Official How to add a launch-screen storyboard for iOS in Unity - App Store requirement by June 30, 2020

Hi,

Unfortunately we still have projects on Unity 5.5, what are our options regarding this? Any chance we implement this support by ourselves using Unity5.5? any advice?

Thank you in advance.

 

@JC-Cimetiere Thanks for the detailed tutorial on how to add the storyboard. It looks like the requirement has now been delayed until June 30th which will give people a little more time - https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=03262020b

 

Hi JC-Cimetiere!
If I have older apps ( made with unity 5x), does unity logo use the storyboards?

 

@JC-Cimetiere Thanks for this! I followed Marat's tutorial (and his script) and got it to work right away by building through XCode. But then I tried uploading the project to Unity's cloud build and the storyboard splash screen got lost somewhere in the process. Is there anything I can do to make it work?
Thanks
M

 

Probably not and you can easily tell the difference.

Apple Storyboards: When you tap any app that uses storyboards, it will show the icon of that app (or whatever file image is used in storyboards - usually it's app's icon) right away in an instant. I believe that Apple is enforcing this because it wants the user to feel "native" and gives the impression that Apple product is good quality, responsive etc.

Unity Logo: When you open the app the "black screen" appears for a moment and then you can see Unity Logo (it seems that Unity logo is loaded somewhere in the "middle" of launching the app - before opening your project, but after the storyboards).

In a nutshell: If you never used your own storyboards in a Unity then its very likely that your project does not contain Storyboards file and your app won't go through a review after June 30.

 

Ok, I upgraded my project to unity 2018.4.01 and checked the "use storyboard for launch screen" option in the splash section in the player settings. However, when I build 'n launch the app, it's still the same as before with the "black screen" before the unity logo.

Is my understanding correct that what I did is not enough, and that I'm required to make/add a custom storyboard for this to work? I previously just had the unity logo and no personal splash screen.

 

Why are you guys always so late with these things? Why are you always behind to support stuff like that and we mobile developers are always rushed into last minute changes and trying to find workaround.

Storyboards have been around for a while, and your support has been super buggy forever.

And even now: Using storyboard as a launch screen makes the launch screen fade to grey before loading the next scene. It's this bug here : https://issuetracker.unity3d.com/is...board-launch-screen-and-the-first-unity-scene

You might read that and think, oh, I can just delete .storyboard in info.plist and that will fix the issue. And it does, BUT IT MAKES THE ORIENTATION ISSUE COME BACK.

It has been years and still you can't figure out a simple way to let us have a professional looking splash screen. Stop dragging your feet.

 

Do storyboards actually work in Unity? Or only on paper.
When I tried Unity's option - it didn't work unless you explicitly named the storyboard "LaunchImage" - no custom names for you
And as AcidArrow stated - the storyboard then faded to grey - you need to patch-out some Unity's Obj-C code to make it work.

Is any of this fixed now? Sorry, I have no spare time to test things out.

 

Only on paper. But also controller support with input manager is broken for both iOS and tvOS, so at this point storyboard fading to grey seems like a minor issue.

 

Yeah, we also have controller issues, that are still not fixed in 2019.3.10 (my bug report is not even confirmed by Unity). Thank god, it is possible patch those issues in Obj-C or remap some of the buttons in Rewired.

 

Using unity 2018.4.1, the storyboard works ( I create it using xcode and add it to my unity project), however I still get a warning when building about the lack of storyboard. HOWEVER, in the actual app, everything works fine - the storyboard instantly appears when launching the app, then the unity logo, then the app

Launch images are deprecated in iOS 13.0. Use a launch storyboard or XIB instead



==> Anyone know if this will be an issue when the deadline comes? will apple auto-detect these warnings and think the apps are non-compliant?

 

Using unity 2019.2.21, the project is set to use landscape only.
When the device is hold in portrait and open the app for the first time, the launch screen storyboard's imageview is shown as landscape (correct orientation). However, if you close it and open it again (kept device in portrait), the imageview is sometime autorotate or the main scene will become portrait mode.

 

Yeah, variations of this issue have been an issue for years with Unity's implementation.

I just want to note:

We are past the original April deadline.Current builds of Unity have issues with storyboards and also have broken controller support for iOS and tvOS.

If Apple hadn't pushed back the deadline, we'd all be F***ed by Unity's chronic dragging of feet.

 

I gave up waiting for a fix too - I've written way more native controller/tvos remote bindings than I ever wanted to.

 

This whole issue has me terrified. I’m on a great update cycle with Wilderless on iOS and I’m worried this will bring it to a halt. I’m also on unity 2019.2 so I’m not even sure a fix will come.

I don’t really have much to say except I wish there wasn’t always these kind of scary updates lurking over the horizon so often. For me it’s yhe worst out of game design and I try to mitigate it though production planning but it’s really tough.

I’m gonna get my next update up and then try to make sure I understand what we need tontonnd get it all prepped so I won’t be stuck unable to update.

 

is the storyboard integration expected for 2019.4?

 

If someone wants to remove that warning, solution is here: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-message.2201424/?post=27799290#post-27799290
"Look for Asset Catalog Launch Image Set Name under Asset Catalog Compiler - Options. If I set that previously unset value to a random string in my project, it throws the same compile-time error you mentioned. Try clearing that setting."

you can do it from postprocess in Unity:

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2. private static void PrepareProject(string buildPath)
3.     {
4.         string projPath = Path.Combine(buildPath, "Unity-iPhone.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj");
5.         PBXProject project = new PBXProject();
6.         project.ReadFromString(File.ReadAllText(projPath));
7.         string target = project.TargetGuidByName("Unity-iPhone");
8.  
9.          project.SetBuildProperty(target, "ASSETCATALOG_COMPILER_LAUNCHIMAGE_NAME", "");
10.  
11.         File.WriteAllText(projPath, project.WriteToString());
12.     }
13.  

 

Hello.

What will happen to existing apps they are not updated?

I have couple of old apps, however I will update them in 2020 August due to some reasons. Will apple remove the apps from market?

 

Old apps will stay on the store. The storyboard requirements are only for new apps and app updates. So you will need to add the storyboard when you update your apps in August.

 

I prefer @Marat_Gilyazov's solution. Much simpler and fully automated.

 

@JC-Cimetiere why is the path to the storyboard stored as an absolute path? This means I cannot put it outside the Unity project as the path is then specific to my Mac and won't work for my colleagues. It should be stored as a relative path to the project surely?

 

At least in my ProjectSettings.asset it is relative

Code (CSharp):

1. iOSLaunchScreenCustomStoryboardPath: Assets/LaunchScreen.storyboard

 

It is if inside the project. Try having it outside of the Unity project.

 

Has anyone noticed that once you start using a storyboard for the launch screen the status icons are displayed briefly part way through the launch? This didn't happen previously.

 

Not tried it yet but just wondering are their any problems adding story boards when using Unity cloud build?

 

Hi,

I've just stumbled across this while looking for another iOS issue and didn't really know anything about it.

Does this only apply if you have a splash screen? We are a Plus user and so have the splash screens turned off? If this is still a requirement, how does it work with Cloud Build, as these solutions seem to be directly manipulating the xcode project?

Thanks

 

As @Kujo87 says, the solutions don't work on cloud build as you need to manipulate the xCode project to add the bundle resources. As a (very) temporary solution I did this manually and posted the code here if anyone wants to use it: https://forum.unity.com/threads/add...sources-phase-via-script.913187/#post-5996477

 

Apparently it can only be fixed in iOS 13, which has been available only for almost a year, which isn't enough time for Unity to do anything.

 

Try setting UIViewControllerBasedStatusBarAppearance to NO in plist, even if it logs deprecated message, that seems to help.

 

This isn't about the splash screen. It is the launch screen you see before that. So it does apply to Plus and Pro users.

 

Thanks for the clarification. Sorry for the misunderstanding, with it talking about launch screen and what you can set for those, I thought it was splash.

So at the moment, the only way to fix this is by externally editing the project - not through cloud? That's incredibly frustrating!

 

You can also refer to this post that was given in the initial post. It was a lot more straightforward - no manual post build steps needed. That's how I'm doing it but I don't know about via Cloud.

 

Awesome - thank you, I'll take a look. He says in there that cloud works too, so I'll give it a go!

Shame its not something Unity can do automatically like they did previously

 

If anyone is supporting multitasking on iPad, you may get an error when uploading your app archive to the App Store:

ERROR ITMS-90476: "Invalid Bundle. Your app supports Multitasking on iPad, so you must include the launch storyboard file, 'LaunchScreen.storyboard', in your bundle, 'com.yourdomain.YourApp’."

However, we do have a LaunchScreen storyboard. Many developers online suggest changing the Info.plist
UIRequiresFullScreen to true and UIRequiresFullScreen~ipad to false, but the error is actually triggered because Unity is setting the wrong value for UILaunchStoryboardName. It should be "LaunchScreen" not "LaunchScreen.storyboard"

I believe the above error is triggered because the validator expects to find "LaunchScreen.storyboard.storyboard" in the bundle, but it doesn't exist. @Alexey maybe look into fixing this? Change Unity so that it only takes the name of your custom storyboard file and not the extension also.

 

According to OP, "Unity’s built-in Splash Screen (mandatory for Personal Edition) is not affected by this update. The launch-screen storyboard appears before the Unity Splash Screen (if you have enabled it)."

Does this mean that I don't need to do anything? I'm on a Personal license, and the only splash/launch screen I have is Unity's built-in splash screen. Like when you launch my app, you'll see Unity's built-in splash screen, followed by the app's home menu. Thanks!

 

It is really strange if you have nothing before the Unity splash screen. Does the screen go black for a while? That is what happens if you haven't populated the launch screen at all. That screen is what is changing.

 

It's so satisfying to hear this from a Unity employee. You guys should just reply with this to every post on the forums. It's a good job for a bot maybe. Wait, are you a bot? LOL.

 

Is there no way for Unity to automate this part? After doing it for a few thousand times, it's gotten pretty old. That and having to edit the languages, because Unity keeps adding "English" instead of something valid like "en" as development language, makes building for iOS 10 times more annoying than it could be.

 

If you Google search how to add a PostProcessBuild callback to Unity, you can add your own script to copy the LaunchImages that are used by your storyboard (example code below). Although it's undocumented, Unity 2018.4+ may attempt to copy images in the same folder as the storyboard. I only mention this because I *do* copy xcassets images in PostProcessBuild and I get warnings from Unity about it not being able to find storyboard-referenced images in the storyboard folder.

Code (CSharp):

1. string pathToPBX = path + "/Unity-iPhone.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj";
2. PBXProject proj = new PBXProject();
3. proj.ReadFromFile(pathToPBX);
4. string target = proj.TargetGuidByName("Unity-iPhone");
5.  
6. // Add xcassets needed for storyboard
7. CopyFolderRecursive(Application.dataPath + "/UI/Application/iOS/LaunchImages.xcassets", path);
8. string guidXCASSETS = proj.AddFile("LaunchImages.xcassets", "LaunchImages.xcassets");
9. proj.AddFileToBuild(target, guidXCASSETS);
10.  
11. proj.WriteToFile(pathToPBX);

 

I mean, the splash image does get copied to Data/Raw the problem is it getting added to bundle resources.

 

If you want to automate this step then

Code (CSharp):

1.  
2. [PostProcessBuild]
3. public static void ChangeXcodePlist(BuildTarget buildTarget, string path)
4. {
5.     if (buildTarget == BuildTarget.iOS)
6.     {
7.         // Add splash.png to Copy Bundle Resources
8.         string projPath = PBXProject.GetPBXProjectPath(path);
9.         PBXProject pBXProject = new PBXProject();
10.         pBXProject.ReadFromString(File.ReadAllText(projPath));
11.         string targetGuid = pBXProject.GetUnityMainTargetGuid();
12.         string resourcesBuildPhase = pBXProject.GetResourcesBuildPhaseByTarget(targetGuid);
13.         string imagePath = "Data/Raw/splash.png";
14.         string resourcesFilesGuid = pBXProject.AddFile(imagePath, imagePath, PBXSourceTree.Source);
15.         pBXProject.AddFileToBuildSection(targetGuid, resourcesBuildPhase, resourcesFilesGuid);
16.         File.WriteAllText(projPath, pBXProject.WriteToString());
17.     }
18. }
19.  

 

What's the special fix? Hopefully setting the plist UILaunchStoryboardName to "LaunchScreen" not "LaunchScreen.storyboard"

 

Help needed, long story short:
I need to update my app ASAP, currently on Unity 2017.4.32f1. What should I do to comply with this new requirement in the simplest, quickest, and bug-free way? Can I just tick "Use storyboards for Launch Screen" without providing a custom storyboard?

 

@JC-Cimetiere I am trying to update an iOS app. It just had a white splash screen and I used a scene to do an intro. I want to use a white splash screen still. I saw that in version 2019.4.12f1 (also tried 2020.1.8f1 - same) that I could have Unity make storyboards using iPhone and iPad Launch Screen options in the Player settings - image attached.



I did this and I do get my white screen (and it shows an image if I add one) - BUT it does not progress from there. it is just unresponsive. With no errors in Xcode. What should I check - I am using a release version.



Is there something I should check in Xcode (Version 12.0.1 (12A7300))?



What is the mechanism in the storyboards that tell the main app to play? Because that is what seems to be broken!

Thanks!

Josh

 

I use Unity 2017.4.32f1, tried the same thing, but I didn't touch Main Interface and Launch Screen options in Xcode and my app worked, I get splash with my icon and then Unity splash. But, Xcode still throws me warning that I need to use Storyboard, so I guess the only solution to comply with Apple requirements is a custom storyboard (need to figure out how to create it).

Unity messed up big time with iOS. Unity versions after February 2020 have a bug that crashes the app (and it is not reported in crash analytics so most developers don't know about it), and older versions have storyboard bugs (a game that should be in the landscape is in portrait). You would expect some quick fix or workaround from Unity, but nothing, maybe in mid-2021, but then you will get another two issues that will make your life even harder (by my experience).