Ionic Capacitor hardware back button is automatically closing the app

So, I feel a bit dumb after realizing this, but it is because I had to run the below commands, because I apparently didn't update them when upgrading Capacitor a while back. Make sure all of your plugins are fully updated, yours may be different than mine.

npm install @capacitor/appnpx cap sync

I had the same issue and I tried installing all the plugins like it says here

npm install @capacitor/app @capacitor/haptics @capacitor/keyboard @capacitor/status-bar

After I finished installing, I still got the error. Also my PushNotifications plugin was not working either.

My problem was I forgot to delete the OnCreate method from MainActivity.java. So if you still have the problem after installing the plugins, try to delete OnCreate method so your MainActivity.java looks like this:

 public class MainActivity extends BridgeActivity {}

See more here.

It also fixed my PushNotifications plugin.

If I understand it correctly, if you have any plugin that is not registered correctly, it will cause this kind of error. This answer also helped me.

1. Install capacitor app.

   npm install @capacitor/app

2. Import it.

   import { App as CapacitorApp } from '@capacitor/app';

3. Add back listener if can go back then we can push to back or exit the app.

   CapacitorApp.addListener('backButton', ({canGoBack}) => {  if(!canGoBack){    CapacitorApp.exitApp();  } else {    window.history.back();  }});