Back button in iPhone

Try 2 finger scrub, that's back / escape, usually.

To dismiss an alert or return to the previous screen, perform a two-finger scrub. (move two fingers back and forth three times quickly, making a “z”)

I've remapped this 2 finger scrub to 2 finger single tap. I do back action much more frequently, and 2 finger scrub just doesn't cut it.

While the two-finger scrub gesture is often suggested as a quick way to navigate back, it’s important to note that not all apps support this feature. In some cases, the only available option is to manually locate and activate the back button within the app’s interface.

I have encountered this limitation in several applications, which means there isn’t always a straightforward solution. This issue typically falls under the responsibility of the app developer. Ideally, if developers adhere to accessibility guidelines, gestures like the two-finger scrub should function as intended.

Additionally, for users familiar with Braille, command mode provides an alternative: simply using the letter “B” will navigate back a screen.

In addition to the methods you've already mentioned, there's another potentially useful one that some apps support: long-pressing a spot on the page and then swiping left to the very edge of the screen. Some apps also achieve the effect of returning to the previous screen with this operation.

Many Android users I know don't encounter the same problem we iPhone users do, because quite a few Android users can install third-party screen readers. These screen readers have a very practical function: while recognizing the screen, we can precisely tap on every recognized area. For example, the iPhone's screen recognition tells us there's a back button in the top left corner, but in reality, the clickable area of that back button, the part that actually works when tapped, might only be a small portion of the top left corner. VoiceOver, however, can only recognize that location as a complete focus area. But what are third-party Android screen readers like? They allow tapping on every recognized word. Taking the back button as an example again, if our cursor is on the word "back" and we tap, it might not work, but if we tap on the word "button," it does. I don't know if you can understand my explanation. In short, such a feature truly makes me envious.

I agree that back gesture doesn't work in all apps. Youtube comes to mind. Only alternate in that case is to do a gesture for focusing first item on screen, 4 finger tap towards uppper half of the screen, and from there, back button is either the first item, or, second one. Not the best implementation, but you get use to it.
We shouldn't have to get use to it. Not allowing a universal back gesture/button is a very bad User Experience choice.

Hello there,
While I definitely understand the challenge you are facing, it doesn't have anything to do with Apple. Application developers are free to choose where the back button should be placed, or even whether there should be a back button at all. Youtube has been mentioned as an example, but I don't understand that one, as the back button is available in Youtube in all contexts where it makes sense (example: We don't have it while playing a video since there is a button to collapse the player instead, but we do have it in search results, while visiting a channel, etc...).

You should try contacting the developers of the applications where you are having these issues, they might be willing to improve the accessibility of the back button for VoiceOver users.

It's about consistancy. Why allow app developers to disallow use of back gestures at all? Doesn't matter if it's on screen or not, gesture should work no matter what. If scrub gesture doesn't work, back command in BSI also doesn't work. Doing Braille B won't take you back, you will have to come to first item on the screen with Braille L, and then there will be back button, do the activation gesture to activate. It's a 2 step process when it can be just 1.
Coming back to Youtube, Back button exists at most screens, but somehow gesture doesn't work at all. Why? Why allow Google or any other developer to make that choice to allow or disallow use of back gesture in their apps?
Android Doesn't allow you to do that. Or, at least it's not a default behaviour. On most apps, back gesture works, so does button.
Above is a meaningful criticism given in good faith, I hope it will be received in it's intended manner.

Hello,
It's not actually a matter of a developer specifically disallowing the back gesture. Rather, the back gesture is, in a way, similar to magic tap. In other words, a developer has to implement it, and VoiceOver has to know what that gesture is supposed to do, in this case activate the back button. If the native iOS back button is used, this comes by default and you don't need to do anything. Unfortunately many developers choose to use custom controls, so if there is a custom back button involved, you have to take care of the appropriate VoiceOver gesture.

While this can be seen as strange if you are coming from Android, where the back gesture is just an operating system function, it also allows developers to make some creative use of the gesture. For example, when you are on the main screen of Dice world, since there is nowhere to go back to, this gesture refreshes the list of games. I am sure there are other examples too, but basically the main point is that it's just two different approaches, each of them has pros and cons.

For refreshing, similar to browser, a pull down or refresh button can be implemented. Not worth sacrificing back functionality. It just leaves user guessing where to perform back gesture and where to hunt for back button. Developer shouldn't have to do anything custom to implementing back function.
On Android side, some apps do require pressing back button in quick succession to confirm if user indeed wants to get out of the application. Much better design in my opinion. Otherwise back is always back.
Even Linus Tech tips raised this issue when they talked about using iPhones. A Universal back button just makes sense.

I don't think there's a conflict between asking developers to standardize custom back gestures and VoiceOver enhancing its functionality. On our end, we can communicate with specific app developers, hoping they can adapt to standard back operations. However, as VoiceOver users, we should also demand enhanced operability. For example, users in many countries can now use Apple Intelligence, so why can't VoiceOver leverage those features to enhance its accessible content? Let me give an example of some Android users around me. I have a few friends who installed a third-party Android screen reader software from China called Baoyi. That software can identify icons on the screen using AI technology. What does "identify icons" mean? Suppose there are many apps with poor accessibility, not only lacking buttons and controls for screen readers to operate, but even many operational elements lack basic text information, having only an icon, such as a circle. At this point, if we are using VoiceOver, even if you turn on screen recognition, it cannot effectively recognize the content, let alone operate it. But for the screen reader software I mentioned called Baoyi, it can use icon recognition to analyze with AI and provide a reference for what this icon might represent, so you can try to operate it. Assuming VoiceOver had similar capabilities, the issue we're discussing about the back button would be greatly alleviated.

Asking each developer is very twisted way to go about it and not scailable.
Strait forward path is to make it the default option while developing any IOS app. Not sure how feasible it might be. Not sure why would any developer prefer it otherwise.
Just today, I accidentally clicked on someone's profile image in Teams, and, there was no visible back button, neither the back gesture worked. I had to close the app from app-switcher, reopen Teams and get back to where I wanted. Very inefficiant way to get done things.

I am not a tech expert, but to bash IOS as a subpar accessible platform by Sanja co... is wrong and unacceptable in many ways. Android users have had their fair share of accessibility obstacles. Some of my group members in our whatsapp tech group were, for a long time experiencing failure of the double-tap gesture when answering their whatsapp calls. These things happen, and 9 times out of 10 it's due to developers not following accessibility guidelines when developing their apps.