diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 170ee9c..ea0413a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ jobs:
               run: echo "JUPYTER_TOKEN=$(openssl rand -hex 32)" >> $GITHUB_ENV
 
             - name: Run pytest
-              run: pytest -v --driver ${{ matrix.browser }} tests_notebooks
+              run: pytest -v --driver ${{ matrix.browser }} tests_notebooks/
               env:
                   TAG: edge
 
diff --git a/home/start_page.py b/home/start_page.py
index 69942eb..8c9abeb 100644
--- a/home/start_page.py
+++ b/home/start_page.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import json
 from glob import glob
 from os import path
+from pathlib import Path
 
 import ipywidgets as ipw
 import traitlets
@@ -29,7 +30,7 @@ def create_app_widget_move_buttons(name):
 
 
 class AiidaLabHome:
-    """Class that mananges the appearance of the AiiDAlab home page."""
+    """Class that manages the appearance of the AiiDAlab home page."""
 
     def __init__(self):
         self.config_fn = ".launcher.json"
@@ -40,16 +41,16 @@ def _create_app_widget(self, name):
         """Create the widget representing the app on the home screen."""
         config = self.read_config()
         app = AiidaLabApp(name, None, AIIDALAB_APPS)
-
-        if name == "home":
-            app_widget = AppWidget(app, allow_move=False, allow_manage=False)
-        else:
-            app_widget = CollapsableAppWidget(app, allow_move=True)
-            app_widget.hidden = name in config["hidden"]
-            app_widget.observe(self._on_app_widget_change_hidden, names=["hidden"])
-
+        app_widget = CollapsableAppWidget(app, allow_move=True)
+        app_widget.hidden = name in config["hidden"]
+        app_widget.observe(self._on_app_widget_change_hidden, names=["hidden"])
         return app_widget
 
+    def _create_home_widget(self):
+        """Create the home app widget."""
+        app = AiidaLabApp("home", None, AIIDALAB_APPS)
+        return AppWidget(app, allow_move=False, allow_manage=False)
+
     def _on_app_widget_change_hidden(self, change):
         """Record whether a app widget is hidden on the home screen in the config file."""
         config = self.read_config()
@@ -72,7 +73,17 @@ def read_config(self):
     def render(self):
         """Rendering all apps."""
 
-        displayed_apps = []
+        home = self._create_home_widget()
+        children = [home]
+
+        config_dir = Path.home() / ".aiidalab"
+        warning_file = config_dir / "home_app_warning.md"
+
+        if warning_file.exists():
+            content = warning_file.read_text()
+            notification = self._create_notification(content)
+            children.append(notification)
+
         apps = self.load_apps()
 
         for name in apps:
@@ -80,8 +91,10 @@ def render(self):
             if name not in self._app_widgets:
                 self._app_widgets[name] = self._create_app_widget(name)
 
-            displayed_apps.append(self._app_widgets[name])
-        self.output.children = displayed_apps
+            children.append(self._app_widgets[name])
+
+        self.output.children = children
+
         return self.output
 
     def load_apps(self):
@@ -98,7 +111,7 @@ def load_apps(self):
         apps.sort(key=lambda x: order.index(x) if x in order else -1)
         config["order"] = apps
         self.write_config(config)
-        return ["home", *apps]
+        return apps
 
     def move_updown(self, name, delta):
         """Move the app up/down on the start page."""
@@ -111,6 +124,19 @@ def move_updown(self, name, delta):
         config["order"] = order
         self.write_config(config)
 
+    def _create_notification(self, content):
+        from IPython.display import Markdown, display
+        from jinja2 import Environment
+
+        env = Environment()
+        notification = env.from_string(content).render()
+        output = ipw.Output()
+        notification_widget = ipw.VBox(children=[output])
+        notification_widget.add_class("home-notification")
+        with output:
+            display(Markdown(notification))
+        return notification_widget
+
 
 class AppWidget(ipw.VBox):
     """Widget that represents an app as part of the home page."""
@@ -119,7 +145,7 @@ def __init__(self, app, allow_move=False, allow_manage=True):
         self.app = app
 
         launcher = load_widget(app.name)
-        launcher.layout = ipw.Layout(width="900px")
+        launcher.layout.flex = "1"  # fill available space
 
         header_items = []
         footer_items = []
@@ -128,7 +154,7 @@ def __init__(self, app, allow_move=False, allow_manage=True):
             app_status_info = AppStatusInfoWidget()
             for trait in ("detached", "compatible", "remote_update_status"):
                 ipw.dlink((app, trait), (app_status_info, trait))
-            app_status_info.layout.margin = "0px 0px 0px 800px"
+            app_status_info.layout.margin = "0px 0px 0px auto"
             header_items.append(app_status_info)
 
             footer_items.append(
@@ -150,7 +176,7 @@ def __init__(self, app, allow_move=False, allow_manage=True):
 
         footer = ipw.HTML(" ".join(footer_items), layout={"width": "initial"})
         footer.layout.margin = (
-            "0px 0px 0px 700px" if allow_manage else "0px 0px 20px 0px"
+            "0px 0px 0px auto" if allow_manage else "0px 0px 20px 0px"
         )
 
         super().__init__(children=[header, body, footer])
diff --git a/start.ipynb b/start.ipynb
index fc51cd7..599db74 100644
--- a/start.ipynb
+++ b/start.ipynb
@@ -31,6 +31,12 @@
     "  .output_subarea {\n",
     "    max-width: none !important;\n",
     "  }\n",
+    "  .home-notification {\n",
+    "    background-color: antiquewhite;\n",
+    "    margin: 2px;\n",
+    "    padding: 8px;\n",
+    "    border: 1px solid red;\n",
+    "  }\n",
     "</style>\n"
    ]
   },
@@ -64,7 +70,7 @@
     "    home.move_updown(parsed_url[\"move_up\"][0], -1)\n",
     "elif \"move_down\" in parsed_url:\n",
     "    home.move_updown(parsed_url[\"move_down\"][0], +1)\n",
-    "display(home.render())"
+    "home.render()"
    ]
   },
   {
diff --git a/tests_notebooks/conftest.py b/tests_notebooks/conftest.py
index 379aa02..6090c21 100644
--- a/tests_notebooks/conftest.py
+++ b/tests_notebooks/conftest.py
@@ -41,25 +41,39 @@ def docker_compose(docker_services):
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session")
-def aiidalab_exec(docker_compose):
-    def execute(command, user=None, **kwargs):
-        workdir = "/home/jovyan/apps/home"
-        if user:
-            command = f"exec --workdir {workdir} -T --user={user} aiidalab {command}"
-        else:
-            command = f"exec --workdir {workdir} -T aiidalab {command}"
+def aiidalab_exec(docker_compose, nb_user):
+    """Execute command inside the AiiDAlab test container"""
 
+    def execute(command, user=None, **kwargs):
+        workdir = f"/home/{nb_user}/apps/home"
+        if user is None:
+            user = nb_user
+        command = (
+            f"exec --workdir {workdir} -T --user={user} aiidalab bash -c '{command}'"
+        )
         return docker_compose.execute(command, **kwargs)
 
     return execute
 
 
+@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
+def nb_user():
+    return "jovyan"
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def create_warning_file(nb_user, aiidalab_exec):
+    config_folder = f"/home/{nb_user}/.aiidalab"
+    aiidalab_exec(f"mkdir -p {config_folder}")
+    aiidalab_exec(f"echo Warning! > {config_folder}/home_app_warning.md")
+
+
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session", autouse=True)
-def notebook_service(docker_ip, docker_services, aiidalab_exec):
+def notebook_service(docker_ip, docker_services, aiidalab_exec, nb_user):
     """Ensure that HTTP service is up and responsive."""
     # Directory ~/apps/home/ is mounted by docker,
     # make it writeable for jovyan user, needed for `pip install`
-    aiidalab_exec("chmod -R a+rw /home/jovyan/apps/home", user="root")
+    aiidalab_exec(f"chmod -R a+rw /home/{nb_user}/apps/home", user="root")
 
     aiidalab_exec("pip install --no-cache-dir .")
 
@@ -75,6 +89,12 @@ def notebook_service(docker_ip, docker_services, aiidalab_exec):
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="function")
 def selenium_driver(selenium, notebook_service):
+    """This is the main fixture to be used in tests.
+
+    We're already guaranteed that the container is up and responding to HTTP requests.
+    (via `notebook_service` fixture).
+    """
+
     def _selenium_driver(nb_path, url_params=None):
         url, token = notebook_service
         url_with_token = urljoin(url, f"apps/apps/home/{nb_path}?token={token}")
@@ -109,8 +129,9 @@ def _selenium_driver(nb_path, url_params=None):
 @pytest.fixture
 def final_screenshot(request, screenshot_dir, selenium):
     """Take screenshot at the end of the test.
+
     Screenshot name is generated from the test function name
-    by stripping the 'test_' prefix
+    by stripping the 'test_' prefix.
     """
     screenshot_name = f"{request.function.__name__[5:]}.png"
     screenshot_path = Path.joinpath(screenshot_dir, screenshot_name)
diff --git a/tests_notebooks/test_notification.py b/tests_notebooks/test_notification.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5d0004d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests_notebooks/test_notification.py
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By
+
+
+def test_home_notification(selenium_driver, create_warning_file, final_screenshot):
+    selenium = selenium_driver("start.ipynb")
+    selenium.set_window_size(1000, 941)
+    notifications = selenium.find_elements(By.CLASS_NAME, "home-notification")
+    assert len(notifications) == 1
+    home_warning = notifications[0]
+    content_element = home_warning.find_element(By.TAG_NAME, "p")
+    assert content_element.text == "Warning!"