Android has back key and home key that users hit accidentally all the times. That doesn't cause much problem. Why can't the Web apps save their state to better handle the accidental exit of the app? It's not just the backspace, Ctrl-R and Ctrl-W all exit the app.
Don't break existing functionality!!
"Android has back key and home key that users hit accidentally all the times."
The back and home buttons are not overloaded with other meaning based on context. Android applications tend to handle accidental "back" presses gracefully. Accidental "home" presses are usually of no consequence whatsoever.
"Why can't the Web apps save their state to better handle the accidental exit of the app?"
Who cares? They don't and they won't.
"It's not just the backspace, Ctrl-R and Ctrl-W all exit the app."
It's way less likely to accidentally hit those combinations. For backspace, it happens all the time.
"Don't break existing functionality!!"
The functionality isn't broken, it's just that the few people who actually use this shortcut will have to use another shortcut now. Big Deal.
I elaborated more on the fallacy of "switching to another browser" more than 2 years ago, and it's still as relevant as ever: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7678583
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Browser.backspace_action
I do wish it was more exposed though, given how many want the non-default behaviour.
Surely you jest. The back button has seen significant overhaul in the time since it was introduced; it changed from activity-to-activity navigation along the single "back stack" to a confusing, circuitous path walk between applications, their "up" stacks, their "back" stacks, and everything else under the sun. It's difficult to determine when it will take you to the previous activity or to a page you haven't seen in the days since you last launched the application you just ended up on.
If you're in a browser, the back hardware key takes you back -- until it determines that you've reached a navigation root (which might not be the earliest page in the chain), and it pops you back to the previous application or the home screen. Perhaps it closes the tab?
If the keyboard is up, it dismisses it -- unless you're in an autocorrect action (* on certain phones). Maybe it opens the keyboard, too, because it took you back to a previously focused field.
It's far from "not overloaded with other meaning based on context". It is, in fact, "entirely overloaded with other meaning; much of which is based solely on context."
It is not overloaded. It doesn't start deleting characters depending on where your last tap may have (accidentally) been. Well, maybe some app does that, but I hope you get my point.
and as a bonus, I just discovered the windows + left key, which is properly awesome on this shiney new(ish) xps 13 (much better than the old rotate screen functionality).
Why can't you guys just use alt-right after a backspace to restore the previous page?
So an accidental thumb tap a touchpad + trying to delete a character produces a wait for the entire app to reload and then get back to where you were - which can take minutes assuming you were lucky and said app hadn't decided to wait 30 minutes to autosave.
In fact I had turned off fast tap on the touchpad for exactly this reason, glad I can turn it back on again.
If moving the mouse to the backspace button (seriously, the whole point of keyboard shortcuts is for people typing with both hands and not using the mouse) is such a problem, clean the mouse and turn up its sensitivity.
Or better yet, get a touchscreen, you'll never want to go back to mister mouse.
Wow, never thought that would need explaining here :(
Oh wait, that's not funny. That's sad.
Seems like it was misadapted to the browser context when it was recast as "back".
I think your arguments are sounds. Don't break existing functionality is good but you have to take it into context. Sometimes you have to in order to make the product as a whole better.
If this never happened to you, good for you, you lucky bastard. Now get out of the way, this is a quality of life improvement for millions of real people out there. Hard working people. Mothers and Grandmothers. Think of them while you are bothered to work around this slight inconvenience of yours.
"You don't like it? Too bad, we're doing it anyway" is what such statements are actually saying.
Emotionless calculation: X% people like it current backspace behaviour, Y% people use it only by accident (they may actually have telemetry to know the percentages). If they change the behaviour, Y% will be happier, which X% will split into "installed extension to revert", "won't care after a month", "switches browser". If the overall change is positive enough, they made a good product decision, even if you and I don't like the new behaviour.
Some web apps can and do save their state, but not all of them do, and you can't force them to by administrative fiat, filing bugs with mozilla, huffing and puffing, or even holding your breath.
Does your phone or keyboard have dedicated Ctrl-R and Ctrl-W keys?