Did Chrome just now change from backspace to alt-leftarrow to go back?

[Orrex]

Why they hell did they do that? How is using two buttons better than one?

[CBGLuthier]

1. They both work fine on my computer, backspace or alt left arrow.

Both return to the previous page.

[Orrex]

2. Backspace currently does nothing on mine...

except give me a little pop-up telling me to use alt-left-arrow instead.

[CBGLuthier]

3. and then I restarted my browser, finishing the update and it is like yours.

Stupid damn thing to change. WTF up with that?

OK, google claims people were hitting it thinking it would back up one letter in a text box but if they had lost focus it would return to the previous page and LOSE the form entries. I seldom use it much anymore anyway, more often than not I open new pages ina new tab so no going back for me.

[Orrex]

4. Doh!

Well, the way to fix that is to save the form data so that you don't lose it if you backspace to the previous page.

Weird that they'd implement an "enhancement" that's worse than IE...

[rurallib]

5. chrome has fixed so much stuff recently

that after 4 years I had to go back to firefox.

I don't know if google + Apple don't mix, but they drove me out.

[Wounded Bear]

6. Didn't know that was a feature...

Not a power user here.

[Sentath]

7. That has screwed up so many text forms for me I'm glad to see it happen.

One typo 2/3 of the way through and suddenly I'm redoing the previous screen and the one I made the mistake on, miserable.

[Orrex]

8. It seems that they should be able to preserve the form data rather easily

I mean, until I manually clear it, the stored form data lasts long enough to "suggest" DU subject lines that I typed three years ago.

There's no reason why a text form can't likewise remember keystrokes despite an errant backspace.

[Orrex]

9. So is there a fix for this stupid "feature?"

I've tried Googling it, but nearly all of the results are random forum posts from three or four years ago.

If Microsoft had added this "feature" to IE, the internet would explode with mocking laughter.

[Enrique]

10. they may have gotten this from Microsoft

the alt arrow shortcuts can be used to navigate the folder system. If it's not in IE now, it probably will be at some point.

[Orrex]

11. They should make it an "enable-able" option

If someone finds the backspace key to be a nuisance when typing in text fields, then they should be able to disable the back-one-page function of that key.

Stupid of them to foist it on all users when all users aren't experiencing the problem.

[Enrique]

12. you are not alone...

http://venturebeat.com/2016/08/14/restore-backspace-shortcut-chrome/

Google software engineer Ojan Vafai has indicated that 0.04 percent of page views go back with the backspace key. But Chrome now has more than 1 billion active users, so 0.04 percent could mean 400,000 users. And backspace-for-back devotees have been vocal.

[Orrex]

13. SOLIDARITY!

And thanks for the link!