Custom App
A Custom App in Salesforce is an admin-built Lightning or Classic application configured in App Manager (Setup, Apps, App Manager).
Definition
A Custom App in Salesforce is an admin-built Lightning or Classic application configured in App Manager (Setup, Apps, App Manager). Each Custom App has its own name, logo, branding color, navigation items (tabs and utility bar), default landing page, and a list of profiles or permission sets that can access it. Users see Custom Apps in the App Launcher alongside the standard apps that ship with Salesforce (Sales, Service, Marketing CRM Classic).
Custom Apps exist because every org has workflows that the standard apps do not perfectly fit. A medical device manufacturer builds a Field Service Engineer app with tabs for Work Orders, Customer Sites, Parts Catalog, and Knowledge. A sales-operations team builds an Ops Console app with tabs for Forecast, Pipeline Health, Territory, and Team Reports. The Custom App is the packaging mechanism that gives a workflow its own branded surface inside Salesforce; without it, users navigate a single sprawling Sales or Service app with every tab visible regardless of relevance.
Why Custom Apps are the packaging layer between Salesforce features and user workflow
Where Custom Apps live and how they are built
Setup, Apps, App Manager. The list shows every app in the org (Lightning and Classic). New Lightning App opens a wizard: name, description, image, primary color, navigation type (standard or console), navigation items (tabs), utility bar items, app pages, profile and permission set assignments. The wizard takes about 10 minutes for a basic app and produces a fully-functional custom app users access through the App Launcher. Classic Custom Apps are configured under Setup, Apps, App Manager, New App (Classic) but most new development is Lightning-only.
Navigation type: standard vs console
Two navigation styles. Standard navigation produces a horizontal tab bar at the top, one record open at a time, traditional Salesforce experience. Console navigation produces the multi-tab console UI: primary tabs, sub-tabs, utility bar at the bottom, pin-and-pop-out support. Pick based on workflow. Sales teams that work one record at a time want standard; service teams juggling many cases want console. The choice gates which features are available (utility bar is console-only, Console Layout settings apply to console only).
Tabs and the in-app navigation
The tabs in a Custom App define what users navigate to. Tabs can point to standard objects (Account, Opportunity), custom objects (custom Salesforce-managed objects in the org), Lightning Components (custom LWC pages), Visualforce pages (legacy), Web Tabs (external URLs embedded in Salesforce). A typical Custom App has 6 to 12 tabs; more becomes overwhelming and signals the app is trying to do too much. Tabs are reorderable; the order matters because users gravitate to the leftmost tabs.
Utility bar and the always-on shortcut shelf
Console-type Custom Apps support a utility bar across the bottom of the window. Common utility items: Notes, Recent Items, History, Omni-Channel widget, custom Lightning components. Each utility bar item can be pinned (always visible) or pop-up (button that opens on click). The utility bar is the productivity shelf for console apps; designing it well means common actions are always one click away. Standard-navigation apps do not have a utility bar.
Profile and Permission Set assignment
Custom Apps are gated by profile or permission set assignment. Users in assigned profiles see the app in the App Launcher; users in unassigned profiles do not. Permission sets layer on; a user with a base profile that excludes the app can still see it if a permission set assignment includes it. Most large orgs use permission set assignment because it survives org-chart changes and supports per-user customization without profile cloning. Profile-based assignment is fine for small orgs with stable role definitions.
App-level Lightning Pages and the per-app record customization
Lightning Record Pages can be assigned per app, so the same Account record renders different layouts in the Sales App vs the Service App. The assignment is configured on the Lightning Record Page in App Builder; pick the apps the page applies to. Per-app record pages are powerful but easy to over-engineer; most orgs have one record page per object and apply it across all apps. Per-app variants are right when the workflow genuinely needs different views for different user populations.
Maintenance, deprecation, and the app inventory
Custom Apps accumulate over time. Apps built for projects that ended persist in App Manager; users still see them in the App Launcher; the visual clutter compounds. The maintenance discipline: quarterly review of the Custom App list, deactivate apps no one uses, deactivate apps whose target workflow is now covered by a different app. The Lightning Usage Report shows app usage per user; the bottom of the usage list is the retirement candidate list.
How to build a Custom App that users actually want
The pattern: define the user workflow, pick navigation type, populate tabs and utility bar to match, assign to the right population, iterate based on usage. The cost is low; the productivity gain compounds across thousands of user sessions.
- Define the user workflow the app should serve
One sentence: "This app serves [population] doing [workflow]." If you cannot finish the sentence, you are not ready to build the app.
- Pick standard vs console navigation
Standard for one-record-at-a-time workflows; console for multi-tab workflows. The choice gates which features are available.
- Open App Manager, New Lightning App
Setup, App Manager, New Lightning App. Walk the wizard: name, description, image, primary color, navigation type.
- Add tabs in the order users will use them
Six to twelve tabs is the sweet spot. Order matters; users gravitate to leftmost. Pick tabs that serve the workflow, not every available object.
- Configure utility bar items for console apps
Console apps support the utility bar. Pin frequently-used items, pop-up occasional ones. Standard apps skip this step.
- Assign profiles or permission sets
Permission sets for org-chart resilience, profiles for small orgs with stable roles. Avoid assigning broad profiles; the App Launcher gets cluttered.
- Pilot with five users for a week
Real user feedback catches navigation and tab-order issues lab testing misses. Iterate then broad rollout.
- Schedule quarterly app inventory review
Lightning Usage Report shows app usage. Deactivate apps no one uses; the App Launcher stays clean.
Standard (one record at a time) or console (multi-tab). Drives feature availability.
The in-app navigation items. Six to twelve is the sweet spot.
Console-only productivity shelf. Pin frequently used; pop-up occasional.
Gates who sees the app in the App Launcher.
Per-app record page variants for objects shared across apps.
- Too many tabs in one app produces an overwhelming workflow. Six to twelve is the sweet spot; more usually means two apps that should be split.
- Standard-navigation apps cannot use the utility bar. Pick console if utility bar is core to the workflow.
- Profile-based app assignment breaks on org-chart changes. Permission sets survive; default to permission sets.
- Custom Apps accumulate. Quarterly inventory and retirement is the discipline that keeps the App Launcher clean.
- Per-app Lightning Record Pages add configuration burden. Use only when the workflow genuinely needs different layouts per app.
Trust & references
Cross-checked against the following references.
- Custom Apps referenceSalesforce
- App Manager referenceSalesforce
Straight from the source - Salesforce's reference material on Custom App.
- Custom AppsSalesforce Help
- App ManagerSalesforce Help
- App LauncherSalesforce Help
Hands-on resources to go deeper on Custom App.
About the Author
Dipojjal Chakrabarti is a B2C Solution Architect with 29 Salesforce certifications and over 13 years in the Salesforce ecosystem. He runs salesforcedictionary.com to help admins, developers, architects, and cert/interview candidates sharpen their fundamentals. More about Dipojjal.
Test your knowledge
Q1. What is a Custom App?
Q2. Where are Custom Apps configured in Lightning Experience?
Q3. Why build different apps for different user populations?
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