Google is going to fix the difficult-to-use "Back button" on Android phones

　　At the Google I/O Developer Conference that just ended, a number of new hardware products such as Pixel 6a and Pixel Buds Pro ignited the emotions at the scene and at the same time snatched away the attention of the original protagonist of the conference - software.

　　But this does not mean that the software and Android operating system announced at the developer conference are worthless. They are improving our experience of using mobile phones in more subtle ways.

Now that you are used to using gestures to return, do you still remember the virtual return button?

　　For example, Google announced at the developer conference that it would modify Android's gesture return function to make the 'back button' more user-friendly.

　　Apps are too messy, Google is taking action

It’s 2022, why did Google change the Android back button?

Isn't it quite useful? Why change it?

　　Maybe you have similar questions. Facts are the best answer. The Android back button is not difficult to use. The problem lies in the apps that abuse the 'back' function.

　　Since the Android back key supports global operations and can be used to return to the desktop directly, apps like WeChat, Weibo, and system built-in apps can all be returned to the desktop with one swipe.

　　If you switch to apps like Baidu Maps or Bilibili, you need to swipe sideways twice to return to the desktop, or even directly turn the return key into a 'refresh' button. Swiping sideways on the app homepage does not exit the app or put the app into the background, but refreshes the information flow.

　　In addition to being more convenient to operate, enabling the 'refresh function instead of the back key' by default may also be intended to attract people to continue watching content in the app by refreshing new content.

　　The original purpose of the function of swiping sideways twice to return to the desktop was to prevent accidental touches. In a horizontal screen gaming scenario, frequent finger operations will inevitably cause the small horizontal interactive area at the bottom of the phone to be accidentally touched to trigger the return function. The two-time return verification solves this problem well.

　　However, a large number of apps now use this mechanism, making it difficult for people to distinguish which apps require two swipes to return to the desktop and which apps only require one swipe. In fact, not so many apps require two swipes to prevent accidental touches.

　　When the back button’s destination is uncertain, people become more confused.

       There are dozens of secondary menus, but it is impossible to increase the secondary menus indefinitely. Continuously entering a new menu level will not only reduce operating efficiency but also cause a bad experience.

　　Therefore, both horizontal and vertical operations have been favored by major application developers. For example, you can swipe left and right to switch content columns. Some e-commerce applications even have special cards where you can swipe left and right to switch content.

　　Compared with physical buttons, gesture operations are obviously more complicated and more difficult to understand. The trigger range and sliding length of gesture sliding will affect the use of the function.

　　These apps contain functions that allow users to swipe left or right to switch content, which to some extent "conflict" with the system's side-swipe back function. Does side-swiping slide the content in the card, or does it trigger the return operation?

　　Google's latest approach is to introduce 'predictable design'. Not only does the normal side-swiping back button have a corresponding arrow symbol to remind people, but when you swipe back to the desktop, the desktop wallpaper will be directly displayed, and clear interface animations will be used to remind people where the return key will take them, reducing the chances of accidentally closing apps.