Yes you're right on apps being resource heavy. There are cases when apps can take some time to start, especially during a cold start. In such cases, users are shown a blank screen as the app loads, so a good idea here is to show a splash screen instead.

Earlier developers used to show splash screens for a preset time (3-5 seconds) which was a bad practice. Right now what Google is doing is the correct implementation of a splash screen.

So implementing a splash screen might come down to how your app is built. If you want some detail there's a great blog by the Big Nerd Ranch

Hi Matias,

I am kinda curious about the things coming actually. So with material design Google has a unified look and feel. The goal you guys were trying to achieve is almost fulfilled now !? What next? What should we expect?