diff --git a/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml b/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml
index bfc142f63..b6243ddd5 100644
--- a/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml
+++ b/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml
@@ -23,10 +23,10 @@
         android:networkSecurityConfig="@xml/network_config"
         android:label="@string/app_name"
         android:supportsRtl="true"
-        android:theme="@style/CandyBar.Theme.App.DayNight"
+        android:theme="@style/Theme.App.Starting"
         tools:targetApi="n">
 
-        <activity
+        <!--<activity
             android:name=".activities.SplashActivity"
             android:launchMode="singleTop"
             android:noHistory="true"
@@ -40,17 +40,18 @@
             <meta-data
                 android:name="android.app.shortcuts"
                 android:resource="@xml/shortcuts" />
-        </activity>
+        </activity>-->
 
         <activity
             android:name=".activities.MainActivity"
             android:launchMode="singleTop"
             android:exported="true"
-            android:theme="@style/CandyBar.Theme.App.DayNight"
+            android:theme="@style/Theme.App.Starting"
             android:configChanges="uiMode|orientation|keyboardHidden|screenSize">
 
             <intent-filter>
                 <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
+                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
             </intent-filter>
             <intent-filter>
                 <action android:name="android.intent.action.VIEW" />
diff --git a/app/src/main/res/drawable-nodpi/ic_splash_screen.png b/app/src/main/res/drawable-nodpi/ic_splash_screen.png
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..69bf37432
Binary files /dev/null and b/app/src/main/res/drawable-nodpi/ic_splash_screen.png differ
diff --git a/app/src/main/res/drawable-xxxhdpi/ic_splash_screen.png b/app/src/main/res/drawable-xxxhdpi/ic_splash_screen.png
deleted file mode 100644
index ef76caec6..000000000
Binary files a/app/src/main/res/drawable-xxxhdpi/ic_splash_screen.png and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/app/src/main/res/drawable/ic_splash_screen.png b/app/src/main/res/drawable/ic_splash_screen.png
deleted file mode 100644
index 463716e5f..000000000
Binary files a/app/src/main/res/drawable/ic_splash_screen.png and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/app/src/main/res/values-night/colors.xml b/app/src/main/res/values-night/colors.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..57b624c03
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/src/main/res/values-night/colors.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+<resources>
+    <color name="splashColor">#222222</color>
+</resources>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/src/main/res/values/colors.xml b/app/src/main/res/values/colors.xml
index d3a2aa3f5..fe2153fb6 100644
--- a/app/src/main/res/values/colors.xml
+++ b/app/src/main/res/values/colors.xml
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
 <resources>
+    <!-- Splash Screen -->
+    <color name="splashColor">#FFF</color>
     <!-- Shortcut Icons -->
     <color name="shortcutIconBackground">#26C484</color>
     <color name="shortcutIconForeground">#FFF</color>
diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 4d01edb2c..0350f4ed3 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ buildscript {
     }
 
     dependencies {
-        classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:8.1.1'
+        classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:8.2.1'
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
index cb086a5fc..b5fc5a7b8 100644
--- a/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
+++ b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
@@ -2,4 +2,4 @@ distributionBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
 distributionPath=wrapper/dists
 zipStoreBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
 zipStorePath=wrapper/dists
-distributionUrl=https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-8.1-all.zip
+distributionUrl=https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-8.2-all.zip
diff --git a/library/build.gradle b/library/build.gradle
index 83b80f299..919ff522c 100644
--- a/library/build.gradle
+++ b/library/build.gradle
@@ -93,21 +93,22 @@ android {
 dependencies {
     implementation project(':extLibs:PreLollipopTransitions')
 
-    api 'androidx.annotation:annotation:1.5.0'
-    api 'androidx.appcompat:appcompat:1.5.1'
+    api 'androidx.annotation:annotation:1.7.1'
+    api 'androidx.appcompat:appcompat:1.6.1'
     api 'com.google.android.apps.muzei:muzei-api:3.4.0'
-    api 'com.android.billingclient:billing:6.0.1'
+    api 'com.android.billingclient:billing:6.1.0'
     api 'dev.jahir.KustomAPI:api:6369c37'
     api 'dev.jahir.KustomAPI:preset:6369c37'
 
-    implementation 'androidx.work:work-runtime:2.8.1'
-    implementation 'androidx.recyclerview:recyclerview:1.3.0'
+    implementation 'androidx.work:work-runtime:2.9.0'
+    implementation 'androidx.recyclerview:recyclerview:1.3.2'
     implementation 'androidx.swiperefreshlayout:swiperefreshlayout:1.1.0'
     implementation 'androidx.palette:palette:1.0.0'
     // implementation 'com.google.android.material:material:1.9.0'
-    implementation 'com.google.android.material:material:1.11.0-alpha03'
+    implementation 'com.google.android.material:material:1.11.0'
     implementation 'androidx.viewpager2:viewpager2:1.0.0'
     implementation 'com.google.android.play:review:2.0.1'
+    implementation 'androidx.core:core-splashscreen:1.0.1'
 
     implementation 'com.bluelinelabs:logansquare:1.3.7'
     annotationProcessor 'com.bluelinelabs:logansquare-compiler:1.3.7'
diff --git a/library/src/main/java/candybar/lib/activities/CandyBarMainActivity.java b/library/src/main/java/candybar/lib/activities/CandyBarMainActivity.java
index 9e2a572ae..b947c50aa 100644
--- a/library/src/main/java/candybar/lib/activities/CandyBarMainActivity.java
+++ b/library/src/main/java/candybar/lib/activities/CandyBarMainActivity.java
@@ -105,6 +105,7 @@
 import candybar.lib.services.CandyBarService;
 import candybar.lib.tasks.IconRequestTask;
 import candybar.lib.tasks.IconsLoaderTask;
+import candybar.lib.tasks.WallpaperThumbPreloaderTask;
 import candybar.lib.utils.CandyBarGlideModule;
 import candybar.lib.utils.Extras;
 import candybar.lib.utils.InAppBillingClient;
@@ -259,6 +260,7 @@ protected void onCreate(@Nullable Bundle savedInstanceState) {
         }
 
         checkWallpapers();
+        new WallpaperThumbPreloaderTask(this).execute();
         new IconRequestTask(this).executeOnThreadPool();
         new IconsLoaderTask(this).execute();
 
diff --git a/library/src/main/java/candybar/lib/tasks/WallpaperThumbPreloaderTask.java b/library/src/main/java/candybar/lib/tasks/WallpaperThumbPreloaderTask.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ee30e1a9f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/library/src/main/java/candybar/lib/tasks/WallpaperThumbPreloaderTask.java
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+package candybar.lib.tasks;
+
+import android.content.Context;
+import android.util.Log;
+
+import androidx.annotation.NonNull;
+
+import com.bumptech.glide.Glide;
+import com.bumptech.glide.load.engine.DiskCacheStrategy;
+import com.danimahardhika.android.helpers.core.utils.LogUtil;
+
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.lang.ref.WeakReference;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
+
+import candybar.lib.applications.CandyBarApplication;
+import candybar.lib.helpers.JsonHelper;
+import candybar.lib.helpers.WallpaperHelper;
+import candybar.lib.utils.AsyncTaskBase;
+import candybar.lib.utils.ImageConfig;
+
+public class WallpaperThumbPreloaderTask extends AsyncTaskBase {
+
+    private final WeakReference<Context> context;
+
+    public WallpaperThumbPreloaderTask(@NonNull Context context) {
+        this.context = new WeakReference<>(context);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected boolean run() {
+        if (!isCancelled()) {
+            try {
+                Thread.sleep(1);
+
+                if (WallpaperHelper.getWallpaperType(context.get()) != WallpaperHelper.CLOUD_WALLPAPERS)
+                    return true;
+
+                InputStream stream = WallpaperHelper.getJSONStream(context.get());
+
+                if (stream != null) {
+                    List<?> list = JsonHelper.parseList(stream);
+                    if (list == null) {
+                        LogUtil.e("Json error, no array with name: "
+                                + CandyBarApplication.getConfiguration().getWallpaperJsonStructure().getArrayName());
+                        return false;
+                    }
+
+                    if (list.size() > 0 && list.get(0) instanceof Map) {
+                        Map<?, ?> map = (Map<?, ?>) list.get(0);
+                        String thumbUrl = JsonHelper.getThumbUrl(map);
+
+                        // Preload the first wallpaper's thumbnail
+                        // It should show up immediately without any delay on first run
+                        // so that the intro popup works correctly
+                        if (context.get() != null) {
+                            Glide.with(context.get())
+                                    .load(thumbUrl)
+                                    .diskCacheStrategy(DiskCacheStrategy.RESOURCE)
+                                    .override(ImageConfig.getThumbnailSize())
+                                    .preload();
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+                return true;
+            } catch (Exception e) {
+                LogUtil.e(Log.getStackTraceString(e));
+                return false;
+            }
+        }
+        return false;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/library/src/main/res/layout/activity_main.xml b/library/src/main/res/layout/activity_main.xml
index 758303d0c..c97cc016c 100644
--- a/library/src/main/res/layout/activity_main.xml
+++ b/library/src/main/res/layout/activity_main.xml
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
     android:layout_width="match_parent"
     android:layout_height="match_parent"
     android:fitsSystemWindows="false"
+    android:background="?cb_mainBackground"
     tools:openDrawer="start">
 
     <include
diff --git a/library/src/main/res/values/colors.xml b/library/src/main/res/values/colors.xml
index d3a2aa3f5..fe2153fb6 100644
--- a/library/src/main/res/values/colors.xml
+++ b/library/src/main/res/values/colors.xml
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
 <resources>
+    <!-- Splash Screen -->
+    <color name="splashColor">#FFF</color>
     <!-- Shortcut Icons -->
     <color name="shortcutIconBackground">#26C484</color>
     <color name="shortcutIconForeground">#FFF</color>
diff --git a/library/src/main/res/values/themes.xml b/library/src/main/res/values/themes.xml
index 92b8937a8..c014cf949 100644
--- a/library/src/main/res/values/themes.xml
+++ b/library/src/main/res/values/themes.xml
@@ -123,6 +123,22 @@
         <item name="android:windowBackground">@drawable/splash_screen</item>
     </style>
 
+    <style name="Theme.App.Starting" parent="Theme.SplashScreen">
+        <!-- Set the splash screen background, animated icon, and animation
+        duration. -->
+        <item name="windowSplashScreenBackground">@color/splashColor</item>
+
+        <!-- Use windowSplashScreenAnimatedIcon to add a drawable or an animated
+             drawable. One of these is required. -->
+        <item name="windowSplashScreenAnimatedIcon">@drawable/ic_splash_screen</item>
+        <!-- Required for animated icons. -->
+        <item name="windowSplashScreenAnimationDuration">200</item>
+
+        <!-- Set the theme of the Activity that directly follows your splash
+        screen. This is required. -->
+        <item name="postSplashScreenTheme">@style/CandyBar.Theme.App.DayNight</item>
+    </style>
+
     <style name="CandyBar.Theme.Wallpaper" parent="CandyBar.Theme.App.DayNight">
         <item name="android:windowTranslucentStatus">true</item>
         <item name="android:windowTranslucentNavigation">true</item>