No back and forward buttons on android browser

I regret to inform you that I will NOT be using Brave browser as my default browser on android platform because it lacks back and forward buttons. The forward button I found is in the menu and not immediately accessible /clickable.

I expect a browser to have immediately accessible/clickable (not through a menu) back and forward buttons with click & hold history popup allowing for a quick hop a few pages back/forward.

BTW I am abandoning Opera mobile which, while it has that functionality, lacks bookmark search making it practically useless to me. I am going with Vivaldi browser.

I don’t know why browser companies are treating mobile versions of their software as an afterthought, but… ( Example: chrome tablet has this functionality but not mobile. Or at least it didn’t have it last time I used it. I wouldn’t know. I no longer use it on general principle because it requires you to log in to open the browser.)

1 Like

FWIW, Edge has forward / back (plus tap hold for history) and bookmark (“favorites”) search.

Thanks for the info. I’ll keep it in mind. I try to stay away from google, microsoft etc. I’ll use their products when it suits me. Things like the default google calendar app/browser on android not opening if you don’t log in. Opera mobile not having an export bookmarks function requiring you to make an account and sync bookmarks to be able to access them. That kind of stuff just doesn’t sit well with me.

I want to use Brave. I like their concept. The mobile version just doesn’t meet my criteria/minimum requirements for It to be my default android browser.

Agreed. I’ve never been a MS fan[1] (all Linux boxes/laptops here), but I am impressed with the speed and quality of the Edge browser, to include its Android port. I’m also impressed with their recent open source efforts.
.
.
[1] I’m a published author of a Linux book - one reviewer called me Windows-phobic : )

OK, I’ll give edge a second chance. I just uninstalled it actually.

Regarding linux. I used to disconnect the hard drive on my laptop, run ubuntu live CD and keep bookmarks on del.icio.us when browsing. Made it difficult for malware. Asus Transformer Book T100 Windows PC tablet with it’s 6+ hour battery life and later the $100 zmaxpro 6" 1080p phone changed my habits. I now use Moto G7 power/Supra and really enjoy the battery life and the quick charge. I want to check out the atom based phones that can run linux natively. But I digress.

Well, looks like I’m going to have to “eat my own words”. Apparently I failed to recognize that the back button on android phones has the functionality I require so it is understandable that Brave developers decided against a dedicated button on the interface. So there.

Still… apparently even in 2020 the entire industry, including Brave, decided that exporting bookmarks to an htm file is a feature that they need to eliminate/limit on the android version of their browser, allegedly due to platform limitations, and implement sync feature instead. !!! This is in 2020 when " The latest USB-C chargers are apparently more powerful than Apollo 11’s computer" https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2020/2/11/21133119/usb-c-anker-charger-apollo-11-moon-landing-guidance-computer-more-powerful and android phones are powerful enough to run windows/linux either on a simulator or natively (google it).

So I installed worldbrain’s memex as well as raindrop.io to handle my bookmarks and “whole page history search” ( a feature removed from both chrome & opera).

As far as Edge, the desktop version of Vivaldi takes the cake for now. Tiled tabs/pages, Web Panel buttons in the side panel, custom search engines etc. On android it will depend on memex & raindrop integration.

That’s about enough feedback from me.

Good day to all.

I was gonna mention Android’s global Back button, but figured you already knew that …

Plus you had a requirement for a Forward button, plus the requirement for Bookmark search.

BTW, I wasn’t trying to sell you on Edge, just suggesting another browser option for Android.

I know we all want a single browser solution for all platforms. Sadly, here’s the browsers I use on Android (and desktop) : )

1 Like

" BTW, I wasn’t trying to sell you on Edge …" Let me rephrase: As far as choice of browser.

Thanks for your time caldercay!
I just can’t believe there still isn’t an Android browser with basic functionality you take for granted on desktop. They all lack something.

But yes, different tools for different uses on different platforms. Microsoft browser’s default use is for government web sites. If you don’t want to find yourself on a government website clicking the final submit button with no effect whatsoever after having filled out and uploaded everything then use microsoft browser on Windows. Now let me mention some of what I have installed on Android: dolphin browser as the only full featured Android browser (now I remember why I used to use it) UC browser, Pure browser and Puffin browser - have bookmarks import/export functionality (but lack other so I don’t really use them in favor of Vivaldi). Vivaldi as my current favorite due to good sync and back/forward buttons. Tor Browser & Orbot. Also Brave - back on topic - Brave feedback: I decided keep and use Brave in spite of currently non existent sync because (as I recently found out) it let’s me play YouTube music or audio from any other website while switching to another window/app or turning off the screen. Functionality that is available on Android but deliberately disabled for YouTube music by google (owns both YouTube and android) so that they can charge $10/month for it.

Finally, since I already mentioned them, I dropped memex and raindrop in favor of tagpacker.com which let’s me import bookmark html files and bulk edit folders/tags for free.

BTW I just stumbled onto slax Linux. It let’s you run live CD/DVD/USB stick/SSD/SD. It has the option load to and run from RAM and make “persistent” changes to the live media fairly easily. It would be fun to get it running on Android.

Good day!