? As it seems this has implications for Sparrow.

TTStu

Hi, these are the image names I use and dimensions:

Default.png 320x480
Default@2x.png 640x960
Default-568h@2x.png 640x1136
Default-Landscape_ipad.png 1024x768
Default-Landscape@2x_ipad.png 2048x1536
Default-Portrait_ipad.png 768x1024
Default-Portrait@2x_ipad.png 1536x2048

You also need to go down the list on the Target->General tab and choose all the images explicitly if you can. Also, sometimes dragging the images into the project (after having removed all traces) can "kick start" it back into "finding" them (lol).

In cases where it doesn't let you choose your images manually (for some reason I cannot fathom) try these steps:

Remove all references to the launch images in your project (highlight -> delete).

Remove all traces of the files in Finder.

Clean your product.

Delete all DerivedData for the app in _{Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/AppNamefunnynumberhere} (entire folder)

Make sure the launch images have the EXACT file names and sizes above.

Remove ALL references to the launch images in App-info.plist

Phew, now close Xcode completely.

Open Xcode, and drag the files into the sidebar again. This should hopefully "kick start" Xcode into recognizing and creating any keys for you.

If all that fails, then sorry, I cannot figure out why it works for me and not you 🙁

TTStu

The only other thing I can suggest is to try two image name variants (might help before going through the steps I listed below:

Default@2x-568h.png
Default_568h@2x.png (using tilde)

Just in case, y'know.

But above all, make sure they are the EXACT dimensions I listed above. For a landscape setup, manually rotate and buid the image sideways so that they still fit the above mentioned images (for iphone).

TTStu

Oh, and a final note... are you testing the iPhone 5 stuff on a real device or simulator... cos you know what they say 😉

Biggerplay

Thanks for your long reply. Have you done all of the above though with the latest Scaffold projet in the latest version of XCode5 and iOS7? As soon as you try to do something with the default Sparrow launch images, it creates a UILaunchImages array in the .plist and then fun and games really start. I eventually gave up on that and just converted it all to an Assets Catalogue, but the 568h launch image is still not work on load in the sim. I don't have an iPhone 5 so I can't test it on the device, so it might only be a sim issue.

Either way though I think there is a new extension for iPhone 5 anyway, called R4.

TTStu

Hmmm, using latest Sparrow and Scaffold YES (although my Scaffold is about 3 months old, around the time I see the last commit for it in Github).

Just tested, works on my simulator, so it's not a simulator issue.

Xcode version 5.0

iOS 7.04

Does the 568 image work for you in the default Scaffold without changing it (eg the 568 Sparrow loading image)?

'Cos if so one workaround could be just to swap the image with the same file name in finder for the time being 😉

Also, are you using iOS 7.1 beta?

Finally, I don't have ANY arrays or mentions of iPhone loading images in my App-info.plist (just for iPad images when required).

Good luck!

Biggerplay

If I use a brand new clean Scaffold project and run it in iPhone 5 mode, the loading screen appears. But as soon as try to change that image, it stops working, first creating the UILaunchImages entry in the .plist and then even not working when using an Assets Catalogue.

"Cos if so one workaround could be just to swap the image with the same file name in finder for the time being"

Interestingly I tried that and it still didn't work.

If you look at the general tab, and then in the launches drop down, you will see a little folder icon (with an eye icon next to it), I think clicking on that creates the entry in the .plist.

Biggerplay

Ok I just copied the old Default-568h@2x.png into the project and ran everything with that, and it worked fine, so maybe my Default-568h@2x.png was corrupted somehow. Anyway hopefully that's the case!

As a side note though, using an Asset Catalogue does make handling launch images a lot easier.

Shilo

A side note:

Often (Always?), when modifying an asset/resource file (outside of assets catalogue), the simulator will not show the change of the resource file (such as an image). Although, I am not sure if the same thing happens to resource files inside the asset catalogue.

If you look inside the simulator app files located in (/Users/{USER}/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/7.0/Applications/{APP_DIR}/{APP_NAME}.app), you can check if the resource file is the correct version, or if it exists at all.

I run into this issue so often that I regularly delete the app directory via Finder and than go to Xcode and click "Product > Clean". After those two steps, my modified files will show correctly. I believe deleting the app via Simulator interface will work too.

If anyone knows a better solution to this, I would love to hear it. I grow tired of this process after 401 times. I'm sure my SSD isn't too happy either. 🙂