If you’ve recently accepted available updates for some of Google’s applications, like YouTube, for instance, you’ll see that now, every time you fire up the app, a splash screen will appear, with a huge icon (as seen above), and the Google logo beneath it. The Material Design guidelines allow this: “Branded launch screens are a good way to portray a brand while the app is loading. Take advantage of the loading time to display your logo or other elements that improve brand recognition. Avoid using text on this screen except your logo and, if applicable, a tagline.”
Using splash screens will add additional time needed for apps to launch, and, the goal was always to have applications fire up as quickly as possible. Forbes believes that the reason behind such a move is Google’s attempt to be defensive against competitors like Microsoft. Using splash screens will not only help spread the Android branding, and word (if there’s any need left to spread it), but will also drive brand recognition. And, we’re not talking about the OS, as Android is comfortably in the first spot, trailed only by Apple, and not Microsoft; it’s about the fight for the cloud supremacy.
Splash screens and icons and logos are all nice, but the real question we want to ask you is this: are you willing to add (put up with) additional time for apps to launch, because of the splash screen display, or would you prefer fastest possible app launch times? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: Forbes