Just this past week some of Google updated apps started to appear with an all new splash screens showing off the app’s icon as well as Google’s logo over a blank white page during the short loading process. This has happened in a few apps that belong to Google and can be found within Google Sheets, Docs and even YouTube.

What is Splash Screen?

“The splash screen is the image that is displayed on users screen when they turn on the phone before the boot animation starts to play. The display will be as such; Opening the latest updates to its apps will result in a white screen and an oversized icon to be shown, along with the familiar Google corporate logo.”

Ewan Spence of Forbes pointed out that Google earlier discouraged it and suggested the developers to focus on giving users a quick experience that involves them getting to the app as quickly as possible after tapping on the app icon. Now, Google updated apps in the Play Store will show the splash screens automatically, the practice which Google once considered to stay away from.

Google also updated the Material design Guidelines

Google has now updated the Material Design guidelines for apps, according to which “Branded launch screens are a good way to portray a brand while the app is loading. Take advantage of the loading time to display your logo or other elements that improve brand recognition. Avoid using text on this screen except your logo and, if applicable, a tagline.”

The new move to show the splash screens on Google updated apps is certainly about brand presence. The purpose behind this change in apps is thought to be a decision made to try and grab “users mind share” in a bid to defend against Microsoft in the cloud space. The new splash screens are showing up in updates to only some of Google’s collection of apps, but they haven’t fully propagated in Google Play.