Question Is it legitimate for app developers (especially game apps) to disable the Back button?

[e_canuck]

I am not a frequent player of games on my Samsung S20 but a few times, now, I have uninstalled games because they have disabled use of the back button to fully exit from the app. With the last one, commenters on a Facebook page about the app said they just exit using the home button, as that still works. My notion is that if you exit to Home without hitting "back" repeatedly, you are leaving the app running in the background/using power etc. This advent calendar app and a couple of other apps I've used in the past and then because of the back button issues, have deleted,are the only Android apps I've ever used that cover the entire phone screen, edge to edge. Then, even when swiping up to get the missing navigation icons to reappear, the "back" icon doesn't work.

I've also had a few pop-up apps in free games also completely cover the screen and had to resort to restarting my phone to get rid of them.

Are the developers of these apps just doing a bad job or are they deliberately disabling a feature which is standard for Android and is not supposed to be disabled?

 

[notforhire]

I am not a frequent player of games on my Samsung S20 but a few times, now, I have uninstalled games because they have disabled use of the back button to fully exit from the app. With the last one, commenters on a Facebook page about the app said they just exit using the home button, as that still works. My notion is that if you exit to Home without hitting "back" repeatedly, you are leaving the app running in the background/using power etc. This advent calendar app and a couple of other apps I've used in the past and then because of the back button issues, have deleted,are the only Android apps I've ever used that cover the entire phone screen, edge to edge. Then, even when swiping up to get the missing navigation icons to reappear, the "back" icon doesn't work.

I've also had a few pop-up apps in free games also completely cover the screen and had to resort to restarting my phone to get rid of them.

Are the developers of these apps just doing a bad job or are they deliberately disabling a feature which is standard for Android and is not supposed to be disabled?

I have a couple of financial apps (one banking, the other investment) that behave similarly. You can't "back" your way out of the app. You have to go Home. It is annoying when everything else works "normally."

 

[Golfdriver97]

Is it legitimate? Yes.

Are the developers of these apps just doing a bad job

Also, yes.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! In general, if an app isn't in the foreground, it won't use power, unless it's specifically coded to work in the background. Have you experienced any game using battery when it's been paused in the background?

 

[e_canuck]

Welcome to Android Central! In general, if an app isn't in the foreground, it won't use power, unless it's specifically coded to work in the background. Have you experienced any game using battery when it's been paused in the background?

I guess I can check the list of app power usage to see but I've already deleted the app and would prefer not to add it back for that. Thanks for the info. about background apps not using power.