new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mobile/android/app/src/main/res/layout/activity_stream_highlights_empty_state.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+<!-- This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
+   - License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
+   - file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/. -->
+<TextView
+        xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
+        android:layout_width="match_parent"
+        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
+        android:layout_margin="@dimen/activity_stream_base_margin"
+        android:text="@string/activity_stream_highlights_empty"
+        android:textColor="@color/activity_stream_subtitle"
+        />

--- a/mobile/android/base/java/org/mozilla/gecko/activitystream/homepanel/StreamRecyclerAdapter.java
+++ b/mobile/android/base/java/org/mozilla/gecko/activitystream/homepanel/StreamRecyclerAdapter.java
@@ -17,33 +17,32 @@ import android.view.ViewGroup;
 import org.mozilla.gecko.GeckoSharedPrefs;
 import org.mozilla.gecko.R;
 import org.mozilla.gecko.Telemetry;
 import org.mozilla.gecko.TelemetryContract;
 import org.mozilla.gecko.activitystream.ActivityStreamTelemetry;
 import org.mozilla.gecko.activitystream.homepanel.menu.ActivityStreamContextMenu;
 import org.mozilla.gecko.activitystream.homepanel.model.RowModel;
 import org.mozilla.gecko.activitystream.homepanel.model.WebpageRowModel;
+import org.mozilla.gecko.activitystream.homepanel.stream.HighlightsEmptyStateRow;
 import org.mozilla.gecko.activitystream.homepanel.stream.TopPanelRow;
 import org.mozilla.gecko.activitystream.homepanel.model.TopStory;
 import org.mozilla.gecko.home.HomePager;
 import org.mozilla.gecko.activitystream.homepanel.model.Highlight;
 import org.mozilla.gecko.activitystream.homepanel.stream.WebpageItemRow;
 import org.mozilla.gecko.activitystream.homepanel.stream.StreamTitleRow;
 import org.mozilla.gecko.activitystream.homepanel.stream.StreamViewHolder;
 import org.mozilla.gecko.util.StringUtils;
 import org.mozilla.gecko.widget.RecyclerViewClickSupport;
 
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.EnumSet;
 import java.util.LinkedList;
 import java.util.List;
 
-import static android.R.attr.type;
-
 /**
  * The adapter for the Activity Stream panel.
  *
  * Every item is in a single adapter: Top Sites, Welcome panel, Highlights.
  */
 public class StreamRecyclerAdapter extends RecyclerView.Adapter<StreamViewHolder> implements RecyclerViewClickSupport.OnItemClickListener,
         RecyclerViewClickSupport.OnItemLongClickListener, StreamHighlightItemRowContextMenuListener {
 
@@ -63,16 +62,17 @@ public class StreamRecyclerAdapter exten
     private int tiles;
     private int tilesSize;
 
     public enum RowItemType {
         TOP_PANEL (-2), // RecyclerView.NO_ID is -1, so start hard-coded stableIds at -2.
         TOP_STORIES_TITLE(-3),
         TOP_STORIES_ITEM(-1), // There can be multiple Top Stories items so caller should handle as a special case.
         HIGHLIGHTS_TITLE (-4),
+        HIGHLIGHTS_EMPTY_STATE(-5),
         HIGHLIGHT_ITEM (-1); // There can be multiple Highlight Items so caller should handle as a special case.
 
         public final int stableId;
 
         RowItemType(int stableId) {
             this.stableId = stableId;
         }
 
@@ -132,16 +132,18 @@ public class StreamRecyclerAdapter exten
             return new WebpageItemRow(inflater.inflate(WebpageItemRow.LAYOUT_ID, parent, false), this);
         } else if (type == RowItemType.HIGHLIGHT_ITEM.getViewType()) {
             return new WebpageItemRow(inflater.inflate(WebpageItemRow.LAYOUT_ID, parent, false), this);
         } else if (type == RowItemType.HIGHLIGHTS_TITLE.getViewType()) {
             final SharedPreferences sharedPreferences = GeckoSharedPrefs.forProfile(parent.getContext());
             final boolean bookmarksEnabled = sharedPreferences.getBoolean(ActivityStreamPanel.PREF_BOOKMARKS_ENABLED, true);
             final boolean visitedEnabled = sharedPreferences.getBoolean(ActivityStreamPanel.PREF_VISITED_ENABLED, true);
             return new StreamTitleRow(inflater.inflate(StreamTitleRow.LAYOUT_ID, parent, false), R.string.activity_stream_highlights, bookmarksEnabled || visitedEnabled);
+        } else if (type == RowItemType.HIGHLIGHTS_EMPTY_STATE.getViewType()) {
+            return new HighlightsEmptyStateRow(inflater.inflate(HighlightsEmptyStateRow.LAYOUT_ID, parent, false));
         } else {
             throw new IllegalStateException("Missing inflation for ViewType " + type);
         }
     }
 
     /**
      * Returns the index of an item within highlights.
      * @param position position in adapter
@@ -300,17 +302,21 @@ public class StreamRecyclerAdapter exten
 
     @Override
     public int getItemCount() {
         return recyclerViewModel.size();
     }
 
     public void swapHighlights(List<Highlight> highlights) {
         recyclerViewModel = recyclerViewModel.subList(0, ACTIVITY_STREAM_SECTIONS.length + getNumOfTypeShown(RowItemType.TOP_STORIES_ITEM));
-        recyclerViewModel.addAll(highlights);
+        if (!highlights.isEmpty()) {
+            recyclerViewModel.addAll(highlights);
+        } else {
+            recyclerViewModel.add(makeRowModelFromType(RowItemType.HIGHLIGHTS_EMPTY_STATE));
+        }
         notifyDataSetChanged();
     }
 
     public void swapTopStories(List<TopStory> newStories) {
         final int insertionIndex = indexOfType(RowItemType.TOP_STORIES_TITLE, recyclerViewModel) + 1;
         int numOldStories = getNumOfTypeShown(RowItemType.TOP_STORIES_ITEM);
         while (numOldStories > 0) {
             recyclerViewModel.remove(insertionIndex);

new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mobile/android/base/java/org/mozilla/gecko/activitystream/homepanel/stream/HighlightsEmptyStateRow.java
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+/* This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
+ * License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
+ * file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/. */
+
+package org.mozilla.gecko.activitystream.homepanel.stream;
+
+import android.support.annotation.LayoutRes;
+import android.view.View;
+import org.mozilla.gecko.R;
+
+/** A row to be displayed when there are no highlights. */
+public class HighlightsEmptyStateRow extends StreamViewHolder {
+
+    @LayoutRes
+    public static final int LAYOUT_ID = R.layout.activity_stream_highlights_empty_state;
+
+    public HighlightsEmptyStateRow(final View itemView) {
+        super(itemView);
+    }
+}

--- a/mobile/android/base/locales/en-US/android_strings.dtd
+++ b/mobile/android/base/locales/en-US/android_strings.dtd
@@ -844,16 +844,18 @@ just addresses the organization to follo
 <!-- LOCALIZATION NOTE (activity_stream_highlight_label_bookmarked): This label is shown in the Activity
 Stream list for highlights sourced from th user's bookmarks. -->
 <!ENTITY activity_stream_highlight_label_bookmarked "Bookmarked">
 <!-- LOCALIZATION NOTE (activity_stream_highlight_label_visited): This label is shown in the Activity
 Stream list for highlights sourced from th user's bookmarks. -->
 <!ENTITY activity_stream_highlight_label_visited "Visited">
 <!-- LOCALIZATION NOTE (activity_stream_highlight_label_trending): This label is shown in the Activity Stream list for highlights sourced from a recommendations engine. -->
 <!ENTITY activity_stream_highlight_label_trending "Trending">
+<!-- LOCALIZATION NOTE (activity_stream_highlights_empty): This text is shown when we could not find highlights for this user. This is also shown on first run. -->
+<!ENTITY activity_stream_highlights_empty "Start browsing, and we\'ll show some of the great articles, videos, and other pages you\'ve recently visited or bookmarked here.">
 
 <!-- LOCALIZATION NOTE (activity_stream_remove): This label is shown in the Activity Stream context menu,
 and allows hiding a URL/page from highlights or topsites. The page remains in history/bookmarks, but
 is simply hidden from the Activity Stream panel. -->
 <!ENTITY activity_stream_remove "Remove">
 <!ENTITY activity_stream_delete_history "Delete from History">
 
 <!ENTITY private_tab_panel_title "Private Browsing + Tracking Protection">

--- a/mobile/android/base/moz.build
+++ b/mobile/android/base/moz.build
@@ -514,16 +514,17 @@ gbjar.sources += ['java/org/mozilla/geck
     'activitystream/homepanel/menu/PopupContextMenu.java',
     'activitystream/homepanel/model/Highlight.java',
     'activitystream/homepanel/model/Metadata.java',
     'activitystream/homepanel/model/RowModel.java',
     'activitystream/homepanel/model/TopSite.java',
     'activitystream/homepanel/model/TopStory.java',
     'activitystream/homepanel/model/WebpageModel.java',
     'activitystream/homepanel/model/WebpageRowModel.java',
+    'activitystream/homepanel/stream/HighlightsEmptyStateRow.java',
     'activitystream/homepanel/stream/StreamOverridablePageIconLayout.java',
     'activitystream/homepanel/stream/StreamTitleRow.java',
     'activitystream/homepanel/stream/StreamViewHolder.java',
     'activitystream/homepanel/stream/TopPanelRow.java',
     'activitystream/homepanel/stream/WebpageItemRow.java',
     'activitystream/homepanel/StreamHighlightItemRowContextMenuListener.java',
     'activitystream/homepanel/StreamItemAnimator.java',
     'activitystream/homepanel/StreamRecyclerAdapter.java',

--- a/mobile/android/base/strings.xml.in
+++ b/mobile/android/base/strings.xml.in
@@ -629,15 +629,17 @@
   <string name="activity_stream_topstories">&activity_stream_topstories;</string>
   <string name="activity_stream_highlights">&activity_stream_highlights;</string>
   <string name="activity_stream_highlight_label_bookmarked">&activity_stream_highlight_label_bookmarked;</string>
   <string name="activity_stream_highlight_label_visited">&activity_stream_highlight_label_visited;</string>
   <string name="activity_stream_highlight_label_trending">&activity_stream_highlight_label_trending;</string>
   <string name="activity_stream_remove">&activity_stream_remove;</string>
   <string name="activity_stream_delete_history">&activity_stream_delete_history;</string>
 
+  <string name="activity_stream_highlights_empty">&activity_stream_highlights_empty;</string>
+
   <string name="private_tab_panel_title">&private_tab_panel_title;</string>
   <string name="private_tab_panel_description">&private_tab_panel_description;</string>
   <string name="private_tab_panel_description2">&private_tab_panel_description2;</string>
   <string name="private_tab_learn_more">&private_tab_learn_more;</string>
 
   <string name="fullscreen_warning">&fullscreen_warning;</string>
 </resources>