home screen

noun

1

: television sense 2

… it's the kind of movie that plays better on the home screen, where you're less likely to miss any of the fiendishly witty lines of the screenplay … and can replay some of the stunning special effects.

—Molly Haskell

TV viewers soon may be seeing some of their black-and-white film favorites blushing with new color on the home screen.

—Ron Miller

2

: the graphical user interface that is displayed by default by an electronic device (such as a smartphone or computer) or software application and that provides quick access to commonly used functions, settings, etc.

[Journalist Catherine] Price's suggestions range from the extreme, such as a "digital sabbath" during which you turn your phone off for 24 hours, to the seemingly slight, such as reorganising your phone's home screen so you can't see the bright, tempting colours of your favourite apps the second you turn it on.

—Caroline Crampton

The Netflix interface—the home screen that greets users when they open the app—is constantly evolving.

—James Titcomb

Examples of home screen in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The home screen features the time and date in bold text at the top, followed by a list of words—instead of icons—for your apps. —PC Magazine, 18 June 2025

On Netflix, a project equivalent to this would have cost $2 million and starred a just-familiar-enough face for a thumbnail on the home screen, and enough people might have tuned into it while on their phones to justify its existence on a budget spreadsheet. —Alison Willmore, Vulture, 12 June 2025

An Abundance of Apps Keeping too many apps not only clutters the home screen but also takes up valuable storage space. —Mary Cornetta, Better Homes & Gardens, 8 June 2025

For example, as messages pop up on your home screen, the time display starts to shrink to accommodate them. —Alain Sherter, CBS News, 9 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1948, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for home screen

• acrolein
• adenine
• alkylene
• aniline
• anthracene
• aquiline
• asphaltene
• atlantean
• atrazine
• butadiene
• butylene
• caesarean

Kids Definition

home screen

noun

1

: television

2

: the graphical user interface that is displayed by default by an electronic device (as a smartphone or computer) or software application and that provides quick access to commonly used functions and settings