WordPress which template for blog list? (If the layout for category.php is different and front-page.php is implemented)

Question

On the WordPress site I'm creating, the latest blog post list and the category lists have different layouts.

I can use category.php for the list of posts in a category, but which template in the default WordPress hierarchy do I then use for the latest blog post listing?

I want to avoid custom page templates as far as possible.

(front-page.php is being used as the template for the static home page, so I can't use home.php, as per "Note: If front-page.php exists, it will override the home.php template." on this page:

https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/basics/template-hierarchy/)

Answer 1

The default template for the latest post is index.php.

I think you have set up a static page that us front-page.php template as front page in Settings -> Reading, isn't it? If yes, you can also set up a blog home page and that page will use the index.php template. Simply create a new page called for example "Blog", and set your Settings -> Reading like this: