screen() Call

A screen() call is the mobile equivalent of recording a page view: because a native app has no URL-based page, each app screen shown is recorded with this method.

A screen() call comes from the fundamental web-versus-app difference: on the web the page URL is itself a natural signal a tool can read automatically, but in a native app screens are switched by internal code and no URL changes, so the developer must record each screen view explicitly. Properties such as the screen name and its category travel with this call. The common trap for teams with both web and app is assuming a web page view and an app screen view are one metric; the two are only addable when naming and identity models match, otherwise they stay two separate reports and the true total of views is seen nowhere. screen() and page() are two names for one idea in two environments, not two different things.