Chrome Back Button Doesn't Often Work

I'm having some trouble with Chrome and its back button ((again)). Say I go to an article at http://arstechnica.com/ or http://www.cracked.com/. I'll read the article and click the back button to return to the main page, but Chrome will just sit there and reload article for some reason. Http://www.cracked.com/ has major problems with this, but I've seen it happen elsewhere as I said too. Multi-page articles are especially prone to this behavior and I can't get it figured out. This is not the first time Chrome has done this to me and evidently others if I go by the Chrome forums. It also seems like it takes them weeks or months to fix it and hope for the best. Does anyone more familiar with Chrome have an understanding of why this happens, and happens so often?

 

Maybe it's going 'back' to a redirect and then it causes a reload. In cases like that you have to go back twice - quickly.

 

That's rather goofy of it. I certainly don't have this sort of problem with Firefox or another browser ((IE 9 is the only other one I tested on this issue.)). As I said, Cracked.com has this issue especially. Just about every article there does that to me. Now, it does not happen on every website. But it seems to always be a Chrome-only issue for me.

 

Which extensions do you have installed? Could be one of them.

 

This was a bug that often affected SRWare Iron. They did fix this eventually. I haven't run Iron for quite a while though, mainly because I had problems with it on multiple computers. The odds are it could be an extension issue. It may even be a WebKit or Chromium bug. I haven't noticed it on Chrome.

 

The only extensions I have installed are ABP+ and DNT+. I try to keep extensions to a minimum for security and performance reasons. These are also the only two extensions I have in my Firefox install, which does not have the back button issues, if that helps any. It does seem to get fixed eventually, only to return often in the next release or one or two releases afterward.

 

I know there are ways around it. I just think it's rather stupid for the same bug to reappear, disappear and then reappear again throughout releases. Chrome can fix insanely complicated ((to me at least)) security vulnerabilities and other bugs, but this one they can never get right and keep it fixed? It confuses me.

 

Well Google does't focus on fixing issues created by third party extensions, since they're created each time a new version of Chrome's released. It's up to third parties to fix it.

Try to recreate the issue without any extensions installed or/and with Chrome portable, if the error will reoccur. If it does, then report it as an issue, it will be noticed better.

 

That's just it, it isn't an extension issue. Others have reported this recurring issue as well without extensions installed, as have I. I'm not going to give up the security benefits and otherwise good performance over a back button bug, but I do still think it's a bit silly for the issue to keep showing up every other release or so.

 

Same problem here, as well. It's very annoying. As pointed out, Firefox doesn't have this problem. If Google would fix this I'd stick with Chrome permanently due mainly to a conflict with gnome-shell/Cinnamon desktop environments (I suspect a conflict with mutter or muffin) and Firefox extension Hide-Caption-Titlebar-Plus (you can't hide the Firefox titlebar easily in Linux). But as it is with the back button problem in Chrome being so frustrating I keep going back to Firefox.

BTW, this issue has been around since 2009. You'd think they would have gotten it right by now.

Later...

 

Have you tried another theme?

 

I think I found a solution (at least for now...haven't used it enough to swear by it) for those having trouble with the back button not working properly on certain websites. Just install this extension called Cache Killer...

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/cache-killer/jpfbieopdmepaolggioebjmedmclkbap

When activated Cache Killer will clean your Browser Cache before every page load.

Normally, while using Chrome, if I visit this site...

http://www.webupd8.org/

I was unable to back button my way out of it. But with Cache Killer installed it takes me to my previous webpage. Nice.

Hope it works for you as well. Hope it continues to work for me.

BTW, twl845, themes really didn't seem to make a difference. Thanks for the suggestion though.

Later...

 

So I'm still obviously not the only one. The thing is, this happens on practically any website I go to, so I know this is Chrome and not just some quirky website behavior. It doesn't even have to be a multi-page article anymore, all I need to do is try to go back to anything at all and this issue crops up. I have to say I'm getting weary of it and am close to considering a full-time move away from Chrome, best security or not.

 

Thank you Trespaser the clear cache app fixed this issue for me.

I am using the evaluation copy of Windows 8. Don't know when microsoft plan to disable it and make me buy the software of if they never will. But while I can I am using it.

I say this because the Chrome back button only began yesterday when I clicked on the "Relaunch Chrome in Windows 8 mode" option in the menu, I suddenly had this issue that the topic is about. The left arrow just reloads the existing page like it is stuck in a subroutine.

Now you can't blame this on any third party the only change I made was a Google product.

similarly Aandroid phones (I have ICS on SII) are not particularly good at web browsing. I have a cheap Nokia 610 Windows phone and it far surpasses Android as a mobile browser.

Google are now at the rear of the race. they have some ctaching up to do,. chrome has gone to pot, and android is a dinasaur.

Anyway the add on clear cache has fixed this recent issue.

 

I should point out that this issue has nothing to do with Windows 8, so I'm not sure what Windows 8 trial periods and its end has to do with the topic. However, going back to the original topic there seems to also be an occasional issue with Adblock Plus/Adblock that causes Chrome to act this way. As it stands right now in my particular case, the back button issue has gone away. When it will return is anyone's guess.

 

Use Chromium for windows. Better developed, faster bug fixes, no spyware/snooping, and far far quicker.

http://download-chromium.appspot.com/

 

Spyware and snooping..this has been done to death. There is no spyware in the Chrome browser. Tracking/snooping is a problem with Google the company and one that you're not going to get around so long as you use any Google service. Also, there is no built-in Flash (and no Pepper Flash) or PDF functionality, leading to two extra things you have to manually install and keep track of. Nor are there any auto-updates, leaving the user responsible for keeping on top of security/bug fixes. Chromium leaves out several things That said, I'm not against Chromium, like I am Iron or any knock-off "fork". To each their own, but let's get rid of this "Chrome is spyware" BS.

 

Personally I would rather have external, more secure additions. Such as Foxit for PDF's because it has a built in sandbox isolation for all PDF's. Flash is updated with Bullguard(Secunia) automatically, so that's not an issue. In fact that version is better as it is repository stripped of the installer/updater crap from Adobe. Sorry but Chrome has a lot of things in it that are quite similar, if not identical to spyware, and I won't use their products or services. Chromium doesn't have that junk, and I can re-compile it to make sure. Chrome redefines spying if you ask me, and virtually none of this is in Chromium (or secure derivatives), which I consider 'fairly' safe to use, although not entirely unless I make changes and recompile it myself.

If Google Chrome sees a very short, stock 404 page (less than 512 bytes), it talks to Google in order to try to suggest other possible pages and options.

Google Chrome checks for automatic updates every 25 hours.

Every 30 minutes, Google Chrome downloads a list of 32-bit url hashes of urls thought to be dangerous (malware or phishing).

When you choose your language in the user interface, Google Chrome downloads a spellcheck dictionary.

If you are typing a search or url in the address bar, Google Chrome will talk to google to try to offer useful query/url suggestions.

Google knows whatever you type into the bar. This means that, even if you don't intend to actually search for a certain term or visit a particular website, Google "knows" what you've typed, even if you don't hit the "enter" key.

A copy of Google Chrome includes a generated installation number which will be sent to Google after the installation and the first usage.

Details about crashes or failures are sent Google's servers.

This Chrome-function transmits information in encoded form to Google, for example, when and where Chrome has been downloaded.

Chrome installs a updater, which loads at every Windows in background.

Calls depending on the configuration five seconds after launch the Google homepage opens in background

 

Lord, okay, you still haven't come up with any "spyware. Everything you've listed is either done by every other browser (save for the few left that don't auto-update) or is done under very specific circumstances, such as RLZ, which is only used if you download Chrome from somewhere other than the official Chrome website, and only tells Google where the download came from and when. It's used to gauge marketing and promotions, such as bundled Chrome installs from other software. The rest, I don't know what your beef is. You don't want Google to keep you from malicious URLs? What updater/installer "crap" from Adobe do you see when Chrome updates its Flash? Screenshots? It downloads a spellchecker...Oh dear God, whatever will we do with such insidious activities? News Flash, considering most every browser uses Google for their search, Google knows what you typed anyway. Google checks for updates every so many hours...yeah..auto-updating kinda does that..so Google tries to suggest things when you type something in, that would be called "Instant" and can be disabled right there in the browser. Crash reports..most browsers do that, and like them all, it is optional and can be shut off as well. So, without addressing every single point you made in your post, it boils down to this pretty evident conclusion: You hate/don't trust Chrome. Fine and dandy, your choice doesn't affect anyone else. But let's keep the misinformation to a minimum, whatcha say? Hell, I trust Google about as far as I can pick up their headquarters and toss it. But, there's no getting around they have the most secure browser out there, and it's not even debatable. So, trust or not, I'm using it. Let's dial it back a bit and put our train back on the original subject while we're finishing this up too, hmm?

 

I've never encountered the problems described in this thread but I did take a look at the three links mentioned and could go to the previous page without problems and without the need of any extension. This is with a clean profile on the latest Chrome stable (no extensions at all) and Lubuntu 12.10.

I haven't encountered such a problem on Win XP or Win 7 or Ubuntu with Unity or Xfce 4.10.

In any case, is there a bug filed that one could look at?

 

Actually Opera is more secure. Pwn2Own started excluding Opera because it wasn't as easy to break. Nevertheless, you can benefit from Chrome AND not get spied on by using derivatives (Chromium, Yandex, Cool, SRWare, Comodo, etc) So it's all good, right? To be honest, if I was worried about updates, I would use Chrome Canary anyway. That way you get fixes before anyone else, and exploits are plugged before they become widely known.

I like Chromium not because of security, but because it's the fastest benchmarking browser I can find (by far). I do however edit the files, and remove the crash reporter calls, and other things.

 

What? Where are you getting this stuff? First, let's get Pwn2Own out of the way. Opera isn't there because too few use it. If Opera were to come back to the competition, it would be obliterated. Why? Because:

Name any feature of Opera that makes it more secure than any other mainstream browser. Just one, that's all. Plugin separation? Firefox did that long before Opera, and it's more stability-related than a security measure. Extensions? Which ones? Opera doesn't have NoScript or anything nearing its functionality, so once again Firefox trumps it in security, and extensions don't really even count. More secure than Chrome? Where is the sandbox? Where is the true tab isolation? Where are the rendering protections? Where is anything Chrome has built in before we even talk added security via extensions? That thing you're talking out of is meant to be used for sitting

Oh, actually, with Canary you get the possibility of more bugs/exploits/issues, not less because, yeah, it's what most would call the "Alpha" channel, not even Beta. So, now that we've established you're at best misinformed, how about that pesky back button issue?

Edit: Actually, is it possible to get the thread closed since the original issue is fixed, mods?

 

Canary are extremely similar to Chromium snapshots, they aren't alpha channel. They are somewhere between beta and release candidates. I've been running Chromium snapshots for years without any issues, Canary would be the same thing with auto-update for the most part. Consider Canary as a very short preview before stable development Chromium versions hit the streets, but a long preview before Chrome proper updates.

This means a few things.. Security through obscurity since you are running codes the hackers aren't using because there isn't an opensource of it. You are running code the developers already put in fixes to known exploits, prior to launching (within hours) to Chromium, and possibly days, or weeks before Chrome proper fixes come into place. It's quite a bit more secure, and there are ways to make it the default browser in Windows despite that feature being disabled within Canary.

Take a look at this screenshot, this is from 2-3 day old Chromium drop, and todays Canary; If anything, Canary is safer then Chromium proper because of the auto updater.
http://suxorz.com/image/AJE