Why no global BACK button/swipe motion?

arubislander · 11 Oct 2020, 20:01

DTube is indeed a webapp. But it has a hamburger menu (the three horizontal stripes) in the upper left corner to navigate the site. No need to exit and reenter the application.

CiberSheep · 11 Oct 2020, 20:24

Thanks for the feedback. Quickly answering to your question might be:

The OS is designed to work on phones, tablets and desktops.
Global back button is working in-app. If it doesn't, pleas file a bug report
There is no «OS back» as the system is designed with a different paradigm (aka «we are not Android»). You choose where to go depending on what you want to do: Launcher, Dash, other apps, etc...

Have you go through the welcome tutorial that show the basic OS use?

potet · 11 Oct 2020, 20:32

While I understand that this would be app-specific, I would just like to throw one idea out there.

It would be great if a swipe gesture that started at the bottom of the screen and exited anywhere on the left side would work as a "back" gesture at least in default apps. I have no idea how hard it would be to implement, but it would be a welcome alternative to the sometimes hard to reach button positioned at the top left of the screen.

If this is easy (or made easy) to implement I imagine it could catch on in apps that depend on the back button, especially Morph browser and web apps!

AppLee · 11 Oct 2020, 21:03

@potet
When starting a swipe from the top, the app looses focus.
A swipe from the bottom could be handled by the app, but it will be up to each app developer to use something like that.
And it's far more complex than using a simple button.
Developers can easily add alternative features if they wish...

Moem · 11 Oct 2020, 21:07

@CiberSheep said in Why no global BACK button/swipe motion?:

welcome tutorial that show the basic OS use

Huh! Interesting. Where would one find that?

CiberSheep · 11 Oct 2020, 21:12

@Moem It should trigger just after the welcome wizard (on the first install)

Moem · 11 Oct 2020, 21:13

@CiberSheep
Thank you. I guess I've either decided to take it later (and then never done it, because apparently there is no way) or done so and forgotten.

potet · 11 Oct 2020, 21:44

@AppLee My suggestion was from the bottom, not from the top. I agree that it would have to stay within the current framework, and from the top would make no sense for usability either.

As for it being more complex than a button - I see the point from a developing perspective, but I disagree from a user perspective. The back button is usually found on the top left, which is the least accessible point of the screen.

Assuming this is a feature that would be useful but is difficult to implement, would it not be possible to write a standardized function of sorts that app developers could choose to implement in their apps at their own free will?

If it would be good for users but complex for developers, maybe it could be possible to aid the developers by giving them some sort of tool box. But of course, I don't claim to have any expertise here - i simply think Username's concerns are valid, and made a suggestion for a possible solution.

cliffcoggin · 11 Oct 2020, 23:05

@CiberSheep said in Why no global BACK button/swipe motion?:

@Moem It should trigger just after the welcome wizard (on the first install)

I have never seen it (because I did not install the OS,) nor can I find it with a DDG search. Can you point me to it please?

CiberSheep · 12 Oct 2020, 01:53

@cliffcoggin the tutorial shoould have started after selecting time zone, language, etc on the first run. If not, that's a bug: could you fill an issue here?:
https://github.com/ubports/unity8/issues

Alter · 10 Dec 2020, 06:27

@CiberSheep said in Why no global BACK button/swipe motion?:

@cliffcoggin the tutorial shoould have started after selecting time zone, language, etc on the first run. If not, that's a bug: could you fill an issue here?:
https://github.com/ubports/unity8/issues

@CiberSheep & @NeoTheThird : there is a 'UT app' or Welcome app which, I believe, is installed by default. It has a menu with some useful links, but none of these point to a beginner tutorial. Could this be added?

AppLee · 12 Oct 2020, 07:51

@potet
Sure having an example or something that can be easily integrated will help.

I find the return button easy to access, but I understand it might annoy some people.
If someone make such gesture easily reusable then I guess it will get some promotion here on the forum.

cliffcoggin · 12 Oct 2020, 10:25

@CiberSheep As I mentioned, I did not install or set up the OS so I would not have seen any tutorial, hence my question. I think it would be better to start a separate topic to avoid deflecting this one.

marlboro50 · 10 Dec 2020, 23:13

a swipe from the bottom could open a sub menu with a back button as well as showing the open tabs. this might work with other apps as well.

Giiba · 12 Oct 2020, 23:33

It is not like a global back command would suddenly solve this problem; every app would need to implement what 'back' means to it. The inconsistent nature of what back means on an Android system is always a frustration to me, and I think it solves fewer problems than it causes.

Sure in Morph it would be very obvious what back does, but I'd argue that an option to move the navigation bar to the bottom edge would be more useful. Half of the apps I regularly use don't have an obvious 'back' action; what should 'back' do when I'm viewing maps in Pure Maps, or when typing into the calculator? I agree with others that each app should consider this as oppsed to forcing a global option.

Back and Home are UI hangovers that have been improved away by the Lomiri UI.