We're adding an option to our Unity SDK that gives a game a native launch screen: a launch storyboard (set through UILaunchStoryboardName) showing a full-screen image from an asset catalog.
What we see
- On a clean install, the new launch screen shows as expected.
- When the same device installs an update over the existing app (tested through TestFlight), the previous launch screen keeps showing. Launching the app several times does not change it.
- Deleting the app, restarting the device and reinstalling shows the new launch screen straight away.
We checked the build itself: the compiled storyboard, the image in Assets.car and the Info.plist keys are all correct, so this looks like the system's launch screen snapshot cache. We assume App Store updates behave the same way.
What we're considering
On the first launch after an update, the app would delete the cached launch screen snapshots in its own container (Library/SplashBoard), so the system regenerates them and the new launch screen shows on the next launch. This only uses public file APIs inside the app's own sandbox. But Library/SplashBoard is not documented anywhere, so we'd rather ask before shipping it.
Questions
- Is deleting
Library/SplashBoardfrom the app's own container a supported or acceptable practice, or could it cause problems (with the system, or in a future iOS version)? - Is there a supported way to make iOS refresh a cached launch screen after an app update?
- If not, is the expected behaviour simply that the system refreshes the snapshot at some point? Is it documented when that happens (for example after a reboot, or after a certain time)?
If clearing the folder isn't recommended, we won't ship it. Updating players would just keep the old launch screen until iOS refreshes it.
Thanks!