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Chrome removes Backspace to go back

bugs.chromium.org

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Re: Chrome removes Backspace to go back

#521

Post by YeGoblynQueenne »

We have UseCounters showing that 0.04% of page views navigate back via the backspace button and 0.005% of page views are after a form interaction. The latter are often cases where the user loses data. Years of user complaints have been enough that we think it's the right choice to change this given the degree of pain users feel by losing their data and because every platform has another keyboard combination that navigates back.

We're doing this via a flag so that we can control this behavior should there be sufficient outcry.

oOh dear lord, that's a horrible idea. You make a change to your software to fix a problem that is not caused _by_ your software? If a form is confusing enough that the user thinks they have focus when they don't and ends up losing data then that's an issue with the form, isn't it? Not the browser and not the button.

Re: Chrome removes Backspace to go back

#522

Post by warfangle »

wastedhours wrote: post #518
eslaught wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> > The correct solution: Cache tab history completely [...] This is not a solution for the majority of users. The problem with keyboard shortcuts is that most users won't know what happened. All they'll know is that suddenly they're not on the same page any more, and then won't realize they've navigated backwards. Therefore they won't think to navigate forwards again, and they won't get back to their form data, even…

Intrigued by "This is not a solution for the majority of users." - do we really know what percentage was intended? If we're going by anecdotal, then everyone I know fully uses backspace to go backwards, including parents and non-technically minded colleagues. Would have assumed that if you go backwards by accident, the obvious solution is to go forward again, no?

Given the state of usability labs at Goog, it's probably a substantial and statistically relevant percentage.

Re: Chrome removes Backspace to go back

#523

Post by YeGoblynQueenne »

We have UseCounters showing that 0.04% of page views navigate back via the backspace button and 0.005% of page views are after a form interaction.

That's from the linked issue, the one that actually made the change.

So, um. What is "UseCounters"? Does this mean that when you're entering text in a form Chrome is registering your keypresses?

Re: Chrome removes Backspace to go back

#524

Post by YeGoblynQueenne »

kbenson wrote: post #216
malz wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Giant web forms have been a usability disaster since day one. Accidental back button, link click, window close, session timeout, etc, increase the chance of a failure and need to re-enter the entire form. Whereas for at least 40 years desktop software has given you a "sure you don't want to save?" option.

I've lost HN comment data 10-15 minutes into a reply by using a laptop with an overly sensitive touchpad. Multiple times. Not something I particularly enjoy, and that's just a single input field.

Seems like the Chromium solution is to remove your touchpad.

Re: Chrome removes Backspace to go back

#525

Post by code_sloth »

stouset wrote: post #386
ultramancool wrote: post #348

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> because they do impose a constant and non-trivial burden on everyone else (especially in cases like backspace which are relatively easy to hit on accident). So make them an option and stop taking the Chrome route of stripping out everything that more advanced users use regularly. Of course, this is why I run Firefox. I can do things like force OCSP enabled and get error pages when it fails - Chrome's solution was t…

There's a cost to this too, in terms of development effort. Yeah, one option isn't a big deal, but multiply this by the gajillion times that developers have to make a choice between something 99% of their users want. Backspace-as-back-button is not an "advanced feature". It's a hotkey that essentially no other software uses for the same behavior and one which conflicts crappily with the fundamental behavior of that k…

> ... my level of empathy for this kind of griping is roughly zero. Adapt to the new hotkey and save the complaining for something that actually matters.

It's absolutely amazing how many comments (500++ as I write this) that this "news" generated.

Re: Chrome removes Backspace to go back

#526

Post by jeeva »

pantalaimon wrote: post #517
amluto wrote: post #463

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree here. Some shortcuts simply suck. Backspace to go back is one. This is because backspace is very useful and means something different when a text field is focused. It would be like using just plain Q to quit.

ctrl + q to quit is bad enough, it's right next to ctrl + w to close a tab

And Ctrl + Shift + W to close a window. Ugh. Lots of accidental closures...

Re: Chrome removes Backspace to go back

#528

Post by Nexxxeh »

smoothdeveloper wrote: post #508
stouset wrote: post #386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a cost to this too, in terms of development effort. Yeah, one option isn't a big deal, but multiply this by the gajillion times that developers have to make a choice between something 99% of their users want. Backspace-as-back-button is not an "advanced feature". It's a hotkey that essentially no other software uses for the same behavior and one which conflicts crappily with the fundamental behavior of that k…

alternatives: * alert if any form filled by user wasn't submitted (in case site doesn't do that already) * let 99% of user who don't know what they did (they are in minority compared to number of times backspace is pressed to actually navigate back) retype their form if they don't navigate forward (which recovers their input, or should) * add a third hand to human race so it doesn't take all the hands to navigate bac…

>lure lenovo to restore the back / forward keys on thinkpads and make that implemented on most keyboards

The number of times I've accidentally hit the back-a-page button on my old X201, and wiped my in-progress form entry...

They smooshed those keys right around the arrow keys. The arrow keys I use to jumping around text.

That's worse than having a dual-use for backspace to me.

Backspace is far enough away that it's not hit by accident.

Re: Chrome removes Backspace to go back

#530

Post by tremon »

YeGoblynQueenne wrote: post #521

We have UseCounters showing that 0.04% of page views navigate back via the backspace button and 0.005% of page views are after a form interaction. The latter are often cases where the user loses data. Years of user complaints have been enough that we think it's the right choice to change this given the degree of pain users feel by losing their data and because every platform has another keyboard combination that navi…

What makes you say that the problem is not caused by Chrome? I mean, Chrome is the user agent here, it handles both the form display and form input.

However, I agree it's a poor solution. They could have chosen to track modification of form fields on the page and display a confirmation dialog when backspace is pressed.

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