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Google Chrome To Disallow Backspace As a 'Back' Button (independent.co.uk)

Posted by msmash on from the all-time-convenience-vs-accidental-damage dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Google Chrome is going to stop people from accidentally deleting everything they've been doing. A future version of the app will stop the backspace button from also functioning as a "back" button. The change has already been rolled out in some experimental versions of the app, and has upset some users. Developers have said that the feature is only being partly enabled for now, in case there is "sufficient outcry" and it needs to be rolled back. People regularly press the button thinking that they're deleting a word from a form, developers said, but then find that they weren't actually typing into that form and so accidentally go back, losing everything they've done.

8 of 348 comments (clear)

  1. Give the option by Ormy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Default behaviour should be backspace does NOT take you back a page. Leave a setting somewhere obvious to turn that particular function on again. Was that so hard?

    1. Re:Give the option by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It was dumb to map backspace to back anyway. With Internet and browsers dominating existence, keyboards should be redesigned with common browser clickies built in and separate from editing keys.

      Objections? Consider your useless neck broken and your body left for the wolves.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    2. Re: Give the option by yuriklastalov · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Found the Google interface designer!

      "We don't put options in our apps because it would confuse your silly little heads. Now go out and play little one."

      It's the Applesque "We know whats best" design methodology. And it sucks.

    3. Re:Give the option by AbRASiON · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Talk about semantics, lol.

      Apple staunchly block access and configuration to ALL kinds of things, it's "Apples way or the highway" with a SHITLOAD of their devices and software. It's why Android boomed at the start.

      To try and defend them of this, on the semantics of one thing is laughable. You're fighting a battle which was lost years ago.

  2. Really? This was a design decision, not a bug? by dan_linder · · Score: 2, Insightful

    For all the pain this has called me, I'm glad our national nightmare is finally over!

  3. Long overdue by Vadim+Makarov · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It took this many years until one browser vendor has noticed this usability problem? I have lost uncountable forms to this stupid feature. It works especially best when you are in a hurry or tired.

    Make it an option (buried in the config) for those who want it, and turn it off by default.

    --
    17779 eligible voters in a district, 17779 'vote' as one. This is Russia.
  4. Re:Really? This was a design decision, not a bug? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Firefox will ask you whether you want to leave a page before going back if there's data entered on the page. Chrome should implement something similar.

  5. This is a problem? by NEOGEOman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is sort of weird. As a long time Opera user I never had a problem accidentally leaving the page. My browser always remembered what I'd typed and going forward again to the form page would have all my content as I'd left it.

    IMO the problem isn't the backspace key, it's unfriendly browsers.