How do I hook the ionbackbutton?

the (IonBackButton) back button works, but, I have code running that needs to be stopped before I leave the component
cause the user could pick a different path forward from one page back and i need to run different code…

i can add a click handler, but then I have to do the work for back… which is a waste if the right process is on the back button tag

Have you tried the Ionic Lifecycle Hooks? You can use ionViewWillLeave to do any cleanup before the active view has left.

great idea!..lifecycle never sticks in my brain…