4 ms·

Can we all agree to stop putting the "back" button in the top left of the screen though? It's literally the worst possible place to put a button that has a very

Can we all agree to stop putting the "back" button in the top left of the screen though? It's literally the worst possible place to put a button that has a very high likelihood of being used.

ziftface 8y ago
I'm actually fine with a back gesture in this case. I think it's pretty commonly known that you can swipe back. And it's way more accessible than the top left back button.
- Macha 8y ago
  > way more accessible It can be too accessible, see got example the swipe left/right to change articles gestures Blogger had (has?). I could never scroll a long article to the end without accidentally navigating elsewhere.
  - ziftface 8y ago
    I agree, those are awful. Edge swiping from the left is a lot harder to do by accident though.
    - rco8786 8y ago
      Edge swiping from the left is nearly as cumbersome as reaching to the top left of the screen, for me. Not to mention the general finickiness of edge swiping (at least in my experience).
- minikites 8y ago
  Right from the article: >many users don’t even find gestures
saagarjha 8y ago
This is not an issue on any mobile platform. On iOS, you can swipe to go back, and on Android the back button is at the bottom of the screen.
- rco8786 8y ago
  > On iOS, you can swipe to go back This is 100% entirely application dependent and in no way guaranteed or obvious. > on Android the back button is at the bottom of the screen. That was true for some time. Modern android phones don't have buttons down there anymore.
  - saagarjha 8y ago
    I have a tendency to uninstall apps that break the back navigation swipe, because this usually means they ditched standard navigation elements for their custom thing that's flashy and likely broken.
  - iamaelephant 8y ago
    I run a modern Android phone (Pixel 3) and it certainly does have a back button on the bottom.
  - toast0 8y ago
    Modern Android has a fake back button on the bottom. Thankfully, it's been a long time since I've seen one of 'those' apps or webpages that insists on pretending my phone is an iPhone and puts the back button way on top. Since I'm ranting anyway. I wish chrome on Android would put the address bar down at the bottom too, even Microsoft figured that one out. Also, since we know Android dropped buttons to save money for manufacturers, why can't we have some luxury phones with real buttons?
whytaka 8y ago
Where else would you put it?
- rco8786 8y ago
  Anywhere that normal sized right-handed people can reach with their thumb without nearly dropping their phone. I realize that we're all conditioned from years of browser back buttons that "top left == back" but there's no real reason that it's the case. How about bottom left? Like Android phones used to do?
  - whytaka 8y ago
    I find the bottom left to be a very inconvenient spot due to the palm creating false touch events. Logically, it makes sense to be on either of the left corners because obviously having it in the middle of the screen (even on the side) takes up valuable content real estate. Between the top and the bottom, I'd pick the top every time. As for ACTUALLY going back a screen, the gesture to swipe from the left is the real UX default. The top left button is for newbies/redundancy.

Can we all agree to stop putting the "back" button in the top left of the screen though? It's literally the worst possible place to put a button that has a very high likelihood of being used.

ziftface 8y ago

I'm actually fine with a back gesture in this case. I think it's pretty commonly known that you can swipe back. And it's way more accessible than the top left back button.

Macha 8y ago
> way more accessible It can be too accessible, see got example the swipe left/right to change articles gestures Blogger had (has?). I could never scroll a long article to the end without accidentally navigating elsewhere.
- ziftface 8y ago
  I agree, those are awful. Edge swiping from the left is a lot harder to do by accident though.
  - rco8786 8y ago
    Edge swiping from the left is nearly as cumbersome as reaching to the top left of the screen, for me. Not to mention the general finickiness of edge swiping (at least in my experience).
minikites 8y ago
Right from the article: >many users don’t even find gestures

saagarjha 8y ago

This is not an issue on any mobile platform. On iOS, you can swipe to go back, and on Android the back button is at the bottom of the screen.

rco8786 8y ago
> On iOS, you can swipe to go back This is 100% entirely application dependent and in no way guaranteed or obvious. > on Android the back button is at the bottom of the screen. That was true for some time. Modern android phones don't have buttons down there anymore.
- saagarjha 8y ago
  I have a tendency to uninstall apps that break the back navigation swipe, because this usually means they ditched standard navigation elements for their custom thing that's flashy and likely broken.
- iamaelephant 8y ago
  I run a modern Android phone (Pixel 3) and it certainly does have a back button on the bottom.
- toast0 8y ago
  Modern Android has a fake back button on the bottom. Thankfully, it's been a long time since I've seen one of 'those' apps or webpages that insists on pretending my phone is an iPhone and puts the back button way on top. Since I'm ranting anyway. I wish chrome on Android would put the address bar down at the bottom too, even Microsoft figured that one out. Also, since we know Android dropped buttons to save money for manufacturers, why can't we have some luxury phones with real buttons?

whytaka 8y ago

Where else would you put it?

rco8786 8y ago
Anywhere that normal sized right-handed people can reach with their thumb without nearly dropping their phone. I realize that we're all conditioned from years of browser back buttons that "top left == back" but there's no real reason that it's the case. How about bottom left? Like Android phones used to do?
- whytaka 8y ago
  I find the bottom left to be a very inconvenient spot due to the palm creating false touch events. Logically, it makes sense to be on either of the left corners because obviously having it in the middle of the screen (even on the side) takes up valuable content real estate. Between the top and the bottom, I'd pick the top every time. As for ACTUALLY going back a screen, the gesture to swipe from the left is the real UX default. The top left button is for newbies/redundancy.