>Unfortunately, Google is mandating that it acquire "up button" semantics rather than back button semantics - for many apps, it's supposed to go to the "top" level before it exits out.
You have a source on that? I know of only one Google app that does this if called from an outside Activity or notification.
"If your app was reached via the system mechanisms of notifications or home screen widgets, Up behaves as described for app-to-app navigation, above.
"For the Back key, you should make navigation more predictably by inserting into the task's back stack the complete upward navigation path to the app's topmost screen. This way, a user who has forgotten how they entered your app can safely navigate to the app's topmost screen before exiting it.
"For example, Gmail's Home screen widget has a button for diving directly to its compose screen. After following that path, the Back key first returns to the Inbox, and from there continues to Home."
I got bitten by it just yesterday. I was setting an alarm. I pick the alarm, click on 'Time', set the time, hit the 'set' button. Then the time goes away and I'm back on the alarm screen, and I hit the back button to exit the app. But that 'cancels' my change and the alarm goes back to the old time.
It's a combination of setting alarms having too many screens, and android having trained me to hit back-back-back when I'm done with an app.
Hmm. When I'm done with an app, I usually hit the home key. I usually use 'back' when I'm taken to another app by some other means: an email notification, a link starting the browser, opening a file in a file browser. Perhaps the confusion lies in different usage behaviours?
And FWIW, I just tried doing what you describe with the ICS clock / alarm app. It worked as expected for me: after tapping "set", the alarm was set, and Back took me back to the clock, and another Back exited the app.
One practical way the new semi-broken approach affects me is with JustPictures, a photo viewing app. I use it in conjunction with ES File Explorer. It used to be that when you launched a photo from the file explorer, it would come up in JustPictures, and then you'd return to the file browser when you tapped Back. But now, after JustPictures was updated to better conform with guidelines a month or two back, it goes into its own "tile" view of the folder before sending me back to the file browser. This behaviour is according to the new guidelines, but I find it quite upsetting. I launched JustPictures not because it has its own top screen and file system navigation etc., but because it has more reasonable photo viewing functionality (specifically, file-based rather than media library based) than the gallery app.
The new Android approach seems focused on becoming more like iOS, where each app is its own silo, rather than how it started out, with activities blurring the distinction between apps and enabling a higher level of integration. But the more Android becomes like iOS, the less reason I have to prefer it over iOS.
There's actually a similar dynamic going on with Firefox. Firefox is slowly cloning Chrome's look and feel, and I have to work harder and harder to get the menu bar, status bar etc. back in place. The day I can no longer do that, is the day in which I might as well give up on Firefox and use Chrome. (Well, that and Chrome's text selection algorithm. It's absolutely hideous for this compulsive text-highlighting reader.)
"I just tried doing what you describe with the ICS clock / alarm app. It worked as expected for me: after tapping "set", the alarm was set, and Back took me back to the clock.."
Are these the screens you see?
- Clock with alarm time
- 'Alarms' page with list of alarms and 'add alarm' button
- 'Set alarm' page with time, repeat, ringtone, etc. and cancel/delete/ok buttons at the bottom
- Set time - with the dials for hour and minute, and cancel/set buttons at the bottom
I'm talking about adjusting the time dials, hitting 'Set', returning to the 'Set alarm' page, hitting back, which simulates hitting 'cancel', throws away my change (without asking for confirmation), and returns me to the 'Alarms' page.
Does this make more sense? I'm on Ice Cream Sandwich if that helps. (Being forced to upgrade a device with a smaller viewing area to an OS that assumes a galaxy-sized screen, that's a whole separate rant.)
I'm starting to realize it's partly because backing out of an app was a way in my mind to close the app. But ICS doesn't seem to pay attention to that anymore, so you're right, I should just hit the home key.
You have a source on that? I know of only one Google app that does this if called from an outside Activity or notification.