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The Mobile App Screen Checklist

The core screens almost every mobile app needs — onboarding, home, detail, list, create, profile, and the empty and error states people forget. Use it as a design checklist.

Most mobile apps share a skeleton. Once you know it, designing a new app becomes filling in a checklist rather than inventing structure from scratch. Here's the set worth covering before you ship.

The essential screens

1. Onboarding. The first 30 seconds. Keep it to two or three screens that explain the value and get the user to their first win fast. Don't gate everything behind a sign-up wall.

2. Home / dashboard. The screen users see most. It should answer "what now?" at a glance — surface the primary action and the most relevant information, not everything.

3. List / feed. How users browse their content: items, posts, transactions, books. Prioritize scannability — clear titles, supporting metadata, a sensible default sort.

4. Detail. One item, fully expanded. This is where the primary action usually lives (book, buy, play, save). Give it room.

5. Create / add. The flow to add something new. Keep required fields minimal; everything you can infer or default, do.

6. Profile / settings. Identity, stats, preferences, and account controls. Often where streaks and achievements live.

The states people forget

A screen isn't one layout — it's several. The polished apps handle all of them:

  • Empty state. What the list looks like with zero items. This is a first impression, not an edge case — make it inviting and point to the create action.
  • Loading state. Skeletons beat spinners. Show the shape of what's coming.
  • Error state. Network failed, something broke. Say what happened in plain language and offer a way forward.
  • Success / confirmation. Closure after an action — the "order placed," "saved," "you're on a 7-day streak" moment.

Decide early: a tab bar (3–5 top-level destinations) for apps with distinct sections, or a stack (push/pop) for focused, linear flows. Mixing them randomly is the fastest way to confuse people.

Using the checklist with AI

When you describe your app to an AI design tool, name the screens explicitly: "Include a home, a list, an item detail, an add flow, and a profile." You'll get a more complete draft. In Daisy, each app template already maps to this skeleton — so you start with the right screens and adjust from there.

A complete app is rarely about clever screens. It's about covering the ordinary ones — including the empty and error states — better than the next app does.