Apple seems to have lost its " Just Works " way

[scott craft]

I recently got the iPhone 6 and I haven't noticed it being any less reliable than my last two android phones. It works pretty well for me.

 

[Oohara]

For the way most of us use our phones.... with our thumbs.......a back button is extremely useful. Our thumbs are right where the back button is. So it so simple to use a back button on an Android phone. Don't have to reach at all as that is the natural position of the thumb anyway......

I agree. While the back-swipe of iOS may be more intuitive in a way, it demands that you reach over to the left edge with your thumb. This may not be a big deal on the iPhone 5s but on a phablet size screen it does get annoying. At least compared to the tiny effort needed to press the back button.

Note: this is when the back button is placed on the right... I have no clue why Google decided to switch to the left side for vanilla OS. Better for lefties of course - optimally we would be given the choice in settings (without using a custom rom), also for hardware buttons like on Samsung's phones.

However, I have said this before and I will say it again: the optimal approach for this would be to not have a tap but a swipe function for going back AND forward - located to the control field at the bottom of the screen. Swipe to the left to go back, and right to go forward. For on-screen buttons - make the whole button field sensitive to the back and forward swipe, regardless of where on the field it is done. And hardware buttons could be made to accept this swipe as well. Then you have the best of both worlds, without having to stretch your thumb across the entire width of the screen.

Also, both OS's need to clean up their implementation of their go-back functionality. It's true that not all apps on iOS are optimised for the back-swipe. But the Android back button behaviour can be pretty erratic too...

 

[Cnasty]

The swipe functions are nice to use going back...at least in safari. A cool way Apple could do a back "button" is using a swipe left function on the home button. It's already touch enabled due to touchid.

The back button is extremely nice to have for convenience.

Being back to Apple for the first time in about 4 years I didnt know about the swipe back gesture and I love it!

Works on FB and Safari as far as I have found so thats a nice option. Still not a back button but love the functionality.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

Also, both OS's need to clean up their implementation of their go-back functionality. It's true that not all apps on iOS are optimised for the back-swipe. But the Android back button behaviour can be pretty erratic too...

The back button has been pretty flawless for me on multiple Android devices throughout the years. It always goes back to my previous screens(even through multiple apps) until it hits the home screen, not much more I expect from it.

 

[Tinmania]

The back button has been pretty flawless for me on multiple Android devices throughout the years. It always goes back to my previous screens(even through multiple apps) until it hits the home screen, not much more I expect from it.

My issue with the back button on Android is when it causes me to leave an app I had no intention of leaving. Personally I would rather it not leave the current app unless I came to that current app from another app (e.g, opened a link in Chrome from Gmail). But if I open an app from the launcher I don't want back to take me back to the launcher.

Still, I'll take the back button on Android any day, over iOS's approach. And memorizing multi-touch gestures, or even using them at all on a phone, is not an adequate solution in my opinion.




Michael

 

[Oohara]

The back button has been pretty flawless for me on multiple Android devices throughout the years. It always goes back to my previous screens(even through multiple apps) until it hits the home screen, not much more I expect from it.

It happens to me now and then that it does weird stuff and doesn't function as expected, but in all honestly I can't think of a specific example right now. I'll take note the next time it happens. But anyway, overall I'm very happy with it. What I'm really after though is that it'd be great if it had a "forward" function as well, to kind of 'ctrl-z' whenever I press it by accident.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

My issue with the back button on Android is when it causes me to leave an app I had no intention of leaving. Personally I would rather it not leave the current app unless I came to that current app from another app (e.g, opened a link in Chrome from Gmail). But if I open an app from the launcher I don't want back to take me back to the launcher.

Still, I'll take the back button on Android any day, over iOS's approach. And memorizing multi-touch gestures, or even using them at all on a phone, is not an adequate solution in my opinion.




Michael

Yea, that's true. I've left apps unintentionally sometimes using the back button too much. But I quickly just go to the open apps screen, just like it's done with the iPhone. I consider that more of a user error than a problem, cause I would hate the back button to be restricted within only the app. Nothing is perfect, unless it can read our minds.

I don't mess multiple launchers much. But of course an app will show up in the launcher it's opened on.

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It happens to me now and then that it does weird stuff and doesn't function as expected, but in all honestly I can't think of a specific example right now. I'll take note the next time it happens. But anyway, overall I'm very happy with it. What I'm really after though is that it'd be great if it had a "forward" function as well, to kind of 'ctrl-z' whenever I press it by accident.

That would be nice.