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I'm unclear about Android's UI mechanism to go "back" one screen. I have read the docs and I understand that the hardware back button should serve to do just that. Meanwhile, the Action Bar in ICS serves as an "up" button if the activity has multiple entry points. This leaves me with two questions:

  1. I notice many Android apps use the left side of the Action Bar go to "back" anyway (in addition to the hardware back button). Should I do this with my app (meaning there will be two ways to go back)?
  2. Do Android users naturally use the hardware button to go back, or do they expect a nav button at the left side of the Action Bar to go back a la iOS? It seems like having to resort to the hardware button below the screen to go back is a pain in the ass for users (especially on tablets) - Is this really what Android UI guidelines prescribe? Thank you.
Steveo
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The back button usually goes to the last screen it was on, the up button usually goes to the main screen of the app. For example a music player might have a total library as the main screen. The user clicks on artists, then albums, if the back button is clicked it should go back to artists, clicking the up button should go back to the complete library

Ryan Sayles
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To answer your first question, if "back" is the same thing as "up" in your app, then yes, you should implement both buttons to do the same thing (don't just leave out one of them). However, if "back" doesn't neccessarily mean "up", then no - they should do different things. For example, if you were making a text messaging app, and the user clicks on a notification in the notifications menu that they received a text message, pressing "back" should return them to their previous app or the home screen, while pressing "up" should return them to the list of all text message conversations.

To answer your second question, yes. Android users naturally use the back button to go back.

IanPudney
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