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Beginner 10 min Java Full project

Splash Screen in Android Studio in 5 Minutes

Add a splash screen that shows your logo for a moment before the app opens. Quick to build and a nice first polish for any app.

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What you'll learn

Design a splash layout with your logo
Open the main screen after a short delay
Make the splash the app's launch screen

Before you start

Android Studio (any recent version)
An emulator or an Android phone

How it fits together

1App opens
2SplashActivity shows logo
32-second delay
4MainActivity

Build it step by step

1. Create the project

In Android Studio choose New Project → Empty Views Activity, with Language Java and Minimum SDK API 24.

2. Add a splash activity

Right-click your package and choose New → Activity → Empty Views Activity. Name it SplashActivity.

3. Design the splash screen

In activity_splash.xml, centre your logo (an ImageView), the app name and a short tagline. Put your logo in res/drawable; a vector drawable stays sharp on every screen.

4. Make the background appear instantly

Create a splash theme whose android:windowBackground is your brand colour, and give SplashActivity that theme in the manifest. The colour then shows the moment the app opens, before the layout has loaded.

5. Make the splash open first

In AndroidManifest.xml, move the MAIN / LAUNCHER intent filter from MainActivity to SplashActivity.

6. Wait, then open the app

In SplashActivity, use a Handler to run code after 2 seconds: start MainActivity, then call finish() so Back doesn't return to the splash.

7. Don't open the app after the user has left

If the user leaves during those 2 seconds, cancel the delayed code in onDestroy with removeCallbacks. Otherwise MainActivity pops up later on its own.

8. Run it

The purple splash shows with your logo, then the home screen opens.

Good to know

Android 12 and later always show a short system splash (your app icon) first. With this approach users see that, then yours. For a single, modern splash, follow the Animated Splash Screen tutorial, which uses the SplashScreen API.
Keep the delay short. Two seconds is plenty; a splash should never hold up a user who wants to get going.

What's improved over the video

The background shows instantly through the theme, the delay is cancelled if the user leaves, and the splash finishes so Back doesn't return to it.

Files affected

Check what to add and what to replace before copying code.

app/src/main/java/com/example/splashscreen/MainActivity.javaReplace file
app/src/main/res/layout/activity_main.xmlReplace file
app/src/main/res/layout/activity_splash.xmlAdd these lines
app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xmlReplace file
app/src/main/res/values/colors.xmlReplace file
app/src/main/res/drawable/ic_logo.xmlAdd these lines
app/src/main/java/com/example/splashscreen/SplashActivity.javaAdd these lines
app/src/main/res/values/strings.xmlReplace file
app/src/main/res/values/themes.xmlReplace file

Application code

Select a file to see its code and where it belongs.

This code uses package com.example.splashscreen. Change that first line to your own package, the one at the top of your MainActivity.

Replace fileapp/src/main/java/com/example/splashscreen/MainActivity.java

Your app's real first screen.

MainActivity.java

package com.example.splashscreen;

import android.os.Bundle;

import androidx.activity.EdgeToEdge;
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;
import androidx.core.graphics.Insets;
import androidx.core.view.ViewCompat;
import androidx.core.view.WindowInsetsCompat;

/** The app's real first screen, opened by SplashActivity. */
public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        EdgeToEdge.enable(this);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
        ViewCompat.setOnApplyWindowInsetsListener(findViewById(R.id.main), (v, insets) -> {
            Insets bars = insets.getInsets(WindowInsetsCompat.Type.systemBars());
            v.setPadding(bars.left, bars.top, bars.right, bars.bottom);
            return insets;
        });
    }
}

Full source code

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