It’s not just about getting the compatibility note. It has a major implication as far as app store searches are concerned. Try searching “iPhone 6” on the app store and you will only get apps that are optimized for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Apparently a LOT of people search for optimized apps this way and getting listed in that search result could mean improved sales over your competitors who haven’t optimized their apps yet.
Since no iPhone 6 or 6 Plus will ever run iOS 7 or earlier, you would not need to include those launch images to support previous OS builds. Your existing set of launch images should be sufficient without having to touch anything. I think Ingemar (and company’s) use of a Launch XIB file is probably going to be the best way to attack this. I will have to learn how to build this file and then perhaps write up a tutorial on that to go with the rest of this and change that as the recommended way to deal with launch images.
However before I do that, I’ve emailed Engineering to see if there is some magic we can do where we take some static file like “Default.png” file and magically build the XIB file behind the scenes and inject it in the project for you. If we could do that, it would be the best way to go. So let’s give them time to think about this.
In the mean time I would recommend following this thread’s suggestion if you want to get that tag in the App Store.
Rob
Thanks @ingemar and the tutorial with a much better way implementing the xib file using Interface Builder
And thanks @rob for relaying the info to the Engineering team
Although there will be some extra efforts, but for now it is very good to know there’s still options for those (myself included) that wanted th extra classification & App Store tagging.
Now onto teaching myself Interface Builder :wacko: :wacko: :wacko:
[…] if there is some magic we can do where we take some static file like “Default.png” file and magically build the XIB file behind the scenes and inject it in the project for you […]
It a good idea, and it might work. The challenge is how to handle the “bleed-zones” so that the launch image will fill the screen across all aspect ratios. I tried something similar a few weeks ago when I was creating my Launch Screen Files, but I gave up. (admittedly IB-fu isn’t up-to-par with what I’d like it to be :()
Admittedly I have looked at this for all of 10 minutes but there seems to be scale to fill. So iPhone 5-6-6+ can scale, iphone 4 and iPad can scale and cut off at top and bottom?
Edit: Never mind, that didn’t work at all like I expected.
That’s true. Scale-To-Fill works in cases where the size of the objects in the launch screen are not important. However most of the time (for my launch screens anyway) size does matter. The size of the objects in the launch screen need to match the final content size of the Corona scene, in which Scale-To-Fill causes a problem and Scale-To-Fit will not work either for other reasons.
CoronaLabs might find some way to create a useable approach with static images, but I still think the best way to create these is to use Interface Builder directly.
@ingemar, were you having success in having using a Launch Image that is equal to your first screen? I was found out that both never be identically positioned… (don’t think it is a Corona bug, even candy crush shows that problem).
Anyway, Apple recommends that you use your Launch Image as the background of your first scene, not the whole scene. SO, a scale-to-fill would be fine…
I think this isn’t as complex as it might be.
1. If you don’t want one, solid black. Many people do that already.
2. If you want your logo, it’s usually not going to fill the screen anyway.
3. If you do what Apple wants and have it be close to your initial screen’s background, you’re probably not going to have much of a problem.
Rob
I didn’t include all objects as it’s only a launch screen. Just enough to make the user see something is going on.
I had no problem with having these basic objects identical in size between the launch screen and Corona content. I do remember that it took a while before I found a procedure that worked across all devices and aspect ratios. But it is possible.
Reporting my results just for completeness sake.
The final app I had in review that only used the UILaunchImages array was approved today and to no surprise it wasn’t tagged as optimized for iPhone 6 / 6 Plus although it had all the necessary files declared for both devices.
This confirms that a Launch Screen File is the only known way to get the coveted tag.
Awesome work, ingemar. Thanks for taking the onus on this one.
Ive been keeping an eye on these forum updates and while it seems still a messy situation, I am about to port a couple of apps to IOS tomorrow. The following questions are based on Pro membership and not using Enterprise:
What is the current situation?
Is it possible to create an app that will still support IOS6 and IOS 8?
If I build for IOS with latest Corona daily build will it support IOS 8/IOS7, iPhone6/Plus ad well as iPhone 5 or will it still be in zoom mode on latest devices (no change yet)
If we can build do we now just submit a new launch image with the old default 586 one?
What else do we need to add to builds IE size of icons?
A complete new guideline would be handy. I did a search but cant find one.
Thanks
_ Is it possible to create an app that will still support IOS6 and IOS 8? _
Yes, if you use the latest daily build has both the iOS 8 release SDK and the iOS 8.1 GM SDK. This will support devices running iOS 6 and iOS 7.
If I build for IOS with latest Corona daily build will it support IOS 8/IOS7, iPhone6/Plus ad well as iPhone 5 or will it still be in zoom mode on latest devices (no change yet)
Yes, it will support the new phones. You need to include some static launch images and some code in your build.settings to make it work. See the Build guide’s Launch images section: http://docs.coronalabs.com/guide/distribution/buildSettings/index.html#launchimage
You can also see our previous two blog posts:
http://coronalabs.com/blog/2014/10/07/tutorial-working-with-the-new-iphones/
http://coronalabs.com/blog/2014/10/21/tutorial-building-multi-screen-launch-images-using-xcode-6/
The later version has a better way to deal with your launch images.
_ If we can build do we now just submit a new launch image with the old default 586 one? _
If you plan to support iOS 6 and iOS 7, then you still need to include the old launch images in your project.
_ What else do we need to add to builds IE size of icons? _
There are new icons needed for the iPhone 6 plus. It’s all outlines in the build.settings guide: http://docs.coronalabs.com/guide/distribution/buildSettings/index.html#appicons
as well as the blog post referenced above.
Rob
Cheers Rob for that info
What about the latest public build?
The current build is using iOS 7 SDK. iOS 7 apps will run on iOS 8 and iOS 6. You should be able to use the static launch images as detailed in our build guide to get the screens to size correctly, but you probably can’t use the technique in this weeks tutorial.
There are a few things Apple will complain about (location and a few others) that iOS 7 builds shouldn’t have but there have been reports that they are.
For the safest path for a Pro/Enterprise subscriber right now and Apple is to use the latest daily build.
Rob