Splash screen

A splash screen is a graphical control element consisting of window containing an image, a logo and the current version of the software. A splash screen usually appears while a game or program is launching. A splash page is an introduction page on a website. A splash screen may cover the entire screen or web page, or may simply be a rectangle near the center of the screen or page. The splash screens of operating systems and some applications that expect to be run full-screen usually cover the entire screen.

Splash screens are typically used by particularly large applications to notify the user that the program is in the process of loading. They provide feedback that a lengthy process is underway. Occasionally, a progress bar within the splash screen indicates the loading progress. A splash screen disappears when the application's main window appears.

Splash screens typically serve to enhance the look and feel of an application or web site, hence they are often visually appealing. They may also have animations, graphics, and sound.

The Java programming language has a specific class for creating splash screens, called java.awt.SplashScreen that handles standard splash screen functions, e.g. display an image centered on screen then disappears when the first program window opens.

On the Web, a splash screen is a page of a web site that acts as a front page prior to displaying the home page. Designers may use splash pages:

An early use of the splash screen on a Flash website was to enable the site developer to launch the site in a JavaScript-controlled new window without browser elements such as scroll-bars or an address bar, and in the exact size of the Flash movie. This has gone out of style with the predominance of pop-up blockers. Instead many starting Flash web pages now allow their audience to choose to go to full screen viewing.

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