---
title: apple-touch-startup-image (iOS Splash Screens)
description: apple-touch-startup-image sets the launch screen for a web app added to the iOS home screen. Why it needs one image per device size and the media queries involved.
canonical: https://favicontools.com/glossary/apple-touch-startup-image
---

# apple-touch-startup-image (iOS Splash Screens)

apple-touch-startup-image is a link tag that sets the splash screen iOS shows while a home-screen web app launches. Unlike the icon, it isn't one file: iOS wants a separate, exactly-sized image per device resolution and orientation, each selected with a media query. It's fiddly enough that many sites skip it or generate the whole set with a tool.

## One image per device, chosen by media query

iOS won't scale a single splash image to fit. It matches on exact device pixel dimensions and orientation, so each device needs its own apple-touch-startup-image link with a media query that targets that screen. There's no catch-all fallback.

That means a proper set is a dozen or more link tags, and the list changes as Apple ships new screen sizes, which is why it's usually generated rather than hand-written.

## One entry from the set

```html
<link
  rel="apple-touch-startup-image"
  media="(device-width: 390px) and (device-height: 844px) and (-webkit-device-pixel-ratio: 3)"
  href="/splash/iphone-12.png"
/>
```

Repeated once per target device and orientation, each with its own media query and exactly-sized image.

> **Optional and high-maintenance:** Only web apps launched from the home screen ever show it, and the device list keeps changing. If you want splash screens, generate the set rather than maintaining the tags by hand.

## iOS splash screen FAQ

### What is apple-touch-startup-image?

A link tag that defines the splash screen iOS shows while a home-screen web app is launching, before the page has rendered.

### Why do I need so many of them?

iOS matches an exact image to each device's resolution and orientation with a media query, and won't scale one image to fit, so every target device needs its own entry.

### Do I need a splash screen at all?

Only if your site is installed to the iOS home screen and you want a branded launch. For a normal website it does nothing, so most sites skip it.