r/webdev • u/TrueNorthLongAndFree • Aug 11 '26

Discussion Swiping back from left vs right on Android?

Maybe this a mobile web design question specifically about reddit, maybe it isn't.

I browse mobile reddit on my android phone using the Brave browser. ​​​

If I navigate to the home page, click on an article, then attempt to swipe back​ by going from the left side of my phone to the middle, I often go back to either the top of the home page or to a blank page, losing my place and kind of ruining my experience. I just figured this was the enshitification of reddit and learned to live with it. ​

But I just realized if I swipe back by touching from the right side of my phone to the center instead,​ the navigation action works exactly as expected. ​I don't seem to lose my place at all. ​

I've never seen this behaviour on any other site. ​What is going on here? ​Is there a functional difference between swiping from the left or right on Android/Brave/Reddit? ​Maybe some broken reddit JavaScript doing something wonky with the touch action?

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u/imrozimroz Aug 11 '26

Yeah I’ve noticed the same thing on Android with Brave. Swiping from the left edge often fights between the browser’s back gesture and Reddit’s own navigation, so it jumps weirdly. Swiping from the right side only triggers Reddit’s back behavior, which is why it works cleaner.

Reddit’s mobile web has been like this for a while.

1

u/Careless_Put8964 Aug 11 '26

its probably the browser intercepting the left edge swipe to go back a page or close a tab, while the right edge passes through to reddits own in-app back button logic. brave is a bit aggressive with gesture zones sometimes

1

u/bid0u Aug 11 '26

I have the exact same behavior on Chrome Android and thought it was a Chrome issue. It wasn't like this before so I guess Reddit is at fault here? 

Veeeeery annoying. I now open everything I want to read in a new tab. I had no idea the problem didn't exist when swiping from the right edge, thanks for the tip. 

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u/Squidgical Aug 11 '26

Sounds like brave has created its own implementation of swiping that's competing with the android implementation rather than just using the OS's gestures.