Re-instate original idea

src/components/AppLayout/AppLayout.tsx

@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ import {
     getAccountRegistry,
     removeAccountFromRegistry
 } from "../../utilities/accounts";
+import { isChildView } from "../../utilities/appbar";
 
 interface IAppLayoutState {
     acctMenuOpen: boolean;
@@ -489,7 +490,7 @@ export class AppLayout extends Component<any, IAppLayoutState> {
                     {this.titlebar()}
                     <AppBar className={classes.appBar} position="static">
                         <Toolbar>
-                            {isDesktopApp() && this.canGoBack() ? (
+                            {isDesktopApp() && isChildView() ? (
                                 <IconButton
                                     className={classes.appBarBackButton}
                                     color="inherit"

src/utilities/appbar.tsx

@@ -1,5 +1,14 @@
 import { isDarwinApp } from "./desktop";
 
+/**
+ * A list containing the types of child views.
+ *
+ * This list is used to help determine if a back button is necessary, usually because there
+ * is no defined way of returning to the parent view without using the menu bar or keyboard
+ * shortcut in desktop apps.
+ */
+export const childViews = ["#/profile", "#/conversation"];
+
 /**
  * Determine whether the title bar is being displayed.
  * This might be useful in cases where styles are dependent on the title bar's visibility, such as heights.
@@ -9,3 +18,20 @@ import { isDarwinApp } from "./desktop";
 export function isAppbarExpanded(): boolean {
     return isDarwinApp() || process.env.NODE_ENV === "development";
 }
+
+/**
+ * Determine whether a path is considered a "child view".
+ *
+ * This is often used to determine whether a back button should be rendered or not.
+ * @param path The path of the page, usually its hash
+ * @returns Boolean distating if the view is a child view.
+ */
+export function isChildView(path: string): boolean {
+    let protocolMatched = false;
+    childViews.forEach((childViewProtocol: string) => {
+        if (path.startsWith(childViewProtocol)) {
+            protocolMatched = true;
+        }
+    });
+    return protocolMatched;
+}