Layouts let you fit more onto a screen at once, so you can show supporting information — like a clock, weather, or a news ticker — alongside your main Collection content. Layouts and Themes are both accessible from within Screens.
Creating a New Layout
To create a layout:
Click + New Layout.
Choose Landscape or Portrait orientation, to match how your screen is mounted.
Use the Layout Templates menu to filter and find designs you've already built, if needed.
Once your layout is created, set up its zones:
The Main zone is reserved for your primary Collection.
Use the remaining zones to add apps, such as a Clock, Weather, or others.
Use the Backgrounds option to set an image behind your zones.
To add content to a zone:
Open the layout you want to edit.
Click the zone you want to change.
Use Add or Search on the right to choose content. Only apps that fit the selected zone are shown.
Layout Zone Configurations
Choose from Landscape or Portrait orientation, with the following zone configurations:
Main & Background
A full-screen focus, with no secondary zones.
Main, Bottom & Side
Adds a Side zone and a Bottom (Ticker) zone for supplemental apps.
Main, Bottom, Side & Corner
Provides the most information density, with four distinct zones. Some apps are designed specifically for these smaller zones and are configured directly within the layout editor rather than in your main Collection. See Adding Apps to Collections and Layouts for the full list of apps built for these zones.
The table below shows which apps are available in each secondary zone, whichever of the configurations above you choose:
App | Corner | Bottom (Ticker) | Side |
Clock | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Air Quality | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
Countdown Timer | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
Count Up Timer | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
Currencies | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
Date | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
Google Traffic | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
Soccer Scores | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
Sports Live Scores | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
Stocks & Exchanges | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
Weather | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
World Clock | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
Layout apps are available across your whole account, unlike apps added to a Collection, which are created inside that specific Collection.
Choosing a Background
Every layout includes a background image, shown behind your zones. You can select from the built-in image library or upload your own.
A few tips for a background that looks good and keeps your content readable:
Darker or black backgrounds tend to work best, since they give text and overlays more contrast to sit on top of.
If you're matching your theme colors to the image, pick the lightest color in the background as your accent color for text or highlights.
Alternatively, choose a colour from the opposite side of the colour wheel to the background's dominant colour, for a contrasting accent.
Applying a Layout to a Screen
Layouts are set per screen, alongside that screen's Theme. See Pairing and Managing Your Screens if you haven't paired the screen yet.
Go to Screens and select the screen you want to update.
Open the screen's settings panel.
Adjust its Layout setting to apply your chosen zone configuration.
Copying and Deleting a Layout
Each layout has a ⋯ menu with options to copy or delete it.
To duplicate a layout, select Make a copy.
To remove a layout, select Delete.
Finding Screens Using a Layout
The Layouts page includes a Screens column showing which screens are currently using each layout. You can also narrow the list using the Screens drop-down in the top right of the page.
This is the fastest way to find layouts that aren't in use. Any row showing No screens assigned isn't currently applied to a display — select No screen in the Screens drop-down to filter the list down to only those unassigned layouts. This is useful for spotting duplicates or tidying up layouts you no longer need.