Architecture question (tabs vs. modal header buttons)

I’m making an app similar to facebook, with a “news” page at the base, then buttons will popup other views from the top buttons for things like messages, etc.

No tabs - just a “base view”, then buttons in the top header to show alternate views just below the buttons.

I was trying to implement this with each button causing a modal to show - then putting margin-top: 70px on the modal to allow toggling it off/etc via the buttons in the (below) header. But it’s not possible to click the top-area when the modal is showing.

Any suggestions how to best to handle the architecture of this in ionic? Ideally there would be different views for each section, so checking messages wouldn’t refresh the news feed, etc.

Thanks,
Kevin