Empty state · Feature discovery
PlayStation App’s empty state features a gif
The PlayStation App fills its empty Captures tab with an animated illustration and an offer to upload PS5 captures, with Enable or Not Now.
Screenshot added to the library in December 2022; its exact capture date wasn’t recorded, and the product may look different today. Write-up reviewed 22 Oct 2026.
At the time of the screenshot, the PlayStation App used the empty Captures tab of its Game Library for onboarding. Instead of a blank list, an empty state shows an animated line drawing of a TV, a phone and a controller, with game scenes cycling across the screens. Below it, "Captures on PlayStation App" explains that the latest captures can upload automatically from a PS5 to the app, where they stay for 14 days, and that the feature can be switched off in settings. Enable and Not Now buttons sit underneath, so the screen also works like a full-screen modal.
Why it works
- Great use of a GIF: the cycling game scenes bring the empty state to life, so users are more likely to read it than skip past.
- A nudge towards the feature: Enable is a solid white button and Not Now a quieter dark one, and "Not Now" suggests a later yes rather than a no.
- Reassuring copy: the text says how long captures stay and that the feature can be turned off at any time, which makes saying yes feel low-risk.
More on this pattern: onboarding UI and mobile app onboarding.
