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Phones Should the back button be on the left or the right side?
- Thread starter Oohara
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Right handed, prefer mine on the right. Note 3 currently, works well with it on the right. I think I'd toss it out the window if the back button was on the left.
Even on my Nexus 7 2013 I've changed the nav bar to rearrange the back button to the right and the multitasking button to the left.
Makes so so much sense this way.
Why?
Pretty simple: the back button is probably the most used one and it needs to be as near of your finger as possible.
Having it on the left is so annoying and uncomfortable. It's not as easy to reach as on the right.
Google should rethink this. Don't know why the did it like that on first place
I hope someday they'll change it. If not, Gravity Box is the solution.
One of the reasons I didn't go for the M8 was because the back button is on the left and I didn't want to root the device right away to lose warranty.
On the LG G2 and G3 you can rearrange the nav bar to your liking. LG has done a GREAT job here and therefore I'll always consider their devices just because of this alone.
On the Nexus 5 I could also change it with Gravity Box, and there you didn't lose warranty after rooting.
I chose the SGS5 also because of this.
Not really. On my Galaxy Nexus it's actually a bit easier to get to the back button on the bottom left. On my Nexus 7, I could use either my left or right thumb. Not a big deal really.
Plus, I think it makes more logical sense. Going "back" is usually associated with left. Think web browsing.
I write with my left, but I'm generally a righty. So right for me.
I don't really prefer capacitive or onscreen buttons since using All In One Gestures. Home is a swipe from the left. Back is from the right.
Reason I started preferring right is because Nova Prime's slide animation pops from the right. I use double tap to open BlinkFeed/Sense launcher shortcut. But I can't close it using the back action. Only the home button action. So when I swipe from the left, the animations moves to the right. Very cool effect. So I guess HTC was wrong all those years.
I don't really prefer capacitive or onscreen buttons since using All In One Gestures. Home is a swipe from the left. Back is from the right.
Reason I started preferring right is because Nova Prime's slide animation pops from the right. I use double tap to open BlinkFeed/Sense launcher shortcut. But I can't close it using the back action. Only the home button action. So when I swipe from the left, the animations moves to the right. Very cool effect. So I guess HTC was wrong all those years.
It doesn't matter where it is as long as it stays in the same place in ALL devices.
Going to a Samsung from any other Android is like driving a left hand drive car when you are used to a right hand drive car. Doable but a pain in the ass especially when you use two devices regularly and have to adapt to each. The experience should be uniform in ALL.
Going to a Samsung from any other Android is like driving a left hand drive car when you are used to a right hand drive car. Doable but a pain in the ass especially when you use two devices regularly and have to adapt to each. The experience should be uniform in ALL.
Thanks for your votes guys,
So far then we have 18 for Left and 19 for Right, with one left handed user voting for left.
Device size seems to play quite heavily into the preference as 2/3 of those voting for Left use <5.5" screen devices and ca 2/3 of those voting for Right use 5.5" screens or larger.
Keep 'em coming!
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I agree with this, as a gesture is a more intuitive way of connecting with the action of going back or forward. However I'm not that crazy about iOS implementation when it comes to larger screens. On the iPhone 6 it works OK. But holding the 6 Plus with one hand and reaching all the way over to the left edge of the screen and swiping inwards is a very annoying task to have to do over and over again IMO. In this case I gladly pass up the intuitive-ness of the gesture in order to have the ease of a tap which my thumb can achieve with hardly any movement at all.
What I'd really, really like to see though is an implementation which combines the ease of reaching the nav bar with the intuitive quality of gestures. That is - a nav bar which registers gestures. Swipe left or right to go back or forward, with the screen action precisely following the motion of your finger. Tap in the middle to go home. Maybe double tap for app switcher. And then add further gestures to taste. For devices with a physical home button - make the button itself register these gestures.
So far then we have 18 for Left and 19 for Right, with one left handed user voting for left.
Device size seems to play quite heavily into the preference as 2/3 of those voting for Left use <5.5" screen devices and ca 2/3 of those voting for Right use 5.5" screens or larger.
Keep 'em coming!
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I agree with this, as a gesture is a more intuitive way of connecting with the action of going back or forward. However I'm not that crazy about iOS implementation when it comes to larger screens. On the iPhone 6 it works OK. But holding the 6 Plus with one hand and reaching all the way over to the left edge of the screen and swiping inwards is a very annoying task to have to do over and over again IMO. In this case I gladly pass up the intuitive-ness of the gesture in order to have the ease of a tap which my thumb can achieve with hardly any movement at all.
What I'd really, really like to see though is an implementation which combines the ease of reaching the nav bar with the intuitive quality of gestures. That is - a nav bar which registers gestures. Swipe left or right to go back or forward, with the screen action precisely following the motion of your finger. Tap in the middle to go home. Maybe double tap for app switcher. And then add further gestures to taste. For devices with a physical home button - make the button itself register these gestures.
I'm a right-hander, but use the phone on my left hand 95% of the time. On my Note 3 I use Xposed Additions to remap the back button to the left and change the right button to be the app switcher...left-sided back button is easier for me to reach with my left thumb...
On an iPad, this is done with a four finger swipe. They could add additional gestures on the iPhone.