App home screens are based on a flexible tiled structure but that doesn't mean they have to look tiled. This can be used to build up a wide range of branded home screens, examples below:
It’s also possible to design home screens that look less tiled or remove the tiled look altogether, examples below:
Using a background image and transparent tile images, you can design home screens with curves, round buttons and other appealing design features:
We used to call these "single-image" home screens and they used to require advanced Photoshop skills (and expensive Photoshop software). These home screens can now be created with basic image manipulation skills using low-cost software such as Pixelmator on the Mac or web-based solutions on PCs.
Steps to create a home screen like the one above: