So you savvy folks who practice such things, could you explain your syncing strategies/setups/etc.? With regards to multiple PCs and mobile study. I'm a forum n00b, so feel free also to point me to a relevant thread.

using Anki, iPhone 4, i Pad and a MacBook Pro in perfect harmony on the road. I don't review on RTK but on Anki.

truando Wrote:using Anki, iPhone 4, i Pad and a MacBook Pro in perfect harmony on the road. I don't review on RTK but on Anki.

How often does Steve come to do your laundry?

I'm also interested in the logistics, like how you connect/sync the devices, what storage you use -- Does everyone just send everything to AnkiOnline/Dropbox rather than syncing the PCs together? PC here meaning any 'personal computing' device rather than PC vs. Mac.

Personally I think I'm getting into ASUS, their EP121 is tantalizing me with its impending release, despite the rumoured ~$1000 price tag (if it's actually that much I won't get it, the Viliv s10 is already bad enough). There's also the Asus webstorage that seems to come with some netbooks/netvertibles.

I would get an iPod Touch as a handheld touch device for ~200, but 8gb? C'mon, my cheapest flash drive has that much.

Yep, I have Anki set up to sync whenever I open/close. When I'm heading out somewhere, I'll sync up my iPod and again when I get home.

It's pretty simple and painless actually.

Basically just sync with ankionline and use my iPod to sync on wifi, etc.

Same as the above; Steve does my laundry twice a week, and I use Anki synced between my iPhone 3GS, Macbook Pro and iPad. It really works very well, and I rarely have to think about it.

So there's a constant back and forth where either your home computer (ex: PC via wired connection) and mobile device (ex: iPod via Wi-Fi) are both sending/receiving to AnkiOnline when you're using them respectively, but they don't interact with one another? Like, you're studying at home, you upload those changes to AnkiOnline, then you head out and you open up your iPod, which syncs to that newly changed Anki deck online, do some reviewing, and then when you're done you send those changes back to the server, and when you're home again you download that new deck to your home computer?

Or I guess you could sync the iPod to the home PC before heading out and then again when you return. In which case AnkiOnline would be unnecessary? But I'm guessing that having that Anki-specific syncing mechanism is handier than some manual or third-party sync software setup? Or is there a simple application for syncing specific folders/programs together, like an offline Anki sync plugin (via USB or something).

Sorry, just trying to work out things before I procure any further devices. The ring that binds them all is Japanese self-study and I wouldn't want to screw up any files, would want to keep everything streamlined and in order. ;p

Asriel Wrote:Yep, I have Anki set up to sync whenever I open/close. When I'm heading out somewhere, I'll sync up my iPod and again when I get home.

It's pretty simple and painless actually.

So why do you use Anki's online stuff if you're just syncing from your iPod to your PC? Or did you mean something else.

& I take back what I said about the iPod Touch. They just upgraded them and the 32gb isn't that much more expensive, current specs for $300 isn't too bad really.

Because when I hit "Sync" on iAnki (whatever the $25 iPod app is called) it automatically wants to connect to AnkiOnline. To be honest, I think it's inconvenient to have to go through this 3rd party (and probably expensive on Damien's end), but unless I'm missing something somewhere, that's how iAnki works.

Although my iPod is jailbroken, so I could use the other Anki (AnkiMobile??). I don't know how the syncing of that one works, so I couldn't tell ya.

@nest0r - you can't sync your ipod with anki by plugging it in, it has to be over the network using AnkiOnline.

At least, that's what I believe.

So I do my PC reps, which auto-syncs whenever I close my deck. Then when I'm leaving, I make sure I go on my Wi-Fi network and sync my ipod up, then when I come back, sync again to make all my reps I did while I was gone on the system. Then when I open up my PC, it syncs which gains all my progress.

Okay, I think I get it now. Damn, I think I've nearly convinced myself to buy the new iPod Touch... must... resist... do you use a stylus to write stuff out with it? Screen seems small but perhaps just big enough for kanji or single words or just very small sentences? ;p

It goes through AnkiOnline because a) you don't have to have all your devices in one room to sync them and b) asking the user to set up their local network like iAnki is confusing and c) Apple have no support for programmatic syncing over USB and d) if your forget all of your devices you can still review via the web / your cell phone.

Asriel Wrote:Because when I hit "Sync" on iAnki (whatever the $25 iPod app is called) it automatically wants to connect to AnkiOnline. To be honest, I think it's inconvenient to have to go through this 3rd party (and probably expensive on Damien's end), but unless I'm missing something somewhere, that's how iAnki works.

Although my iPod is jailbroken, so I could use the other Anki (AnkiMobile??). I don't know how the syncing of that one works, so I couldn't tell ya.

The official, $25 app is AnkiMobile, Ianki is an unofficial plugin.

AnkiMobile:
- Is the official AppStore application made by Resolve.
- Syncs your files through AnkiOnline.
- Has media support (at least for images and audio, don't know about video).
- Has a much better interface.

IAnki:
- Is an unofficial plugin for Anki made buy someone else than Resolve. Yo dou your reps via Safari.
- Syncs directly between your computer and your mobile device,
- Doesn't have audio support for Apple devices because it uses Flash.
- Is basically a hack, so don't expect it to be too attractive or noob friendly.

There are other differences, but those are the main ones I could remember now.

Personally, from what I've read, I would buy AnkiMobile if I had an Isomething and could afford the app (which is most probable if you bought the Istuff by yourself).

Quote:iAnki:
- Is an unofficial plugin for Anki made buy someone else than Resolve. Yo dou your reps via Safari.
- Syncs directly between your computer and your mobile device,
- Doesn't have audio support for Apple devices because it uses Flash.
- Is basically a hack, so don't expect it to be too attractive or noob friendly.

iAnki was written by Victor, another forum member who was actually the one who introduced Anki to these boards. It is a hack because of the limitations Apple imposes, but it's an elegant one. :-)

Asriel Wrote:Yep, I have Anki set up to sync whenever I open/close. When I'm heading out somewhere, I'll sync up my iPod and again when I get home.

It's pretty simple and painless actually.

Ditto. It couldn't be simpler.

All very good points, resolve. The only one that occurred to me in my n00b logistics was the forgetting devices.

Which reminds me, I need to buy AnkiMobile first thing when--I mean if--I get my iPod Touch, and at the same time donate to Fabrice here.

@resolve, so does AnkiMobile support video? (I just saw Seb mention it above so thought I'd quickly ask here.)

And I was just reading about embedding scratchpads and whatnot, that's nice. I might use the iPod while on other devices as well, as a kind of small portable notebook, till we see what the EP121 is like...

Videos aren't supported yet - I have yet to find time to investigate if Apple makes it possible to embed them in the webview.

I hope they do. Until then I'll be sure to also make audio/jpgs from subs2srs rather than just video clips. Or something. I'll figure it out.

I tried using dropbox consistently, but the slight conflict with anki when both are running tended to get annoying. So I just use the anki servers to sink, and use dropbox as the main safety net in addition to being the online .media source.

That anki now syncs all on start-up has been a big help. Hopefully when Resolve catches his breath, he'll be able to update ankionline for poor souls like me that can't bring or use their own personal devices at work nor load up anki on the work station.