14 ms·

Anki – a program which makes remembering things easy

398 points by sonabinu 11y ago

pmoriarty 11y ago
Also see the mentat wiki: http://www.ludism.org/mentat http://www.ludism.org/mentat
tormeh 11y ago
>It's highly recommended that you install Anki from this package instead of relying on the version distributed with your OS, as the packages in the official repo are often very out of date. Why is this still a problem in Linux-land? Why can't we just make some but not all packages rolling-release? Making Anki rolling-release won't make the distro unstable by any sensible meaning of the word.
- temp 11y ago
  >Why can't we just make some but not all packages rolling-release? Does that include Anki's dependencies? And if it does, does it include all other packages that depend upon Anki's dependencies? Also, does it include thousands of other packages similar to Anki that also "won't make the distro unstable by any sensible meaning of the word"? Don't think you'll have a "just some rolling-release packages" distro by the end of that. Unless you think this specific package is somehow deserving of special treatment by Linux distributions (why?).
  - tormeh 11y ago
    If the new version of Anki needs a new version of a dependency, just install the new version alongside the old one. Whatever happened when I installed this deb may also be an option. If handling this is a huge problem, why not have all the rolling-release programs include their own dependencies. Most of us have so much storage space that, without films/games/music, we couldn't fill it even if we tried. It's cool to use minimal amounts of storage when you're on a virtualized machine on Azure/AWS, but those machines aren't used to run Anki anyway. Storage for executable usage is effectively infinite nowadays on consumer devices.
    - temp 11y ago
      >If the new version of Anki needs a new version of a dependency, just install the new version alongside the old one. Yes, and do that with every other package as well. Are you even considering the implications of what you're saying? The next-to-latest version of Anki is for example in the repos of the most popular distribution. The latest version of Anki is not in the repos, and its dependencies break something in that distro. You're free to install Anki's latest version, but there are reasons why stable distributions will not just jump on the latest version of a fairly unknown package.
  - nextos 11y ago
    I think the trick for this is to embrace distros that allow for more aggressive installation and removal of packages, plus different versions of the same package to co-exist. Like NixOS or GuixSD. Then, one doesn't need to keep the whole package tree in sync.
  - Houshalter 11y ago
    Why does Anki have dependencies? Why is there software that uses Anki as a dependency?
- microcolonel 11y ago
  To be fair, this is only really a problem if you're using one of the big waterfall distros like Debian or Ubuntu. I'm on Arch and I get fresh Anki same day or week.
  - placeybordeaux 11y ago
    Yeah for home usage I will probably be using an Arch derivative until something like bedrock linux comes out. Installing the latest software has never been easier, especially with the AUR.
- milosh_ 11y ago
  Frankly, "very out of date" when it is version 2.0.32 in debian testing and ubuntu current while the new, one month old version is 2.0.33 is overstated. What are the features that are not in the debian stable package (2.0.31) or in 2.0.32 but are in the cutting edge 2.0.33 version? None of the bugs reported in the debian bug tracker seem to have been fixed by later versions! With that said, you can make some but not all packages rolling-release with apt-pinning and using stable and sid or testing which are rolling.
  - yebyen 11y ago
    > None of the bugs reported in the debian bug tracker seem to have been fixed by later versions! Bingo. That is the #1 reason (the only reason?) that a package doesn't get promoted to Testing from Unstable, because it has known bugs and they haven't been fixed. This is Debian policy manual 101. Fix the bugs, release a new version, if no more bugs are reported on the new version for two weeks, then it gets promoted to Testing (as long as it's not a freeze?) and it will be in next Stable after the freeze is completed.
- tajen 11y ago
  I'm wondering why it's an app instead of a webapp.
deleted 11y ago
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- nolite 11y ago
  There's another problem: there's no way to easily make cards from the mobile app! You have to do it on the desktop and then switch to mobile. Really kills the incentive for the mobile app
  - QuantumCookie 11y ago
    It's possible from the Android mobile app (though I believe that's unofficial), though it's more fiddly than on the desktop.
  - cconcepts 11y ago
    I only make cards on the android mobile app - have never used Anki any other way.
- wahnfrieden 11y ago
  The iPhone app came years after the free and open source desktop one; the boat had long since sailed on charging on the desktop. The Android one is unofficial. I recall reading that because they didn't make the app friendly to casual newcomers, they didn't pick too low a price-point that would attract them and their support load. That said, complaining about an app's price on HN is pretty disappointing. Though they might have found more success with a recurring/IAP approach that makes payments more palatable. Seems development has largely stalled on the iPhone app though.
- michaelcampbell 11y ago
  > Maybe they feel like all Apple users are stupid & rich and will pay whatever they are asked for. That's one way to couch it; another is charge what the market will bear. IOS devs routinely tout all the polls/studies that show Apple customers pay more and more often for software than Android customers.
- tokenizerrr 11y ago
  Apple charges a ridiculous amount in order to be allowed to develop software for their platforms. It is no surprise that developers might feel the need to pass this cost on to the customer.
syntiux 11y ago
Anki is great. I have been using it to prepare for my exams. Creating flashcards on my laptop and learning with them on my Android phone / tablet works like a charm. Also, the Android app just got updated. The only limitation I've found is that there is currently no way to self-host flashcards which can be accessed by the mobile app. If you're only using the desktop version you might want to look at https://github.com/dsnopek/anki-sync-server https://github.com/dsnopek/anki-sync-server in order to self-host your flashcards.
cblop 11y ago
I used Anki for 30 minutes to an hour each day for about a year to memorise around 1500 Japanese characters and their readings, with the aid of a mnemonic technique. So long as you have an hour a day to dedicate to the flashcards without fail, you will retain the memorised information. My problem was that a job and location change altered my daily routine entirely, so I stopped reviewing the cards. One year later, I have forgotten most of the characters I knew. However, the characters I learned while living in Japan, in context, are still fresh in my mind. I think that spaced repetition isn't the memory panacea it's always touted to be. It's a great tool for cramming, but soon becomes a pain when you have hundreds of cards to review every day. I've heard good things about the goldlist method, a much more low-tech pen and paper approach. Does anyone have any experience with this technique? It claims to be better for long-term memory: http://huliganov.tv/goldlist-eu/ http://huliganov.tv/goldlist-eu/
- yummyfajitas 11y ago
  I think you aren't supposed to start with hundreds of cards. Start with 10, once their frequency drops to once/week or less, add 10 more, repeat ad nauseum. Since the frequency of cards drops integrably, you'll always have a constant and manageable number of cards to review.
  - cblop 11y ago
    I was adding 5 new cards a day, which seems to be quite common amongst language learners. I figured the SRS algorithm would take care of giving me a manageable frequency.
- microcolonel 11y ago
  I think part of the trick that's commonly overlooked is mixing the two approaches. Use SRS so that you remember the cards tomorrow and can use them in Japan. I think this could also be partially solved by making better cards.
- wahnfrieden 11y ago
  SRS is best used to reinforce things you learned outside the flashcard environment. So put things into Anki that you have some real-world context to anchor that memory to, and use Anki to reinforce that memory, not to create new memories that lack any vivid context in your mind outside of the drab flashcard app window where you first discovered the term in isolation. Ideally you're consuming native media, talking with natives, etc. and drawing from that to create your flashcards, since you'll come across a lot of terms that you learn once and then have otherwise forgotten by the time you see them again in the wild; this is where SRS helps.
abhishekanand 11y ago
Cool.
meesterdude 11y ago
This is really great! I'm building a SaaS that is similar to this, but I was feeling bummed about not releasing it as open source; but now I can just point people to this if they want to run their own. awesome!
- wahnfrieden 11y ago
  Is it in a ready enough state to share?
  - meesterdude 11y ago
    That depends on how you look at it. I'm using it, but is it ready for normal humans? I'm not sure. It's equally or more complicated than anki, and serves a larger usecase of doing the remembering for you and collaboration; and is not nearly as well documented as anki at the moment. That said, if you're up for beta access, shoot me an email at r.letmein [a] ruru.name and i'll see about access
- albertoleal 11y ago
  I'm also planning and building on a flashcard app; and am facing a similar dilemma on whether to monetize (make it SaaS) or go all out open-source. At the moment my barometer seems to be leaning towards open source. I already have REST API backend done, and am working on UI. ------ The only novelty on my app is that it uses an algorithm based on upvotes/downvotes (e.g. HN, Reddit, etc) to measure card performance rather than a variant based on SuperMemo and friends. I already wrote a spec on it (feel free to steal =P): https://github.com/grokdb/spec https://github.com/grokdb/spec
sandGorgon 11y ago
Anki is great - the original Supermemo algorithm on which Anki is based[2], makes for fascinating reading [1] However, I daresay that this is a usecase that is tailormade for the mobile rather than the desktop in any which way. I wonder why the core team is spending effort behind a desktop app, rather than go full mobile. [1] https://archive.wired.com/medtech/health/magazine/16-05/ff_wozniak?currentPage=all https://archive.wired.com/medtech/health/magazine/16-05/ff_w... [2] https://www.supermemo.com/help/smalg.htm#Anki_will_work_great_with_SM-2.2C_but_SM-5_is_superior https://www.supermemo.com/help/smalg.htm#Anki_will_work_grea...
- deleted 11y ago
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- pzzz 11y ago
  It is much easier to create large numbers of cards on desktop than mobile. There are also a large number of third party add-ons available for desktop https://ankiweb.net/shared/addons/ https://ankiweb.net/shared/addons/
  - sandGorgon 11y ago
    It is actually much easier to use a desktop browser as well. Yet, most traffic now is mobile. Flashcards are a mobile usecase, I actually think a desktop version is actually limiting for them...maybe that's why Supermemo never became a roaring success.
  - deleted 11y ago
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aeris 11y ago
There's also a web interface https://ankiweb.net https://ankiweb.net
jhund 11y ago
Anki is great. I've used it to learn the 100 most common Clojure expressions. You can get the Anki file by signing up for the newsletter at http://www.lispcast.com/100-most-used-clojure-expressions http://www.lispcast.com/100-most-used-clojure-expressions
- nextos 11y ago
  There's also a great org-mode extension that implements most SRS algorithms, including Anki's: http://orgmode.org/worg/org-contrib/org-drill.html http://orgmode.org/worg/org-contrib/org-drill.html
  - Ixiaus 11y ago
    I second org-drill. Org-mode is my whole personal information manager including information learning w/ org-drill.
    - tangled_zans 11y ago
      Any tips for how to implement that? I've tried org-mode for personal-information-management and I just get lost in all of the subtrees.
      - nextos 11y ago
        I was in that kind of situation too. The problem is that org-mode is too flexible. I use it as a flattened kanban board.
- tangled_zans 11y ago
  oOoh thanks. I love Clojure. This'll be useful.
- deleted 11y ago
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ixtli 11y ago
Anki is a very impressive project if for no other reason than its constant development. It basically got me a degree in Japanese seven years ago and it's still being polished.
omarish 11y ago
I've been using Anki on my iPhone for the past 3 years and it's been quite effective. Highly recommend it for anybody who has a lot of content to learn. It's really useful if you can make time for it on a daily basis.
Shank 11y ago
I've used AnkiSRS and recommended them, but I still don't have a good solution to catch up on decks that you're behind on. It's very good for keeping memory in tact with lots of info. Gwern has an excellent overview of spatial repetition software too: http://www.gwern.net/Spaced%20repetition http://www.gwern.net/Spaced%20repetition
outlace 11y ago
Anki is what's getting me through med school
746F7475 11y ago
I remember trying to use this for school stuff, but I didn't find it all that useful. There is after all very little you have to remember that isn't about schedules
- 6d0debc071 11y ago
  UK: I found this sort of thing, can't remember if I used Anki specifically, incredibly useful for remembering dates and percentages and so on when taking my A Levels. There were something like a hundred different studies that you had to learn for a good grade in Psychology - at least the way we were taught it - you could't derive them or anything, you just had to memorise them over the term. It was similar for wanting to remember specific quotes from books for English Lit. The vast majority of the work I put in for those exams was just trying to eat a textbook so I could vomit it back up. :/ For which this worked great.
a-dub 11y ago
I used this for foreign language vocabulary when I was in school. Did it work? I honestly don't remember...
gjcourt 11y ago
A friend and I decided to build an Anki replacement a few years ago, it's now located at https://www.memorangapp.com https://www.memorangapp.com and has a loyal following of 10s of thousands of users. Anki is a great tool and has a wide variety of content on Ankiweb, however the ecosystem doesn't allow for any collaboration or the ability to keep content up to date (aside from manually editing decks, but where for example can you suggest a correction?). Memorang was designed from the ground up to be the next generation adaptive learning platform. In fact many hard-core Anki users have switched over to our platform and love it! The main difference is in the ease of use of both creating and consuming content. Anki has the underpinnings of supermemo, which is designed for the ideal learner. In a couple of experiments that we've done partnered with large institutions, one still underway, we have shown that most students are not "ideal learners" in that most still cram right before big exams or deadlines. The original study focused on efficacy, you can find the slides we did for an NSF sponsored presentation here http://www.slideshare.net/gjcourt/memorang-nsf-mooc-2014 http://www.slideshare.net/gjcourt/memorang-nsf-mooc-2014. The latest study is still in the works, but will involve significantly more data. Anki is a fantastic program and many people love and use it everyday. If you have loved and used Anki as much as we have, then give Memorang a try and see what you think! (or come help us improve the future of learning https://www.memorangapp.com/jobs https://www.memorangapp.com/jobs) Edit: Read about our data-model here http://blog.memorangapp.com/post/108094496626/tags-more-how-to-make-awesome-flashcards-on http://blog.memorangapp.com/post/108094496626/tags-more-how-...
- ansgri 11y ago
  Do you have some API or in-app functionality to import/export data e.g. to upload, backup or analyze card decks I create? You do really address the issues that prevent me from using Anki, and I'd be happy to pay for it once you do have that API.
  - gjcourt 11y ago
    We do have a fully-featured API, in fact our mobile apps are built on top of the same API as the website. At the present it's not documented, this will be happening as fast as we can work on it. We're a small 3 person company so things like documentation take a back seat sometimes. If you're handy with a browser console you should be able to poke around, pm me if you want an API key :-) The site itself is free, and you can print material that you create. We only charge for premium content which is material that we've specifically created for exams and is guaranteed to be high quality and accurate. We allow for imports from top flashcard programs including Anki, however Anki files tend to be large so for the time being there is a 10MB (I think) cap on the size of an Anki deck you can upload. I can do it manually for larger decks if you pm me. Export is something we don't support at the present, but will probably get built at some point in the future.
bigethan 11y ago
I'm loving learning Arabic with http://orangeorapple.com/Flashcards/ http://orangeorapple.com/Flashcards/ The website looks underwhelming, but the app is amazing. The more I use it, the more it's flexibility impresses me. There are lots of options to review the cards, and it'll use card data to make quizzes, etc for you.
- capedape 11y ago
  Yep, I've used Anki for years and moved over to Flashcards deluxe because after a few months on both noticed little difference in its algorithm compared to Anki. I find the mobile interface of Flashcards deluxe to be a whole lot less kludgy than Anki and the developer to be a whole lot more responsive. http://mnemosyne-proj.org/ http://mnemosyne-proj.org/ is pretty good too.
GeorgeMatthews 11y ago
That's what everyone needs in a busy schedule
deleted 11y ago
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mtau 11y ago
I would like to recommend Mnemosyne [1] as an alternative to Anki. It uses a very similar algorithm for spaced repetition (based on SM2), but has a simpler and cleaner UI. [1] http://mnemosyne-proj.org/ http://mnemosyne-proj.org/
xavi 11y ago
Anki has many features but I found it too complicated and I didn't like the UI, nor having to sync across devices. So I decided to develop a basic, simpler alternative, a web app that can also be installed in the home screen of an iOS or Android device, https://omnimemory.com https://omnimemory.com
- mtau 11y ago
  http://mnemosyne-proj.org/ http://mnemosyne-proj.org/ is also a simpler alternative
markm248 11y ago
Remember that you read it here first, there will be a unicorn built on the concept of SRS. I use Anki daily and love the application but there's a learning curve and you have to build your own workflow to make it work. Someone is going to take the concept and make it accessible to the masses.
- sidedishes 11y ago
  First thing that comes to mind when I read your comment is Memrise. Or is even that missing something?
  - markm248 11y ago
    Kind of on the right track but I don't think that is it though... But if you had shown me facebook in 2005, I would have said the same thing.
- tangled_zans 11y ago
  I completely agree. I've been trying to figure out what's been missing in Anki for a while in order to improve my workflow. What do you think it is?
reinhardt1053 11y ago
I would like to recommend Memrise [1] as alternative to Anki. [1] http://www.memrise.com/ http://www.memrise.com/
- tedks 11y ago
  Memrise is fun, and certainly much better designed than Anki, but at the end of the day it's just another startup that will either fail or get acquired and shut down. All your content will be destroyed, or maybe, if they're generous, given to you in some crappy export format that won't be interoperable with anything else. I use Memrise, but Anki is my extended memory. Anything I want to actually remember is there.
stewbrew 11y ago
The problem with every app like this is the lack of good quality material. For language learning, I prefer learning whole sentences as examples of an appropriate context. But creating good lists of sentences & translations is cumbersome and just throwing a tool at the "crowd" doesn't automatically get you quality content. That said from all these tools I prefer anki since it has a web-based UI and an android app.
- yermierc 11y ago
  "lack of good quality material" You definitely are correct and I agree with you 100%. The problem is that you can't just throw a tool at people and expect it to stick - ultimately people need good content to study. For us at https://www.memorangapp.com https://www.memorangapp.com it comes down to two things: (1) Better collaboration and (2) Pre-made expert content. The latter takes a lot of money and time as we've effectively split the tool into a publishing platform and technology platform in parallel. (You can see an example of the expert marketplace of content at https://www.memorangapp.com/premium https://www.memorangapp.com/premium). You can check it out at the website and there's another discussion in this thread. We have a web-based UI and Android/iOS apps currently. Brand new versions of these are being released next month as part of a 2.0 launch.
  - steve19 11y ago
    I would happily buy pre-made decks, but for decks I spend hours crafting myself, I want to know I have access them forever and not lose them if you get bought out or go bust. Do you have export functionality?
    - yermierc 11y ago
      Currently you can export the HTML and also as printed sheets. In the next few months we'll enable exporting to formats such as csv/tsv. (This is currently supported in the admin interface, but we haven't made it a user-facing tool yet). If it's any consolation, we already prepaid the next 2 years for AWS and are cash-flow positive. (i.e. not going bust anytime soon).
kiba 11y ago
I spent using Anki, and all I have to say is that my graphs actually dovetail neatly. Space repetition just works.
roflmyeggo 11y ago
I've been using the Anki iOS application for a while now. I'm considering moving my stack over to org-drill.el to minimze context switching. Anyone made a similar switch or can compare the two at all?
- tangled_zans 11y ago
  Very tempted to do so as well.
asimjalis 11y ago
A simple screenshot on the landing page would make this a lot easier to immediately understand.
dorfsmay 11y ago
I'm surprised there's no mention of Super Memo and P. Woźniak's studies on spaced repetition in this thread: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SuperMemo https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SuperMemo https://www.supermemo.com/help/faq/memory.htm https://www.supermemo.com/help/faq/memory.htm
tangled_zans 11y ago
Ask HN: What's the coolest thing you've used Anki for?
- Steuard 11y ago
  It's not "cool", but I'm a professor who's always struggled to learn my students' names. A few years ago, I started to populate an Anki deck with their photos from the college lookbook paired with their names and a few other details. Now I usually recognize most people on the first day of class and just about everyone within the first couple of weeks. (I had trouble that year when I had identical twins in the class.) Anki has transformed a point of shame to a point of pride, and I'm grateful.
  - tangled_zans 11y ago
    That's a great idea. It makes a massive difference too when the prof remembers your name, I bet your students appreciate it.
markbao 11y ago
I use Anki as a part of my college strategy (http://markbao.com/notes/college-strategies http://markbao.com/notes/college-strategies) by using the Cornell notetaking method to write up questions and answers for my notes and piping those 'cues' into Anki. Turns out self-testing is one of the best ways to learn, so this combination is surprisingly effective. It's no replacement for actually learning the concepts, but they help in drilling down the foundational knowledge that helps me understand the bigger-picture concepts better.
antoaravinth 11y ago
Anki is an great tool. I used to read javascript Coercion algorithm from JS Specs using this little tool. It have immensely helped me to remember almost everything!
thewhitetulip 11y ago
Anki has a nice android app too by the way
currentoor 11y ago
I've been working on a similar concept after using Anki for a year. http://www.looprecall.com/ http://www.looprecall.com/ I wanted to have a more modern UI and plan on adding the ability to share decks between users. I would welcome any feed back! :-)
EvanL 11y ago
Someone please create a browser extension that automatically adds every word you "Look Up" to an Anki stack. My vocabulary would be vastly improved if I had this, I always find myself looking up the definition of the same complex words over and over again that are for whatever reason slippery for me to remember.
- lemonberry 11y ago
  I always wanted a dictionary app that would make flashcards based on words I looked up.
hammerbrostime 11y ago
I love Anki, been using it for the last year. What has been most powerful for me, is that I no longer take standard notes when trying to learn a new topic. Instead, all of my notes are in "question" form, so that I can keep on top of it over time. The spaced repetition keeps my learning efforts efficient and keeps things from leaking out of my wetware memory. The synchronization feature between devices has also proven to be very useful, as I use my laptop usually to put in new questions, but use the iPhone app to quiz myself whenever I have a few spare minutes during the day (waiting in line, walking to work, etc). UI is a little wonky at times, but its features and flexibility more than makes up for it for a dedicated student.
sriram_malhar 11y ago
I couldn't get past the awful UI, written using a generic portable UI toolkit which makes it uniformly terribly looking on all platforms.
polymath21 11y ago
We've been working on a product more oriented towards "everyday" remembering instead of hardcore educational learning called Remembered.io (https://remembered.io https://remembered.io) It's meant for use cases like reminding yourself about lessons you've learned in books, to keep yourself inspired, or for encoding tidbits from short term to long term memory. Here's a recent Lifehacker post about us: http://lifehacker.com/remembered-io-offers-smart-reminders-to-keep-you-inspir-1742240345 http://lifehacker.com/remembered-io-offers-smart-reminders-t...

398 points by sonabinu 11y ago

Also see the mentat wiki: http://www.ludism.org/mentat http://www.ludism.org/mentat

>It's highly recommended that you install Anki from this package instead of relying on the version distributed with your OS, as the packages in the official repo are often very out of date. Why is this still a problem in Linux-land? Why can't we just make some but not all packages rolling-release? Making Anki rolling-release won't make the distro unstable by any sensible meaning of the word.

temp 11y ago
>Why can't we just make some but not all packages rolling-release? Does that include Anki's dependencies? And if it does, does it include all other packages that depend upon Anki's dependencies? Also, does it include thousands of other packages similar to Anki that also "won't make the distro unstable by any sensible meaning of the word"? Don't think you'll have a "just some rolling-release packages" distro by the end of that. Unless you think this specific package is somehow deserving of special treatment by Linux distributions (why?).
- tormeh 11y ago
  If the new version of Anki needs a new version of a dependency, just install the new version alongside the old one. Whatever happened when I installed this deb may also be an option. If handling this is a huge problem, why not have all the rolling-release programs include their own dependencies. Most of us have so much storage space that, without films/games/music, we couldn't fill it even if we tried. It's cool to use minimal amounts of storage when you're on a virtualized machine on Azure/AWS, but those machines aren't used to run Anki anyway. Storage for executable usage is effectively infinite nowadays on consumer devices.
  - temp 11y ago
    >If the new version of Anki needs a new version of a dependency, just install the new version alongside the old one. Yes, and do that with every other package as well. Are you even considering the implications of what you're saying? The next-to-latest version of Anki is for example in the repos of the most popular distribution. The latest version of Anki is not in the repos, and its dependencies break something in that distro. You're free to install Anki's latest version, but there are reasons why stable distributions will not just jump on the latest version of a fairly unknown package.
- nextos 11y ago
  I think the trick for this is to embrace distros that allow for more aggressive installation and removal of packages, plus different versions of the same package to co-exist. Like NixOS or GuixSD. Then, one doesn't need to keep the whole package tree in sync.
- Houshalter 11y ago
  Why does Anki have dependencies? Why is there software that uses Anki as a dependency?
microcolonel 11y ago
To be fair, this is only really a problem if you're using one of the big waterfall distros like Debian or Ubuntu. I'm on Arch and I get fresh Anki same day or week.
- placeybordeaux 11y ago
  Yeah for home usage I will probably be using an Arch derivative until something like bedrock linux comes out. Installing the latest software has never been easier, especially with the AUR.
milosh_ 11y ago
Frankly, "very out of date" when it is version 2.0.32 in debian testing and ubuntu current while the new, one month old version is 2.0.33 is overstated. What are the features that are not in the debian stable package (2.0.31) or in 2.0.32 but are in the cutting edge 2.0.33 version? None of the bugs reported in the debian bug tracker seem to have been fixed by later versions! With that said, you can make some but not all packages rolling-release with apt-pinning and using stable and sid or testing which are rolling.
- yebyen 11y ago
  > None of the bugs reported in the debian bug tracker seem to have been fixed by later versions! Bingo. That is the #1 reason (the only reason?) that a package doesn't get promoted to Testing from Unstable, because it has known bugs and they haven't been fixed. This is Debian policy manual 101. Fix the bugs, release a new version, if no more bugs are reported on the new version for two weeks, then it gets promoted to Testing (as long as it's not a freeze?) and it will be in next Stable after the freeze is completed.
tajen 11y ago
I'm wondering why it's an app instead of a webapp.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

nolite 11y ago
There's another problem: there's no way to easily make cards from the mobile app! You have to do it on the desktop and then switch to mobile. Really kills the incentive for the mobile app
- QuantumCookie 11y ago
  It's possible from the Android mobile app (though I believe that's unofficial), though it's more fiddly than on the desktop.
- cconcepts 11y ago
  I only make cards on the android mobile app - have never used Anki any other way.
wahnfrieden 11y ago
The iPhone app came years after the free and open source desktop one; the boat had long since sailed on charging on the desktop. The Android one is unofficial. I recall reading that because they didn't make the app friendly to casual newcomers, they didn't pick too low a price-point that would attract them and their support load. That said, complaining about an app's price on HN is pretty disappointing. Though they might have found more success with a recurring/IAP approach that makes payments more palatable. Seems development has largely stalled on the iPhone app though.
michaelcampbell 11y ago
> Maybe they feel like all Apple users are stupid & rich and will pay whatever they are asked for. That's one way to couch it; another is charge what the market will bear. IOS devs routinely tout all the polls/studies that show Apple customers pay more and more often for software than Android customers.
tokenizerrr 11y ago
Apple charges a ridiculous amount in order to be allowed to develop software for their platforms. It is no surprise that developers might feel the need to pass this cost on to the customer.

syntiux 11y ago

Anki is great. I have been using it to prepare for my exams. Creating flashcards on my laptop and learning with them on my Android phone / tablet works like a charm. Also, the Android app just got updated. The only limitation I've found is that there is currently no way to self-host flashcards which can be accessed by the mobile app. If you're only using the desktop version you might want to look at https://github.com/dsnopek/anki-sync-server https://github.com/dsnopek/anki-sync-server in order to self-host your flashcards.

cblop 11y ago

I used Anki for 30 minutes to an hour each day for about a year to memorise around 1500 Japanese characters and their readings, with the aid of a mnemonic technique. So long as you have an hour a day to dedicate to the flashcards without fail, you will retain the memorised information. My problem was that a job and location change altered my daily routine entirely, so I stopped reviewing the cards. One year later, I have forgotten most of the characters I knew. However, the characters I learned while living in Japan, in context, are still fresh in my mind. I think that spaced repetition isn't the memory panacea it's always touted to be. It's a great tool for cramming, but soon becomes a pain when you have hundreds of cards to review every day. I've heard good things about the goldlist method, a much more low-tech pen and paper approach. Does anyone have any experience with this technique? It claims to be better for long-term memory: http://huliganov.tv/goldlist-eu/ http://huliganov.tv/goldlist-eu/

yummyfajitas 11y ago
I think you aren't supposed to start with hundreds of cards. Start with 10, once their frequency drops to once/week or less, add 10 more, repeat ad nauseum. Since the frequency of cards drops integrably, you'll always have a constant and manageable number of cards to review.
- cblop 11y ago
  I was adding 5 new cards a day, which seems to be quite common amongst language learners. I figured the SRS algorithm would take care of giving me a manageable frequency.
microcolonel 11y ago
I think part of the trick that's commonly overlooked is mixing the two approaches. Use SRS so that you remember the cards tomorrow and can use them in Japan. I think this could also be partially solved by making better cards.
wahnfrieden 11y ago
SRS is best used to reinforce things you learned outside the flashcard environment. So put things into Anki that you have some real-world context to anchor that memory to, and use Anki to reinforce that memory, not to create new memories that lack any vivid context in your mind outside of the drab flashcard app window where you first discovered the term in isolation. Ideally you're consuming native media, talking with natives, etc. and drawing from that to create your flashcards, since you'll come across a lot of terms that you learn once and then have otherwise forgotten by the time you see them again in the wild; this is where SRS helps.

abhishekanand 11y ago

Cool.

meesterdude 11y ago

This is really great! I'm building a SaaS that is similar to this, but I was feeling bummed about not releasing it as open source; but now I can just point people to this if they want to run their own. awesome!

wahnfrieden 11y ago
Is it in a ready enough state to share?
- meesterdude 11y ago
  That depends on how you look at it. I'm using it, but is it ready for normal humans? I'm not sure. It's equally or more complicated than anki, and serves a larger usecase of doing the remembering for you and collaboration; and is not nearly as well documented as anki at the moment. That said, if you're up for beta access, shoot me an email at r.letmein [a] ruru.name and i'll see about access
albertoleal 11y ago
I'm also planning and building on a flashcard app; and am facing a similar dilemma on whether to monetize (make it SaaS) or go all out open-source. At the moment my barometer seems to be leaning towards open source. I already have REST API backend done, and am working on UI. ------ The only novelty on my app is that it uses an algorithm based on upvotes/downvotes (e.g. HN, Reddit, etc) to measure card performance rather than a variant based on SuperMemo and friends. I already wrote a spec on it (feel free to steal =P): https://github.com/grokdb/spec https://github.com/grokdb/spec

sandGorgon 11y ago

Anki is great - the original Supermemo algorithm on which Anki is based[2], makes for fascinating reading [1] However, I daresay that this is a usecase that is tailormade for the mobile rather than the desktop in any which way. I wonder why the core team is spending effort behind a desktop app, rather than go full mobile. [1] https://archive.wired.com/medtech/health/magazine/16-05/ff_wozniak?currentPage=all https://archive.wired.com/medtech/health/magazine/16-05/ff_w... [2] https://www.supermemo.com/help/smalg.htm#Anki_will_work_great_with_SM-2.2C_but_SM-5_is_superior https://www.supermemo.com/help/smalg.htm#Anki_will_work_grea...

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pzzz 11y ago
It is much easier to create large numbers of cards on desktop than mobile. There are also a large number of third party add-ons available for desktop https://ankiweb.net/shared/addons/ https://ankiweb.net/shared/addons/
- sandGorgon 11y ago
  It is actually much easier to use a desktop browser as well. Yet, most traffic now is mobile. Flashcards are a mobile usecase, I actually think a desktop version is actually limiting for them...maybe that's why Supermemo never became a roaring success.
- deleted 11y ago
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aeris 11y ago

There's also a web interface https://ankiweb.net https://ankiweb.net

jhund 11y ago

Anki is great. I've used it to learn the 100 most common Clojure expressions. You can get the Anki file by signing up for the newsletter at http://www.lispcast.com/100-most-used-clojure-expressions http://www.lispcast.com/100-most-used-clojure-expressions

nextos 11y ago
There's also a great org-mode extension that implements most SRS algorithms, including Anki's: http://orgmode.org/worg/org-contrib/org-drill.html http://orgmode.org/worg/org-contrib/org-drill.html
- Ixiaus 11y ago
  I second org-drill. Org-mode is my whole personal information manager including information learning w/ org-drill.
  - tangled_zans 11y ago
    Any tips for how to implement that? I've tried org-mode for personal-information-management and I just get lost in all of the subtrees.
    - nextos 11y ago
      I was in that kind of situation too. The problem is that org-mode is too flexible. I use it as a flattened kanban board.
tangled_zans 11y ago
oOoh thanks. I love Clojure. This'll be useful.
deleted 11y ago
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ixtli 11y ago

Anki is a very impressive project if for no other reason than its constant development. It basically got me a degree in Japanese seven years ago and it's still being polished.

omarish 11y ago

I've been using Anki on my iPhone for the past 3 years and it's been quite effective. Highly recommend it for anybody who has a lot of content to learn. It's really useful if you can make time for it on a daily basis.

Shank 11y ago

I've used AnkiSRS and recommended them, but I still don't have a good solution to catch up on decks that you're behind on. It's very good for keeping memory in tact with lots of info. Gwern has an excellent overview of spatial repetition software too: http://www.gwern.net/Spaced%20repetition http://www.gwern.net/Spaced%20repetition

outlace 11y ago

Anki is what's getting me through med school

746F7475 11y ago

I remember trying to use this for school stuff, but I didn't find it all that useful. There is after all very little you have to remember that isn't about schedules

6d0debc071 11y ago
UK: I found this sort of thing, can't remember if I used Anki specifically, incredibly useful for remembering dates and percentages and so on when taking my A Levels. There were something like a hundred different studies that you had to learn for a good grade in Psychology - at least the way we were taught it - you could't derive them or anything, you just had to memorise them over the term. It was similar for wanting to remember specific quotes from books for English Lit. The vast majority of the work I put in for those exams was just trying to eat a textbook so I could vomit it back up. :/ For which this worked great.

a-dub 11y ago

I used this for foreign language vocabulary when I was in school. Did it work? I honestly don't remember...

gjcourt 11y ago

A friend and I decided to build an Anki replacement a few years ago, it's now located at https://www.memorangapp.com https://www.memorangapp.com and has a loyal following of 10s of thousands of users. Anki is a great tool and has a wide variety of content on Ankiweb, however the ecosystem doesn't allow for any collaboration or the ability to keep content up to date (aside from manually editing decks, but where for example can you suggest a correction?). Memorang was designed from the ground up to be the next generation adaptive learning platform. In fact many hard-core Anki users have switched over to our platform and love it! The main difference is in the ease of use of both creating and consuming content. Anki has the underpinnings of supermemo, which is designed for the ideal learner. In a couple of experiments that we've done partnered with large institutions, one still underway, we have shown that most students are not "ideal learners" in that most still cram right before big exams or deadlines. The original study focused on efficacy, you can find the slides we did for an NSF sponsored presentation here http://www.slideshare.net/gjcourt/memorang-nsf-mooc-2014 http://www.slideshare.net/gjcourt/memorang-nsf-mooc-2014. The latest study is still in the works, but will involve significantly more data. Anki is a fantastic program and many people love and use it everyday. If you have loved and used Anki as much as we have, then give Memorang a try and see what you think! (or come help us improve the future of learning https://www.memorangapp.com/jobs https://www.memorangapp.com/jobs) Edit: Read about our data-model here http://blog.memorangapp.com/post/108094496626/tags-more-how-to-make-awesome-flashcards-on http://blog.memorangapp.com/post/108094496626/tags-more-how-...

ansgri 11y ago
Do you have some API or in-app functionality to import/export data e.g. to upload, backup or analyze card decks I create? You do really address the issues that prevent me from using Anki, and I'd be happy to pay for it once you do have that API.
- gjcourt 11y ago
  We do have a fully-featured API, in fact our mobile apps are built on top of the same API as the website. At the present it's not documented, this will be happening as fast as we can work on it. We're a small 3 person company so things like documentation take a back seat sometimes. If you're handy with a browser console you should be able to poke around, pm me if you want an API key :-) The site itself is free, and you can print material that you create. We only charge for premium content which is material that we've specifically created for exams and is guaranteed to be high quality and accurate. We allow for imports from top flashcard programs including Anki, however Anki files tend to be large so for the time being there is a 10MB (I think) cap on the size of an Anki deck you can upload. I can do it manually for larger decks if you pm me. Export is something we don't support at the present, but will probably get built at some point in the future.

bigethan 11y ago

I'm loving learning Arabic with http://orangeorapple.com/Flashcards/ http://orangeorapple.com/Flashcards/ The website looks underwhelming, but the app is amazing. The more I use it, the more it's flexibility impresses me. There are lots of options to review the cards, and it'll use card data to make quizzes, etc for you.

capedape 11y ago
Yep, I've used Anki for years and moved over to Flashcards deluxe because after a few months on both noticed little difference in its algorithm compared to Anki. I find the mobile interface of Flashcards deluxe to be a whole lot less kludgy than Anki and the developer to be a whole lot more responsive. http://mnemosyne-proj.org/ http://mnemosyne-proj.org/ is pretty good too.

GeorgeMatthews 11y ago

That's what everyone needs in a busy schedule

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mtau 11y ago

I would like to recommend Mnemosyne [1] as an alternative to Anki. It uses a very similar algorithm for spaced repetition (based on SM2), but has a simpler and cleaner UI. [1] http://mnemosyne-proj.org/ http://mnemosyne-proj.org/

xavi 11y ago

Anki has many features but I found it too complicated and I didn't like the UI, nor having to sync across devices. So I decided to develop a basic, simpler alternative, a web app that can also be installed in the home screen of an iOS or Android device, https://omnimemory.com https://omnimemory.com

mtau 11y ago
http://mnemosyne-proj.org/ http://mnemosyne-proj.org/ is also a simpler alternative

markm248 11y ago

Remember that you read it here first, there will be a unicorn built on the concept of SRS. I use Anki daily and love the application but there's a learning curve and you have to build your own workflow to make it work. Someone is going to take the concept and make it accessible to the masses.

sidedishes 11y ago
First thing that comes to mind when I read your comment is Memrise. Or is even that missing something?
- markm248 11y ago
  Kind of on the right track but I don't think that is it though... But if you had shown me facebook in 2005, I would have said the same thing.
tangled_zans 11y ago
I completely agree. I've been trying to figure out what's been missing in Anki for a while in order to improve my workflow. What do you think it is?

reinhardt1053 11y ago

I would like to recommend Memrise [1] as alternative to Anki. [1] http://www.memrise.com/ http://www.memrise.com/

tedks 11y ago
Memrise is fun, and certainly much better designed than Anki, but at the end of the day it's just another startup that will either fail or get acquired and shut down. All your content will be destroyed, or maybe, if they're generous, given to you in some crappy export format that won't be interoperable with anything else. I use Memrise, but Anki is my extended memory. Anything I want to actually remember is there.

stewbrew 11y ago

The problem with every app like this is the lack of good quality material. For language learning, I prefer learning whole sentences as examples of an appropriate context. But creating good lists of sentences & translations is cumbersome and just throwing a tool at the "crowd" doesn't automatically get you quality content. That said from all these tools I prefer anki since it has a web-based UI and an android app.

yermierc 11y ago
"lack of good quality material" You definitely are correct and I agree with you 100%. The problem is that you can't just throw a tool at people and expect it to stick - ultimately people need good content to study. For us at https://www.memorangapp.com https://www.memorangapp.com it comes down to two things: (1) Better collaboration and (2) Pre-made expert content. The latter takes a lot of money and time as we've effectively split the tool into a publishing platform and technology platform in parallel. (You can see an example of the expert marketplace of content at https://www.memorangapp.com/premium https://www.memorangapp.com/premium). You can check it out at the website and there's another discussion in this thread. We have a web-based UI and Android/iOS apps currently. Brand new versions of these are being released next month as part of a 2.0 launch.
- steve19 11y ago
  I would happily buy pre-made decks, but for decks I spend hours crafting myself, I want to know I have access them forever and not lose them if you get bought out or go bust. Do you have export functionality?
  - yermierc 11y ago
    Currently you can export the HTML and also as printed sheets. In the next few months we'll enable exporting to formats such as csv/tsv. (This is currently supported in the admin interface, but we haven't made it a user-facing tool yet). If it's any consolation, we already prepaid the next 2 years for AWS and are cash-flow positive. (i.e. not going bust anytime soon).

kiba 11y ago

I spent using Anki, and all I have to say is that my graphs actually dovetail neatly. Space repetition just works.

roflmyeggo 11y ago

I've been using the Anki iOS application for a while now. I'm considering moving my stack over to org-drill.el to minimze context switching. Anyone made a similar switch or can compare the two at all?

tangled_zans 11y ago
Very tempted to do so as well.

asimjalis 11y ago

A simple screenshot on the landing page would make this a lot easier to immediately understand.

dorfsmay 11y ago

I'm surprised there's no mention of Super Memo and P. Woźniak's studies on spaced repetition in this thread: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SuperMemo https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SuperMemo https://www.supermemo.com/help/faq/memory.htm https://www.supermemo.com/help/faq/memory.htm

tangled_zans 11y ago

Ask HN: What's the coolest thing you've used Anki for?

Steuard 11y ago
It's not "cool", but I'm a professor who's always struggled to learn my students' names. A few years ago, I started to populate an Anki deck with their photos from the college lookbook paired with their names and a few other details. Now I usually recognize most people on the first day of class and just about everyone within the first couple of weeks. (I had trouble that year when I had identical twins in the class.) Anki has transformed a point of shame to a point of pride, and I'm grateful.
- tangled_zans 11y ago
  That's a great idea. It makes a massive difference too when the prof remembers your name, I bet your students appreciate it.

markbao 11y ago

I use Anki as a part of my college strategy (http://markbao.com/notes/college-strategies http://markbao.com/notes/college-strategies) by using the Cornell notetaking method to write up questions and answers for my notes and piping those 'cues' into Anki. Turns out self-testing is one of the best ways to learn, so this combination is surprisingly effective. It's no replacement for actually learning the concepts, but they help in drilling down the foundational knowledge that helps me understand the bigger-picture concepts better.

antoaravinth 11y ago

Anki is an great tool. I used to read javascript Coercion algorithm from JS Specs using this little tool. It have immensely helped me to remember almost everything!

thewhitetulip 11y ago

Anki has a nice android app too by the way

currentoor 11y ago

I've been working on a similar concept after using Anki for a year. http://www.looprecall.com/ http://www.looprecall.com/ I wanted to have a more modern UI and plan on adding the ability to share decks between users. I would welcome any feed back! :-)

EvanL 11y ago

Someone please create a browser extension that automatically adds every word you "Look Up" to an Anki stack. My vocabulary would be vastly improved if I had this, I always find myself looking up the definition of the same complex words over and over again that are for whatever reason slippery for me to remember.

lemonberry 11y ago
I always wanted a dictionary app that would make flashcards based on words I looked up.

hammerbrostime 11y ago

I love Anki, been using it for the last year. What has been most powerful for me, is that I no longer take standard notes when trying to learn a new topic. Instead, all of my notes are in "question" form, so that I can keep on top of it over time. The spaced repetition keeps my learning efforts efficient and keeps things from leaking out of my wetware memory. The synchronization feature between devices has also proven to be very useful, as I use my laptop usually to put in new questions, but use the iPhone app to quiz myself whenever I have a few spare minutes during the day (waiting in line, walking to work, etc). UI is a little wonky at times, but its features and flexibility more than makes up for it for a dedicated student.

sriram_malhar 11y ago

I couldn't get past the awful UI, written using a generic portable UI toolkit which makes it uniformly terribly looking on all platforms.

polymath21 11y ago

We've been working on a product more oriented towards "everyday" remembering instead of hardcore educational learning called Remembered.io (https://remembered.io https://remembered.io) It's meant for use cases like reminding yourself about lessons you've learned in books, to keep yourself inspired, or for encoding tidbits from short term to long term memory. Here's a recent Lifehacker post about us: http://lifehacker.com/remembered-io-offers-smart-reminders-to-keep-you-inspir-1742240345 http://lifehacker.com/remembered-io-offers-smart-reminders-t...