On the iPhone and iPod Touch, launching applications like Email, Contacts or Plans is almost immediate with the first touch of the finger on their icon. This appears reserved for the Apple applications that seem to use an advanced technological compared to the developers of third party applications.
The secret lies in the " splash screen" used by these applications. This term, obscure at a first glance, contains a simple image that is used by default by the application as a start screen.
The developers at Apple showed an even greater ingenuity for the applications Contacts and Plans because this software carries out a screen capture during their closing, and this copy is used during the following relaunch of the application.
[translation by crispin]