6. Add splash screen, name and version.md

1010 ENEI || SessionsApp

Previous step [Guide 5: Add ShareService](5. Add ShareService.md)

Guide 6. Add splash screen, name and version

• Define the splash screen
• Define the name and the version for each platform

In this step you will learn how to create the splash screen to all platforms and you learn to define the name & version of the application.

Define the splash screen

The splash screen in mobile application is the first screen that the user will see, in some applications it is used to load initial data. It is defined in different ways to each platform and for each one you will learn how it works:

• In ENEI.SessionsApps.iOS

In iOS and iPad applications is possible to define launch images as splash screen in the Info.plist. It is described in the following figures:

Figure 6.1: Defining Launch Images using Visual Studio

Figure 6-2: Defining Launch images in Xamarin Studio

• In ENEI.SessionsApps.Android

By default, in Android applications, there is not splash screen concept. To solve it, is possible to create an Activity that will be a splash screen page.

In the ENEI.SessionsApp create the SplashScreen class, as following:

[Activity(Label = "1010 ENEI", MainLauncher = true, NoHistory = true, Theme = "@style/Theme.Splash",
 ConfigurationChanges = ConfigChanges.ScreenSize, ScreenOrientation = ScreenOrientation.Portrait)]
public class SplashScreen : Activity
{
    protected override void OnCreate(Bundle bundle)
    {
        base.OnCreate(bundle);

        var intent = new Intent(this, typeof(MainActivity));
        StartActivity(intent);
        Finish();
    }
}

In the Resources\Values folder create an xml file called Style, as following:

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
   <resources>
        <style name="Theme.Splash" parent="android:Theme">
          <item name="android:windowBackground">@drawable/splash</item>
          <item name="android:windowNoTitle">true</item>
       </style>
       <style name="Theme.ENEI" parent="android:Theme.Holo">
       </style>
</resources>

Then change the MainActivity to:

[Activity(Label = "1010 ENEI", Theme = "@style/Theme.ENEI", ConfigurationChanges = ConfigChanges.ScreenSize | ConfigChanges.Orientation)]

public class MainActivity : global::Xamarin.Forms.Platform.Android.FormsApplicationActivity
{
    protected override void OnCreate(Bundle bundle)
    {
        base.OnCreate(bundle);
        global::Xamarin.Forms.Forms.Init(this, bundle);
        ActionBar.SetIcon(Resource.Drawable.ic_action_users);
        LoadApplication(new App());
    }
}

If you run the Android application you will get the “splash screen” defined, similar to the others platforms.

See more about it in this article Creating a Splash Screen.

• In ENEI.SessionsApps.WinPhone

Windows Phone application supports splash screen by default, this way it only required a nice image which will be showed to the user.

Figure 6-3: The SplashScreenImage

Define the name and the version for each platform

To define the name & the version for each platform you will need:

• In ENEI.SessionsApps.iOS

Open the Info.plist or the project’s properties as described in figure 6-4 and figure 6-5:

Figure 6-4: Defining Name & Version using Xamarin Studio (Info.plist)

Figure 6-5: Defining Name & Version using Visual Studio (project’s properties)

• In ENEI.SessionsApp.Android

Open the project’s properties as described in figure 6-6 and figure 6-7:

Figure 6-6: Defining Name & Version using Xamarin Studio (project’s properties)

Figure 6-7: Defining Name & Version using Visual Studio (project’s properties)

• In ENEI.SessionsApps.WinPhone

Open the manifest file as describe in the figure 6-8 and figure 6-9:

Figure 6-8: Defining Name in the manifest file

Figure 6-9: Defining Version in the manifest file

Next step [Guide 7: Add support for WinRT Apps](7. Add support for WinRT Apps.md)