[m_eiman]

Conceptually I'd say that clicking a link and then clicking Back should be the same as right-clicking the link and opening it in a new window, and then closing that window.

But it wouldn't surprise me if "web apps" makes this hard for some reason.

[jay_kyburz]

In my mind the forward back buttons apply to the URL. So you are going back and forward in URL history, as if you were typing the URL in fresh each time. In the old days the back forward buttons were right there next to the URL on the toolbar.

It just occurred to me that on mobile, the back button is not associated with the URL at all, so its not surprising that people don't associate it with that anymore.

I think safari desktop hides the URL as well.