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Having content on the screen (e.g. a computer screen or the screen of a mobile device), how do I refer to that content? Is it "view" or "screen"? I am looking for an everyday term, not a formal one.

Update: The context is the description of the various screens/views that a user can experience when using a finance app for iPhone (e.g. in/on the add expense-view/screen).

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  • It depends on the context, and on the content.
    – phoog
    Jun 18, 2015 at 8:27
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    The word choice is (to me, anyway) context dependent, and there is not enough context in the question for a good answer. A general rule of thumb, though, is that when considering to use one word or the other, I would opt for the one that reduces ambiguity. So if I had been using the word "screen" to refer to the physical part of the iPhone upon which content is displayed, and I would use "view" to refer to the content being displayed. Discussing a camera app, and talking about the different views of the subject of the photo, I'd might use "screen" to refer to content.
    – brasshat
    Jun 18, 2015 at 8:39
  • I would say that both are in use, but have you considered page? That's drawing a vague analogy with a website, and my subjective opinion is that it's a more user-friendly term (whereas screen and view are both technically driven, in my opinion).
    – Morton
    Jun 18, 2015 at 9:36
  • @Morton You have a point. However, I have never seen the use of "page" in this context... But then again, I have a technical background and mostly read technical stuff. Would be nice to get a regular app consumer's opinion...
    – Lukas Kalinski
    Jun 18, 2015 at 14:05

4 Answers 4

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It's a window. Even on apple devices ;)

window Computing A framed area on a display screen for viewing information. - ODO

ODO examples:

The viewer gets the video and audio directly into his Internet browser window.

Other differences relate to the rules for entering a phrase into the search engine phrase window.

You may need to scroll or resize the pop-up image window to get a good view.

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The word screen appears more appropriate for your requirement.

ODO:

screen NOUN

2.3 The data or images displayed on a computer screen: pressing the F1 key at any time will display a help screen

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In the context of RWD, that's called viewing environment.

A site designed with RWD adapts the layout to the viewing environment by using fluid, proportion-based grids, flexible images, and CSS3 media queries,an extension of the @media rule,.... (Wikipedia)

Also, viewing experience is acceptable:

In April, Google set a deadline for websites to add mobile-friendly coding features that would make the viewing experience for mobile users better. (standardmarketing)

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Display:

The visual representation of the output of an electronic device

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