Going home, not back

Using an iPad with a hard keyboard is kinda nifty. There’s Cmd+Tab to switch between apps, Cmd+Space to search. Arrow keys, with the Cmd and Alt modifiers work as they should. And while i’ve been searching for a Back button on the iPad, you can go Home using the keyboard with the shortcut Cmd+H. Nifty.

Coming from an Android world, a universal Back button is a central navigation device that i’m truly missing. While there is a left caret in many apps, it’s not really the same thing. Now there might still be a Back button on iPadOS, with or without a hard keyboard, but i haven’t found one.

There also is no Escape key to close things with, like if you open Search (Cmd+Space) and decide you don’t want to search anyway, you’ll have to delete the stuff you wrote in the search box, then press Enter, as searching for nothing will mean the same as cancelling the search. Or you have to lift your hand from the keyboard and poke Cancel on the screen. There’s a principle in Usability that says you should keep the stuff you need near at hand. Or in this case, near the hand, which is on the keyboard.