[Q]Stock browser woes! - Galaxy S III Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi Y'all.
I kinda like the stock browser.
The function of the "Browser home page" setting however
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Has me well & truly confused.
What is the function of this setting & how's it used?
1: It has been my understanding that this setting controls which page will be shown when the app is started.
That however appears not to be absolutely correct.
If I open a page - say Engadet for example.
Then press home button & revert directly to home screen.
Subsequently long-pressing home button & shut down all running apps & processes.
If I start the browser now, it'll open Engadet as first page. At least mine does.
I haven't found any settings to change this behavior.
2: How do I revert to the home page when the browser is running?
Do I really have to navigate backwards one page at a time?
Any & all inputs sincerely appreciated.
Regards
Elo
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

---

Polar67 said:
1: It has been my understanding that this setting controls which page will be shown when the app is started.
That however appears not to be absolutely correct.
If I open a page - say Engadet for example.
Then press home button & revert directly to home screen.
Subsequently long-pressing home button & shut down all running apps & processes.
If I start the browser now, it'll open Engadet as first page. At least mine does.
I haven't found any settings to change this behavior.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What you are experiencing now is totally normal and by default. However, to go back to home screen, you just have to press the home button once. Pressing it twice will open up the task manager
Polar67 said:
2: How do I revert to the home page when the browser is running?
Do I really have to navigate backwards one page at a time?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
to go back to homepage, you just have to hit on the soft back button.. it is also by default
--to be honest, i find the stock browser a pain in the butt. that's why i use dolphin browser. i downloaded it from the playstore i don't mean to advertise or anything

---

Pressing back button doesn't take you back to home, it takes you back.
I understand the OPs issue, as I empathise with him. There is no way to exit the stock browser, so to end the program, you need to either long press the home button, and kill it, or do it through task manager. And even after doing this, the browser by default doesn't open the home page, but the last page left open - I guess it's like killing a browser with alt-ctrl-del on a PC, and the browser recovering the open tabs.
So yeah, a bit frustrating in my eyes, and it seems the only way around it would be for Samsung to add an exit button in the browser. Alternatively, I think closing your last open tab/window should close the browser app. That would make much more sense in my eyes.
Edit: I have found the fastest way to go directly to the home screen is by opening a new tab. Just click on view the tabs/windows button, then click plus. But you still have the other page in the background.