What percentage of mobile apps have a dedicated empty-state screen?
- By Ali Abouelatta
- n = 809
- Published
- Updated
- 2 min read
- mobile · ux-patterns · design · onboarding
Short answer
46% of tracked apps have an explicit empty-state screen — 370 of 809.source[1] That puts intentional empty states just below the halfway mark, on par with in-flow upsells and ahead of social login (41%).source[2] A designed empty state is common enough to be a best-practice signal, but more than half of apps still ship without one.
370 of 809 tracked apps (46%) have an explicit empty-state screen — July 2026.
The finding
Explicit empty-state screens appear in 370 of 809 apps (45.7%).source[1] That's slightly below social-adjacent essentials but comfortably ahead of paywalls (38%) and referral (25%).source[2] Nearly half of apps intentionally design the zero-data moment — the other half leave it blank or generic.
How to apply this
Empty states are a cheap, high-leverage win precisely because they're not universal — shipping a good one puts you in the more polished half of the corpus. Use them to teach the first action (add your first item, connect a source, invite a teammate) rather than just showing 'nothing here.' They pair naturally with onboarding and activation goals. If your app has lists, feeds, or collections that start empty, this is 46%-common table stakes for a considered experience.
Caveats
Lower bound: counts apps where an empty-state screen was captured among median 41 screens.source[3] Empty states are easy to miss in capture, so true prevalence is likely higher than 46%. Deduped by company; base 809 (751 tagged).source[3]
Real in-market screens
Screens from real, in-market apps, tracked by Lazyweb Research.
Tolan602 × 1308opens the full image 
Reddit1125 × 2436opens the full image 
Mimo1206 × 2622opens the full image 
Goodnotes1206 × 2622opens the full image
The numbers
| # | Stat | Computed from |
|---|---|---|
| [1] | 370 of 809 apps (45.7%) have an empty-state screen | prevalence_empty_state |
| [2] | social login 329 (40.7%), paywall 305 (37.7%), referral 205 (25.3%) | prevalence_social_login, prevalence_paywall_screen, prevalence_referral_invite |
| [3] | Universe 809 apps, median 41 captured screens | universe_denominators |
Methodology
Universe: 809 mobile apps with at least one captured screenshot. Method: empty-state tag match deduped by COUNT(DISTINCT company_name), July 2026. Caveat: lower bound, likely undercounted.
Sources
- [1]
Lazyweb Research analysis of 809 mobile apps (apps with >=1 captured screenshot), July 2026
370 distinct companies with an empty-state tag match over 809.
- [2]
Lazyweb Research analysis of 809 mobile apps (apps with >=1 captured screenshot), July 2026
Comparison patterns deduped by company.
- [3]
Lazyweb Research analysis of 809 mobile apps (apps with >=1 captured screenshot), July 2026
Lower bound; empty states are easily missed in capture.
Source: Lazyweb Research — proprietary analysis of real, in-market app screens. Cite as Lazyweb Research, 2026-07-07.
Explore the evidence
- Full 45-frame August 2026 capture
- Three captured screens · August 2026