Links
Comment on page

Screens

Overview

In mobile app development, each screen represents a distinct interface within an app and serves as the canvas upon which the app's functionality is presented.
We recommend you spend some time sketching out or wireframing your app vision. This will ensure you have a good understanding of how many screens you need and how users will navigate between them.

Add a Screen to Your Project

There are two ways to add a new screen to your app:
  • Click the + icon next to your screen names in the screens bar.
  • Click the Create New Screen icon at the top of your components tree.

Duplicate Screens

Once you’ve perfected the design of a screen on the Design tab of a drag and drop project, you can duplicate it using copy-and-paste keyboard shortcuts.
To duplicate a screen:
  1. 1.
    Click on a screen name in the component tree (A) or the screen itself within your workspace (B).
  2. 2.
    Type ctrl+c or command+c on Mac, and ctrl+c on PC, to copy the screen.
  3. 3.
    Type ctrl+v or command+v on Mac, and ctrl+v on PC, to paste a duplicate of the screen.
  4. 4.
    The new screen will be added to the right of the existing screen.

Screen Properties

Screen

Property
Value
Description
Scrollable
True/False
Allow the user to scroll on this screen.
Background Color
Color
Set the screen's background color.
Background Image
Image
Upload an image to be displayed in the screen's background. Accepted formats: PNG, JPG, GIF, SVG, etc., or a URL that ends in a file extension (e.g. https://thunkable.com/static/media/logo.ba96eb83.png)
Background Image Resize Mode
cover, contain, stretch, repeat, or center
Set how the background image is shown if the image file and the screen have different dimensions/aspect ratios. See Picture Resize Mode below.
Orientation (iOS and Android only)
portrait, landscape, or auto
Define the screen's orientation.

Picture Resize Mode

  • Center: The image is displayed at its original size within the container, and it is centered both vertically and horizontally. This means that if the image is larger than the container, parts of it may extend beyond the container's edges.
  • Cover: The image is resized to completely cover the container while maintaining its aspect ratio. This mode ensures that the entire container is filled with the image, and any excess image parts are cropped if necessary. This can result in parts of the image being clipped.
  • Contain: The image is resized to fit entirely within the container while maintaining its aspect ratio. This mode ensures that the entire image is visible within the container, and it may result in empty space around the image if the container's aspect ratio differs from the image's aspect ratio.
  • Repeat: The image is tiled or repeated to fill the entire container, both horizontally and vertically. This mode is often used for creating patterns or backgrounds that seamlessly repeat across the container.
  • Stretch: The image is resized to fully cover the container without maintaining its original aspect ratio. This can distort the image and may result in an unnatural appearance, so it's generally not recommended for most scenarios.

Video Tutorial

How to Save and Reuse Thunkable Screens

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create scrollable screens, which allow users to access a large amount of content within a confined screen space.

Screen-Specific Navigator Properties

Screens within a navigator have an additional section in the screen's properties panel for navigation options. You can learn more about these properties in the navigator docs.

Status Bar

The status bar is located at the top of a phone's screen. The status bar displays information regarding signal strength, battery, and whether or not things like the alarm or wi-fi are enabled.
Property
Value
Description
Visibility
True/False
Set whether or not you want the status bar visible on the screen.
Style
default, light-content, or dark-content
Set whether the the app's appearance should be light or dark, or follow the device's settings (default). Default is recommended.
Color (Android only)
Color
Set the color of the status bar.
Translucent (Android only)
True/False
Set the translucency of the status bar. When set to true, the app's content behind the status bar is partially visible, giving the impression that the status bar is overlaid on top of the underlying screen content rather than fully opaque.

Screen Blocks

when Screen1 Starts

Event
Description
Starts
Fires when the Screen is first opened

when Screen1 Opens

Event
Description
Opens
Fires anytime the Screen is opened

when Screen1 BackButtonPressed

Event
Description
BackButtonPressed
Fires when the physical or on-screen back button is pressed. (Android only)

in Screen1 call ToggleDrawerMenu

Function
Description
ToggleDrawerMenu
Opens or Closes the drawer menu, if available. Must be used in conjunction with the Drawer Navigator