Back button to be removed from Windows Phone 8.1

Windows Phone 8.1 may be bringing support for 7- and 10-inch tablets, but it will also spell the end for the back button according to Paul Thurrott’s WinSuperSite. According to Thurrott’s single source, the hardware back button will be dropped from the Windows Phone requirements meaning there’s likely to be a new way for doing multitasking.

In Windows 8 multitasking is currently done through gestures, but it’s not yet known if Microsoft will be bringing that down to its phone operating system. Windows Phone 8.1 is rumoured to improve on the existing multitasking which is often cumbersome to use and doesn’t let you close apps.

At least for Windows users frustrated at constantly pressing the button to close an app you will soon be able to breathe a sigh of relief when the Windows Phone 8.1 update launches alongside a GDR update to Windows 8.1 in Spring 2014.