No doubt, the Android operating system offers the highest level of customizations, unlike Apple’s iOS. You can change every moving part of Android OS using hundreds of tools available. Most of the tools are available free of cost, while some would require paying upfront. What you need is proper knowledge, and you can turn your phone into an Apollo 13 spacecraft controlling device (metaphorically). Talking about moving parts, one of the first things that you see when you turn on your phone is the splash screen.
Splash screen consists of two separate types of screens. First is the splash logo or image, and another is boot animation. To simplify it, when you boot your phone, it shows a static image, and its called a splash screen or image. The animation that follows it is called boot animation.
Luckily, you can change it using some of the methods where some require root, and some don’t, although there might be limitations based on what model and OEM you use. The majority of users won’t even think once about changing the splash screen but then come to some users who would want to change it. You can apply any image, be it your name or any logo, or anything else. Note that there are length and size constraints, so you need to keep them in mind as well.
How To Change Boot Logo (Splash Screen) for Android Smartphones
There are practically hundreds of methods that users can deploy to change the boot logo/splash screen on their devices. Since each phone model and OEM may store the boot image or splash image in different locations, zeroing one method for all can be difficult. Here’s a guide on how to change boot image or splash image on your Android smartphone. Keep an eye on the variables as there will be many based on what OEM or model you are using.
Note that the logo is stored in a partition called logo or splash when it comes to Snapdragon devices. When it comes to MediaTek devices, you’d find the file in the ‘logo’ partition.
Method 01: Using the Root File Explorer Method
Now, this is the easiest method you can deploy to change the splash screen. What you need is a File Explorer app that has root access. You can check out this guide on how to root your device in case you need it. This is the simplest and non-invasive method so do try it first before proceeding to other steps.
Disclaimer: This method requires a rooted device that grants the user access to the various Android subsystems for greater control allowing users to perform functions that otherwise wouldn’t be possible with a non-rooted Android operating system.
Step #1: First up, install the File Explorer such as ES File Explorer or Root Explorer among others.
Step #2: You should have your splash image or animation ready for further use. Download it and keep it handy.
Step #3: Next up, take a backup of the original splash image or animation in case you need it later. The easiest way to do it is to simply copy it to your computer or rename it with the “.bak” extension. The file will stay put in its original folder and won’t interfere with the bootup screen at all.
Step #4: Next up, copy the splash image or boot animation by whatever name you have saved it to the directory where it belongs. Note that this could widely change as some devices store splash screen or boot animation in the directory “data/local/” while some have it stored in “/system/media” or “/system/customize/resource/”.
Step #5: Once you have replaced the new splash screen/animation with the old one, reboot the device. Bingo, it is done.
Method 02: Using Recovery Flash Method
This is another easy-to-use method. You’ll need to use custom recoveries like TWRP or Philz, or CWM, among others to get through with this method. But once you get the hang of it, changing the splash image is just a piece of cake. Note that splash image and animation are two different entities, but you can use the method to change both, but it may not work for the animation, so try it at your own risk.
Disclaimer: This method requires a rooted device that grants the user access to the various Android subsystems for greater control allowing users to perform functions that otherwise wouldn’t be possible with a non-rooted Android operating system.
Step #1: First up, you need to create a splash screen image and save it in .zip format on your SD Card. Some custom recovery allows users to flash IMG format as well, so you can try saving a file in .IMG format on your SD Card in case.
Step #2: Next up, depending upon which custom recovery you are using, you need to boot into the recovery console. For example, turn off your phone. Press both power and volume down buttons until the bootloader loads will guide you towards the recovery console on TWRP.
Step #3: Select “Flash ZIP from sdcard”. In case if the image is in IMG format (although it might work on some devices only), select “Flash IMG from sdcard”.
Step #4: Find the ZIP or IMG file depending upon which one you saved in Step #1 and which option you selected in Step #3.
Step #5: Flash it, and the process is over.
Step #6: Reboot the device and see the magic unfold.
Method 03: Using The ADB Method
This is a pretty elaborate method and requires you to have ADB installed on your computer. Here’s how you can change the splash screen or animation on your Android smartphone using this method.
Disclaimer: This method requires a rooted device that grants the user access to the various Android subsystems for greater control allowing users to perform functions that otherwise wouldn’t be possible with a non-rooted Android operating system.
Step #1: First up, you need to select the right animation or image for your boot screen and keep it handy.
Step #2: Next up, add the “.zip” extension after the said file name that should now be called “bootanimation.zip” if it’s animation or splash.zip if it’s a splash image.
Note: The name of the file can change so explore your system a bit to find the right file name.
Step #3: As mentioned, this method requires users to install ADB and fastboot tools on their computers. You can check out this link to find the installation file and download it and install it.
Step #4: Proceed to the files where ADB is installed and open it.
Step #5: You need to place the .zip file that we just renamed in the “platform-tools” directory in the ADB folder. The file might be called “tools” if you are using the older SDK version.
Step #6: Next up, right-click on the empty screen, and launch Command Prompt.
Step #7: You need to open “tools” or “platform-tools” on the CMD using this code: cd C:\ADB\platform-tools. Here, ‘cd’ is used to change directory, ‘ADB’ is the folder name and ‘platform-tools is the directory’. Please use whatever names of the folder and directory you see on your computer to open it correctly.
Step #8: Plug your phone using the data cable. You need to check if your phone is properly connected and the computer recognizes it or not. Use the command “adb devices” without the quotation marks to find the device. It will display an alphanumeric variable after it recognizes a device connected to it.
Step #9: This particular method may not be required on all devices so do check if this is needed. You need to remount the system files to allow read/write. For this, you need to enter the command “adb remount” or “adb shell”. Use this command “mount – o remount, rw -t yaffs2 / dev/block/mtblock3 /system”. Next up, “exit” and it’s over.
Step #10: Now, do as we say and be cautious. Remember we told you to place the .zip file in the ADB folder. Here’s what you are going to do next.
- First up, type the command “adb shell” and then type “su” and press enter to gain the role of a superuser.
- Next, you need to navigate to the current boot animation or splash screen. Since there are different directories where OEMs can store these files, check if yours is stored in “data/local/”, “/system/media” or “/system/customize/resource/” or any other directory. Use the command “cd [Directory Name] to open it.
- Type the command “Is” to verify if the file is available or not.
- You need to take a backup of the original file in case we mess up. For this, use the command “mv bootanimation.zip bootanimation.bak” without the quotation mark. Here, enter the file name you have saved for boot animation; you need to enter the name of the splash image in case you want to alter it instead of animation.
Step #11: Finally, this is where the magic happens. You need to enter this command to finally flash the new image or boot animation instead of the old one.
- The syntax will be “adb push [File Name] [Directory]. For example, “adb push splashimage.zip /system/media” or “adb push bootanimation.zip /system/customize/resource”. It changes depending upon the path where the splash image is stored on your smartphone.
Step #12: Finally, reboot the device and bingo.
Note that although this method works, it may not work on all the devices as there are practically hundreds of models across tens of OEMs. By deploying this method, you take full responsibility in case you mess it up. You can always flash the stock boot animation or splash image from a stock firmware, although the method is not included here.
How To Change Splash Logo On Android devices running on MediaTek
The procedure changes a bit although you can try the methods specified above to get it done. You can change splash on MediaTek devices by looking for a partition called ‘logo’ where the logos are stored. Find logo.bin and delete it using this code in the terminal emulator or use fastboot and ADB tools to fire up the CMD and dump the file.
Code: dd if=/<the_directory_where_logo_is_present>/logo of=/sdcard/logo.bin
The next step is to edit the logo.bin according to what you need it to show or display.
Finally, use this code on a terminal emulator or ADB via CMD and reflash it using this code:
- dd if=/sdcard/logo.bin of=/<the_directory_where_logo_is_present>/logo
Disclaimer: This method requires a rooted device that grants the user access to the various Android subsystems for greater control allowing users to perform functions that otherwise wouldn’t be possible with a non-rooted Android operating system.
That’s all we have got w.r.t. How To Change Boot Logo (Splash Screen) for Android Smartphones. By going through it, you are liable for any device bricking or turning into a fireball as we always advise you to take precautions before proceeding. We aren’t liable for any malfunctions or effects on your device so user discretion is required.
