LaunchScreen xib and displaying application version number from plist

Question

I have created a LaunchScreen in Xcode and it appears with the default application title and copyright notice. However I would like to display the version number but I would rather pull the version number from the Info.plist rather than having to modify several places whenever the version number changes. Is this possible or do I need to give up on LaunchScreens and create a SplashScreenViewController to achieve this?

Answer 1

Although it can now be a xib instead of bitmaps, the app launch screen still cannot execute any kind of application code. It's static, essentially. So it isn't possible to include a version number from a plist in your launch screen. Unless of course you manage to add some sort of build action to edit the launch screen (be it a xib or bitmaps).

Answer 2

This is how I have done it with custom build rules. The basic idea is to add a placeholder string that will be replaced during the build process with proper version. The version is then reverted to the placeholder text.

1. Create a script file $PROJECT_DIR/Scripts/splash-version.sh with contents:

IMPORTANT: Review XIB and PLIST paths match the ones used by your project

#!/bin/bash

xib_file="$PROJECT_DIR/Base.lproj/LaunchScreen.xib" # CHECK this path
plist_file="$PROJECT_DIR/$TARGET_NAME.plist".       # CHECK this path
bundle_ver=$(/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Print CFBundleVersion" "$plist_file")
bundle_short_ver=$(/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Print CFBundleShortVersionString" "$plist_file")
str_ver="v$bundle_short_ver($bundle_ver)". # You can edit this. Beware this is used by sed as a regex 
placeholder_ver="#version#"                # You can edit this

if [ "$1" == "set" ]; then 
    if ! grep "$placeholder_ver" "$xib_file" >/dev/null; then
        echo "Version placeholder $placeholder_ver not found in XIB file $xib_file"
        exit 1
    fi
    sed -i -e "s/$placeholder_ver/$str_ver/" "$xib_file"
elif [ "$1" == "reset" ]; then
    sed -i -e "s/$str_ver/$placeholder_ver/" "$xib_file"
else
    echo "syntax: $0 set | reset"
    exit 1
fi

2. Add execute permissions

3. Add a new label in your XIB file with the text #version#. This is the placeholder string that will be replaced by the script with the proper version

4. Add a "New Run Script Phase" and set the command "$PROJECT_DIR/Scripts/splash-version.sh" set

5. Move it just before the "Copy Bundle Resources" phase

6. Add a "New Run Script Phase" and set the command "$PROJECT_DIR/Scripts/splash-version.sh" reset

7. Move it just after the "Copy Bundle Resources" phase. This steps reverts the version string back to the placeholder string.