The selection of kanji flashcard apps is quite large. But, Anki stands alone as one of the most expensive. In many cases 5 to 20 times the cost of other flashcard apps. I have read old posts on this site and some of the reviews at the App Store, so I know it was quite popular in the day. However, these praises seem to be dated. Most of the reviews go back to a year ago. That's a lot of time when discussing the potential developments in apps. Anki was the best app last year, but what about now?

Question: Are there any better alternatives now?

The Anki desktop program is quite good, but Anki Mobile (the iPhone app) is both (too) expensive and unstable. It misses also features that other mobile flashcard apps have. What's more, there is no bug fixing anymore since nearly a year. If you forget to synchronize on the iPhone, you'll run easily into data losses.
I create my flashcards now via LibreOffice spreadsheets in DropBox, and use ONLY "Flashcards Deluxe" on my iPhone. Flashcards Deluxe is a cheap app, but has many, many features, and is very stable. Backup and synchronisation is done via DropBox (there are other possibilities, too).
Read more: http://orangeorapple.com/Flashcards/

It's too bad you have an iphone/ipad because now you have to pay for anki when you could get ankidroid for free which is THE BEST flashcard system for android devices. I'm not sure how the anki for iphone is but if it's like ankidroid then I'm sure it is still very good since it syncs with the desktop client and is supported by anki's developer.

lwtproject Wrote:The Anki desktop program is quite good, but Anki Mobile (the iPhone app) is both (too) expensive and unstable.

Proceeds from the iPhone client are how I support development of the desktop application as well. The price compares favorably with other desktop+iphone solutions such as MentalCase.

FC Deluxe is a good application in its own right, but with the cheaper price you're limited to an iOS-only client - there is no desktop app or web app or clients for other platforms.

As for being unstable, there are some bugs in the current AnkiMobile that are caused by the GUI toolkit I built the app on. The next release is being rewritten in native objective C to avoid these issues. There hasn't been an update for some time because I've spent most of the last year designing and implementing a 2.0 update, which brings sync merging, integrated media syncing and other improvements.

Quote:If you forget to synchronize on the iPhone, you'll run easily into data losses.

Let's be clear here - the "data loss" is when you've changed the deck in two different locations without syncing, and you're required to choose which side you want to keep. 2.0 will handle this more intelligently, but I don't believe it's fair to paint it as a bug, as you'd encounter the same problem if you were manually copying the deck back and forth.

I was kind of wondering what device lwtproject is using. I use Anki Mobile for all my reviews on an iPod Touch 4, and sync to desktop occasionally to add new cards and check stats. The only problem I've experienced is the GUI bug resolve mentioned, but that can be fixed by restarting the app. The app doesn't crash, and since exporting decks to iTunes is an option, I don't see how you could experience data loss unless you were quite reckless. If it was unstable I'd have lost my decks ages ago, because I haven't used the desktop version for reviewing since Anki Mobile was released. For that reason, I'd say it's a fine choice if you're a long-term user of the desktop app, especially since a major update is in the works. The price is justified if you've been using the desktop app, servers for syncing etc for free.

lwtproject Wrote:If you forget to synchronize on the iPhone, you'll run easily into data losses.

But that's if you actively use the desktop client as well as the mobile client while forgetting to sync. Using an iPhone only application means you're locked to having the system on your phone only, and if that's what you want then why would you use your Anki decks on the desktop version too? You could just sync them to the online server from time to time as backup.

On the note on AnkiMobile being expensive... Well, the goddamn iPhone is pretty expensive too

I own both AnkiMobile and Flashcards deluxe. Flashcards Deluxe is fine if you want to grab a deck quickly from Flashcard Exchange or Quizlet. But the flashcards available aren't great. The program is very polished and easy to use. AnkiMobile and Anki Desktiop have access to the best set of flash cards hands down. Anki in general is a little more complicated to use but it appears to have more power and flexibility. The fact that you have to first upload a deck to the website before you can download it on AnkiMobile is a bit inconvenient. I am currently using Anki the most at this point.

resolve Wrote:...the "data loss" is when you've changed the deck in two different locations without syncing, and you're required to choose which side you want to keep...

Very often you return at home after using Anki Mobile, and you had forgotten to sync because you were interrupted in some way. Now at home, you start working with Anki Desktop (which does the sync automatically). Later you return to your iPod touch (that I use), and the button is red. Now you will lose data. In a modern IT system this should not happen.

PotbellyPig Wrote:... Flashcards Deluxe is very polished and easy to use. ...

That's exactly the point.

[s0apgun]

resolve Wrote:

lwtproject Wrote:The Anki desktop program is quite good, but Anki Mobile (the iPhone app) is both (too) expensive and unstable.

Proceeds from the iPhone client are how I support development of the desktop application as well. The price compares favorably with other desktop+iphone solutions such as MentalCase.

FC Deluxe is a good application in its own right, but with the cheaper price you're limited to an iOS-only client - there is no desktop app or web app or clients for other platforms.

As for being unstable, there are some bugs in the current AnkiMobile that are caused by the GUI toolkit I built the app on. The next release is being rewritten in native objective C to avoid these issues. There hasn't been an update for some time because I've spent most of the last year designing and implementing a 2.0 update, which brings sync merging, integrated media syncing and other improvements.

Quote:If you forget to synchronize on the iPhone, you'll run easily into data losses.

Let's be clear here - the "data loss" is when you've changed the deck in two different locations without syncing, and you're required to choose which side you want to keep. 2.0 will handle this more intelligently, but I don't believe it's fair to paint it as a bug, as you'd encounter the same problem if you were manually copying the deck back and forth.

Anki mobile is the only piece of software I've spent money on in the last 10 years. Best thing I've purchased in a long time. Thanks for your awesome work, look forward to 2.0!

Thanks for all of your replies. I have downloaded Flashcards Deluxe already and it seems easy to use, but I will need to play with it some more to see what it can and can't do. I have also installed Anki, the desktop version. If I am able to figure out the basics of using it, I'll gladly fork out the yen for the app. There is a slight learning curve for me since I am IT challenged. Hopefully, I'll be able to learn the basics, download it, write a great updated review at the App Store, and live happily ever after.

By the way, I also have the 'official' Reviewing the Kanji app, but I have noticed that it often instantly repeats the kanji that you miss without any lag time in between, something that Anki is apparently better at. There are also some problems with missing kanji, in comparison to the actual book -- 6th edition.

I hope I'll be able to find the perfect app, hopefully it will be Anki with this great supportive crowd. However, if things go sour for me. I'll go back to the Stone Age and purchase old fashion paper cards and live out my remaining days in a cave flipping through thousands of finger-stained cards.

s0apgun Wrote:Anki mobile is the only piece of software I've spent money on in the last 10 years. Best thing I've purchased in a long time. Thanks for your awesome work, look forward to 2.0!

Seconded. I use it every day. I would like to get down and dirty in the plugins once 2.0 comes out.

While we're on the subject, any ETA for 2.0? :-)

Norman Wrote:By the way, I also have the 'official' Reviewing the Kanji app, but I have noticed that it often instantly repeats the kanji that you miss without any lag time in between, something that Anki is apparently better at. There are also some problems with missing kanji, in comparison to the actual book -- 6th edition.

The RTK app isn't very good as an SRS. Better utilize this site's features for that purpose. The app unfortunately doesn't cover the 6th edition of RTK 1.

Norman Wrote:Thanks for all of your replies. I have downloaded Flashcards Deluxe already and it seems easy to use, but I will need to play with it some more to see what it can and can't do. I have also installed Anki, the desktop version. If I am able to figure out the basics of using it, I'll gladly fork out the yen for the app. There is a slight learning curve for me since I am IT challenged. Hopefully, I'll be able to learn the basics, download it, write a great updated review at the App Store, and live happily ever after.

There are a bunch of shared RTK decks you can download (file>download) if you don't want to do the work of creating an entire deck of your own. Make sure you go into Card Layout and check out the fields, because that's where you can customize the fonts, colors, sizes, and what information you want to have on what side of the card. I think that's all you really need to do, just play with the settings if you want and then there's the file>sync option.

Took some screens while I was reviewing a bit just now, just to show. It's AnkiDroid and not Mobile though.

markandrew Wrote:

s0apgun Wrote:Anki mobile is the only piece of software I've spent money on in the last 10 years. Best thing I've purchased in a long time. Thanks for your awesome work, look forward to 2.0!

Seconded. I use it every day. I would like to get down and dirty in the plugins once 2.0 comes out.

While we're on the subject, any ETA for 2.0? :-)

Hopefully the desktop will enter beta within the month; it seems to be pretty stable but there are a few things left to do.

resolve Wrote:Let's be clear here - the "data loss" is when you've changed the deck in two different locations without syncing, and you're required to choose which side you want to keep. 2.0 will handle this more intelligently, but I don't believe it's fair to paint it as a bug, as you'd encounter the same problem if you were manually copying the deck back and forth.

It's not a bug but it's a pretty big annoyance. I get out of sync about twice a week, every week. It's mostly because the desktop automatically syncs when closing, but the iPhone never closes so never syncs automatically. Glad to hear it's being updated, hopefully this problem will be solved.

Still a good app, except this

Norman Wrote:But, Anki stands alone as one of the most expensive. In many cases 5 to 20 times the cost of other flashcard apps.

Let's be serious, you'll use your flashcard app every single day so price, learning curve, setup time, etc hardly matter compared to raw functionality and the ease of utilizing that functionality once you're used to it.

Norman Wrote:Anki was the best app last year, but what about now?

Even if it wasn't the best mobile app as a standalone product, it would still remain the best because of it's integration with Anki desktop, which has the best 3rd party development of any system on top an already powerful / flexible core (cards distinct from facts, question/answer layout derived from fields with css support, smart import system, LaTeX, mplayer, etc etc).

Not if a better mobile + desktop app were released, Anki is good but it's far from perfect so I think it's a good question to ask.

caivano Wrote:It's not a bug but it's a pretty big annoyance. I get out of sync about twice a week, every week. It's mostly because the desktop automatically syncs when closing, but the iPhone never closes so never syncs automatically.

Good to hear/read I am not the only one!
Why is this not fixed in the current version?
Version 2 will be stable in 2013 or 2014...

Anki 2.0 started out with a modest set of goals including improved syncing, but over time I kept finding other things that could be done better or realizing an approach I'd taken wasn't the best way, and thus the code has been revised and rethought multiple times over the last year. I'd have liked to have it out earlier, and perhaps I could have managed the scope creep better, but I'm happy with the way it has turned out and I'm glad I didn't release it as it was 6 months ago.

As for your exaggerated release dates, there are a few people studying some of their decks on the alphas and reports of the stability seem to be good. After one or two more alpha releases I think we'll probably be ready for a widespread beta, and a stable release seems quite likely before the middle of the year.

I don't know much about app developing etc but from my (a users) point of view it has has seemed buggy for a long time, pretty much because of http://code.google.com/p/anki/issues/det...%20Summary

There are no other apps that I use that have noticeable bugs that go unfixed for so long. I personally prefer it when apps are gradually and frequently adding features and fixing bugs rather than big releases which are a long time apart. Again, I don't know about the practicality of this from a development point of view but it is what most apps I use do.

Anyway, can't wait for the new syncing, don't think I'm brave enough to try the alpha though. So with the alpha do you get the syncing benefits even without the iPhone app being updated?

I had a bug fix for that problem in testing months ago, which one of the beta testers will be able to confirm for you. The problem is that AnkiMobile was based on a toolkit that has gotten progressively worse. The version I built the previous AnkiMobile release with was no longer usable for submitting app updates, and the more recent versions of the toolkit introduced serious crashing bugs and bugs where UI elements would fail to appear. I wasn't willing to make the app less stable for the sake of fixing that annoying but relatively minor bug. I emailed the CEO of the toolkit about how unhappy I was with their product (and I was paying a considerably amount of money for their 'professional support' at the time), and they ended up trying to placate me with a free year of that 'support', but they weren't willing to fix the problems. There really wasn't much I could do; fixing the problems meant dropping the toolkit and rewriting everything, and doing it based on the 1.2 Anki would have been a huge waste of time with 2.0 so close. The situation has been extremely frustrating, as I'd fixed a number of other issues as well and yet I was not able to release updates without introducing big regressions that were out of my control.

You won't be able to use the current AnkiMobile with the alpha, as the file formats and sync protocols are different and I have no way of tweaking the existing code now. The good news is the rewritten version is coming along well and will hopefully be in a (closed, due to Apple's restrictions) beta by the end of the month. In the mean time the alpha can be used with a testing version of AnkiWeb, but it's probably worth holding off on that for a few more weeks as I have one final major change coming.

Personally, I forked out the cash for the Anki iPhone app. It is more expensive than other applications, but to be honest it's a tiny price to pay considering I can access my decks anywhere regardless of whether or not I have an internet connection (provided i've sync'ed of course).

Paying around $20 or whatever it was, for access to a great mobile, and desktop app with cloud data storage is really nothing considering the huge opportunity it provides me for my study.

Also, resolve - I couldn't see an option to private message you so i've dropped you an e-mail.

resolve, thanks for the explanation, sounds like it will be all good soon

bigpun69 Wrote:Personally, I forked out the cash for the Anki iPhone app. It is more expensive than other applications, but to be honest it's a tiny price to pay considering I can access my decks anywhere regardless of whether or not I have an internet connection (provided i've sync'ed of course).

ditto here. I have used Anki on the ipod touch for over a year now. Having my data backed up on the cloud, free desktop client for browsing/fixing deck/reviews/etc is worth the $20 or so I paid. The UI glitches are minor and can be worked around as detailed on resolve's site.

Any ideas on the best software for reviewing RTK on iPad with an emphasis on a really good scatchpad experience?

I've got ankimobile which is awesome for everything except the scatchpad, it's not that responsive and the brush stroke is too thin.

Flashcards deluxe has a really nice scatchpad implementation but I dont think it's card management is anywhere as good as Anki.

Anyone got a way to have the best of both worlds?