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This. The back button is one of the most powerful feature of android. It has always been great for navigating between apps even though it is a bit confusing. Ad

This. The back button is one of the most powerful feature of android. It has always been great for navigating between apps even though it is a bit confusing. Adding a _second_ back button (a third if you count the home button as a long jump back) was the worst decision the android team ever made. I mean, I understand where they were coming from. When a user jumps between apps he or she might want to be able to navigate inside the apps not just between the apps. However, a single back button with an already too flexible implementation was confusing enough that adding even more navigation options was a terrible decision. One back button forced apps builders to make their app usable within a single thread of history which is a Good Thing. When a user jumps from app to app and suddenly decides she doesn't want to follow the current line of history, it is not unreasonable, and much less confusing, to make her go through the device home screen to get access to the start screen of the app and its full navigation tree. When an app opens another app it should be only to give access to a particular section of the second app that is relevant to the first app. A single back button also helped with the recent apps list mismatches. The mismatches happen when an app is opened from another one and happened less when this type of navigation was for limited specific actions that brought you back to the original app.

Mythbusters 14y ago
The one in Windows phone acts up much more consistently then. The back button takes you to the previous screen in the app until you get to the home screen and then it takes you back to the page where you launched the app from.
ljf 14y ago
I love the back button. After losing my uninsured galaxy note I'm stuck with iOS for a bit. I literally hate the way that I can click a link in an email then have a mammoth task to get back to the email app, then the correct account, then the correct email, then the correct part of the email to find the next link I've been sent so I can start this dance again. Roll on the launch of the note 2, back to a phone and OS that allows me to accurately place the cursor when I'm editting text!
- dan1234 14y ago
  Mammoth task? 1. Double press the home button 2. Select the Mail app from the tray That will take you back to the email you were looking at before you tapped the link.
  - ljf 14y ago
    Cheers for that - I genuinely didn't know there was a quick way to do that - and it seems neither do any of my iPhone 4s using friends, as they were all as stuck as me - I look forward to speeding up my mornings now!
    - efraim 14y ago
      I think this is a prime example of why apple products are harder to use than they need to be because they refuse to evolve the hardware as the software evolve. They start out with very simple functionality that only need one button. Now, one button does different things depending on if you press, double press or press and hold it down. It's the same with their laptops, so many functions are hidden behind multi-fingered gestures on the touch pad or moving the pointer to some corner or the screen. It's not any easier than putting more buttons on the phone or making the options visible somehow.
- prof_hobart 14y ago
  It's not a full solution to your issue (and apologies if you are already aware of this), but a double tap on the home button brings up a list of recent tasks, and your email app should be the left-most one and you can just tap on that to get back to the mail that you were reading. On the comment about placing the cursor, I have the opposite - I rarely have an issue on my iPhone/iPad, but I cannot for the life of me get the cursor on my Galaxy SII to go to where I want it to.
  - ljf 14y ago
    It is odd isn't it? Maybe our fingers learn different tools better? I LOVE the android keyboard, stock or the various add ons - but so many iOS friends just can't get to grips with it. But I storm along on my (now dead) Dell Streak and Note, and struggle to write anything on my iPod touch. I wonder if there should be a keyboard that works just like the iOS one for Android, for those trying to migrate ;)

Mythbusters 14y ago

The one in Windows phone acts up much more consistently then. The back button takes you to the previous screen in the app until you get to the home screen and then it takes you back to the page where you launched the app from.

ljf 14y ago

I love the back button. After losing my uninsured galaxy note I'm stuck with iOS for a bit. I literally hate the way that I can click a link in an email then have a mammoth task to get back to the email app, then the correct account, then the correct email, then the correct part of the email to find the next link I've been sent so I can start this dance again. Roll on the launch of the note 2, back to a phone and OS that allows me to accurately place the cursor when I'm editting text!

dan1234 14y ago
Mammoth task? 1. Double press the home button 2. Select the Mail app from the tray That will take you back to the email you were looking at before you tapped the link.
- ljf 14y ago
  Cheers for that - I genuinely didn't know there was a quick way to do that - and it seems neither do any of my iPhone 4s using friends, as they were all as stuck as me - I look forward to speeding up my mornings now!
  - efraim 14y ago
    I think this is a prime example of why apple products are harder to use than they need to be because they refuse to evolve the hardware as the software evolve. They start out with very simple functionality that only need one button. Now, one button does different things depending on if you press, double press or press and hold it down. It's the same with their laptops, so many functions are hidden behind multi-fingered gestures on the touch pad or moving the pointer to some corner or the screen. It's not any easier than putting more buttons on the phone or making the options visible somehow.
prof_hobart 14y ago
It's not a full solution to your issue (and apologies if you are already aware of this), but a double tap on the home button brings up a list of recent tasks, and your email app should be the left-most one and you can just tap on that to get back to the mail that you were reading. On the comment about placing the cursor, I have the opposite - I rarely have an issue on my iPhone/iPad, but I cannot for the life of me get the cursor on my Galaxy SII to go to where I want it to.
- ljf 14y ago
  It is odd isn't it? Maybe our fingers learn different tools better? I LOVE the android keyboard, stock or the various add ons - but so many iOS friends just can't get to grips with it. But I storm along on my (now dead) Dell Streak and Note, and struggle to write anything on my iPod touch. I wonder if there should be a keyboard that works just like the iOS one for Android, for those trying to migrate ;)