diff --git a/code/boot.js b/code/boot.js
index 683e36f4..69bd6f23 100644
--- a/code/boot.js
+++ b/code/boot.js
@@ -506,8 +506,8 @@ function boot() {
   window.iitcLoaded = true;
   window.runHooks('iitcLoaded');
 
-  if (typeof android !== 'undefined' && android && android.iitcLoaded) {
-    android.iitcLoaded();
+  if (typeof android !== 'undefined' && android && android.removeSplashScreen) {
+    android.removeSplashScreen();
   }
 
 }
diff --git a/mobile/AndroidManifest.xml b/mobile/AndroidManifest.xml
index f44e7286..7c4be5bd 100644
--- a/mobile/AndroidManifest.xml
+++ b/mobile/AndroidManifest.xml
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
 <manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
           package="com.cradle.iitc_mobile"
-          android:versionCode="34"
-          android:versionName="0.5.3">
+          android:versionCode="35"
+          android:versionName="0.5.4">
 
     <uses-sdk
         android:minSdkVersion="14"
diff --git a/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/IITC_JSInterface.java b/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/IITC_JSInterface.java
index b60505f0..1798f70f 100644
--- a/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/IITC_JSInterface.java
+++ b/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/IITC_JSInterface.java
@@ -126,8 +126,8 @@ public class IITC_JSInterface {
     }
 
     @JavascriptInterface
-    public void iitcLoaded() {
-        Log.d("iitcm", "iitc loaded completely");
+    public void removeSplashScreen() {
+        Log.d("iitcm", "removing splash screen");
         final IITC_Mobile iitc = ((IITC_Mobile) mContext);
 
         iitc.runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {
diff --git a/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/IITC_Mobile.java b/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/IITC_Mobile.java
index a2bb312c..09eee3f1 100644
--- a/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/IITC_Mobile.java
+++ b/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/IITC_Mobile.java
@@ -274,7 +274,6 @@ public class IITC_Mobile extends Activity {
         // enough idle...let's do some work
         Log.d("iitcm", "resuming...setting reset idleTimer");
         mIitcWebView.loadUrl("javascript: window.idleTime = 0");
-        mIitcWebView.loadUrl("javascript: window.renderUpdateStatus()");
         mIitcWebView.updateCaching();
 
         if (mIsLocEnabled) {
diff --git a/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/IITC_WebView.java b/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/IITC_WebView.java
index e095386d..625f5678 100644
--- a/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/IITC_WebView.java
+++ b/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/IITC_WebView.java
@@ -11,11 +11,14 @@ import android.os.Build;
 import android.preference.PreferenceManager;
 import android.util.AttributeSet;
 import android.util.Log;
+import android.webkit.ConsoleMessage;
 import android.webkit.GeolocationPermissions;
 import android.webkit.WebChromeClient;
 import android.webkit.WebSettings;
 import android.webkit.WebView;
 
+import com.cradle.iitc_mobile.async.CheckHttpResponse;
+
 @SuppressLint("SetJavaScriptEnabled")
 public class IITC_WebView extends WebView {
 
@@ -63,6 +66,18 @@ public class IITC_WebView extends WebView {
                 // maximum for setProgress is 10,000
                 ((Activity) getContext()).setProgress(newProgress * 100);
             }
+
+            /**
+             * remove splash screen if any JS error occurs
+             */
+            @Override
+            public boolean onConsoleMessage(ConsoleMessage consoleMessage) {
+                if (consoleMessage.messageLevel() == ConsoleMessage.MessageLevel.ERROR) {
+                    Log.d("iitcm", consoleMessage.message());
+                    mJsInterface.removeSplashScreen();
+                }
+                return super.onConsoleMessage(consoleMessage);
+            }
         });
 
         mIitcWebViewClient = new IITC_WebViewClient(c);
@@ -117,6 +132,9 @@ public class IITC_WebView extends WebView {
                 url = url.replace("http://", "https://");
             else
                 url = url.replace("https://", "http://");
+
+            // disable splash screen if a http error code is responded
+            new CheckHttpResponse(mJsInterface).execute(url);
             Log.d("iitcm", "loading url: " + url);
         }
         super.loadUrl(url);
diff --git a/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/IITC_WebViewClient.java b/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/IITC_WebViewClient.java
index 883a5f6a..a3a5f8f2 100644
--- a/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/IITC_WebViewClient.java
+++ b/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/IITC_WebViewClient.java
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import android.net.http.SslError;
 import android.os.Environment;
 import android.preference.PreferenceManager;
 import android.util.Log;
-import android.view.View;
 import android.webkit.SslErrorHandler;
 import android.webkit.WebResourceResponse;
 import android.webkit.WebSettings;
@@ -292,18 +291,6 @@ public class IITC_WebViewClient extends WebViewClient {
         return js;
     }
 
-    @Override
-    public void onLoadResource(WebView view, String url) {
-        if(url.contains("css/basic.css")) {
-            Log.d("iitcm", "basic.css received...should be ingress intel login");
-            // get rid of loading screen to log in
-            IITC_Mobile iitc = (IITC_Mobile) mContext;
-            iitc.findViewById(R.id.iitc_webview).setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
-            iitc.findViewById(R.id.imageLoading).setVisibility(View.GONE);
-        }
-        super.onLoadResource(view, url);
-    }
-
     // Check every external resource if it’s okay to load it and maybe replace
     // it
     // with our own content. This is used to block loading Niantic resources
@@ -315,7 +302,10 @@ public class IITC_WebViewClient extends WebViewClient {
         if (url.contains("/css/common.css")) {
             return new WebResourceResponse("text/css", "UTF-8", STYLE);
         } else if (url.contains("gen_dashboard.js")) {
-            return new WebResourceResponse("text/javascript", "UTF-8", EMPTY);
+            // define initialize function to get rid of JS ReferenceError on intel page's 'onLoad'
+            String gen_dashboad_replacement = "window.initialize = function() {}";
+            return new WebResourceResponse("text/javascript", "UTF-8",
+                    new ByteArrayInputStream(gen_dashboad_replacement.getBytes()));
         } else if (url.contains("/css/ap_icons.css")
                 || url.contains("/css/map_icons.css")
                 || url.contains("/css/common.css")
diff --git a/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/async/CheckHttpResponse.java b/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/async/CheckHttpResponse.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..dd4cd3ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mobile/src/com/cradle/iitc_mobile/async/CheckHttpResponse.java
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+package com.cradle.iitc_mobile.async;
+
+import android.os.AsyncTask;
+import android.util.Log;
+
+import com.cradle.iitc_mobile.IITC_JSInterface;
+
+import org.apache.http.HttpResponse;
+import org.apache.http.HttpStatus;
+import org.apache.http.client.HttpClient;
+import org.apache.http.client.methods.HttpGet;
+import org.apache.http.impl.client.DefaultHttpClient;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+/*
+ * this class parses the http response of a web page.
+ * since network operations shouldn't be done on main UI thread
+ * (NetworkOnMainThread exception is thrown) we use an async task for this.
+ */
+public class CheckHttpResponse extends AsyncTask<String, Void, Void> {
+
+    private IITC_JSInterface mJsInterface;
+
+    public CheckHttpResponse(IITC_JSInterface jsInterface) {
+        mJsInterface = jsInterface;
+    };
+
+    @Override
+    protected Void doInBackground(String... urls) {
+        // check http responses and disable splash screen on error
+        HttpGet httpRequest = new HttpGet(urls[0]);
+        HttpClient httpclient = new DefaultHttpClient();
+        HttpResponse response = null;
+        try {
+            response = httpclient.execute(httpRequest);
+            int code = response.getStatusLine().getStatusCode();
+            if (code != HttpStatus.SC_OK) {
+                Log.d("iitcm", "received error code: " + code);
+                mJsInterface.removeSplashScreen();
+            }
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            e.printStackTrace();
+        }
+        return null;
+    }
+
+}