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I’m always curious about the “Anki should be prettier” comment. I use Anki a lot, so I’m not in the best position to judge its first-hand impression. But, what

I’m always curious about the “Anki should be prettier” comment. I use Anki a lot, so I’m not in the best position to judge its first-hand impression. But, what would you say should change? Both in terms of visuals and interaction? Genuinely asking.

EE84M3i 6y ago
Anki has _way_ too many knobs and options. It is overwhelming, and they are also footguns. The success of WaniKani for example is notable because you can effectively make the exact same thing for free using Anki (and the unofficial decks are available) but it is still quite popular to pay for the managed experience.
- henrikeh 6y ago
  I’m sorry for being dense, but I don’t quite understand the issue. From the workflow of downloading Anki and adding to the default deck, how do the settings and knobs factor into it? I’m not here to just argue. I am legitimately interested. I just don’t want to assume too much.
refactor_master 6y ago
Have you seen the iOS app, for example? https://apps.apple.com/app/ankimobile-flashcards/id373493387 https://apps.apple.com/app/ankimobile-flashcards/id373493387 It looks just as dodgy as “doctors hate this one weird trick”, and costs a ton up front. Why would I believe something like that?
- henrikeh 6y ago
  Sorry if I come off as pedantic, but what makes it look dodgy? Is it just the polish and alignment? I use it daily and I just find it functional, but I’m also very used to it.
- kazinator 6y ago
  The AnkiDroid app for Android is free, and is basically a reimplementation of Anki with compatible behaviors, storage formats and configuration. It's a complete, self-contained Anki implementation; it does not require anything on a desktop computer.
- sjy 6y ago
  I baulked at the $25 price as much as anyone else would, so I used the free desktop app, and web app which works on mobile (ankiweb.net), for a month. After that, I was happy to pay $25 to support the developer and get the ability to edit cards on mobile and work offline.
keiferski 6y ago
I also use Anki daily. Just off the top of my head: - The UI is an ugly light gray with too much text. I'd make the design far more minimal. - Too much of a focus on text. Video, audio and GIFs should be more integrated into cards, especially for stuff like foreign languages. - Way too many options: note types, sort fields, tags, on and on. I've been using Anki for years and I don't even know what half of these things do. - The entire process of adding cards is confusing and not immediately obvious. There's not even a tutorial. - Premade decks have zero quality control and you have to go looking for them online. - Above all, Anki just looks and feels like a chore. When I show it to people (like OP), the overwhelming reaction is always, "Meh." There's nothing exciting, beautiful or futuristic about it.
- kazinator 6y ago
  I use AnkiDroid on Android. The UI supports a dark mode. I can't imagine why anyone would want to use the original desktop Anki, which chains you to a PC or laptop. Though in the pre-mobile-computing era, such a program would have been attractive. This technique begs to be mobile, so you can do reviews in any occasion when you would be otherwise idly waiting for something, like standing in line somewhere. Buses, trains, planes, waiting rooms, washroom stalls ... You can micro-review. If you have just a few seconds to spare, you can whip out your phone and just do one review and put it away. That's one less to do later. I sometimes do AnkiDroid reviews lying down in bed, before sleeping. You can turn of screen rotation and work sideways. I've woken up in the middle of the night and completed the last few reviews of the day. That's possible from having the phone near the hand; no way would I get up, and sit at a desktop PC to do that, or even laptop. The desktop Anki is completely pointless except for (1) serving as the reference implementation and (2) certain complicated maintenance tasks on large decks.
  - keiferski 6y ago
    I use Anki on desktop because it lets me type 1000x faster than on a phone. Hugely important for Cloze cards and language learning. It really isn't even a comparison...the mobile app is only useful if I'm on the go and have a minute to do some cards. An hour on the desktop version will let you do hundreds, even thousands of cards, while mobile is maybe a hundred, tops, assuming you want to stare at your phone that long.
buzzerbetrayed 6y ago
Just downloaded it as a result of this post. Seems highly functional, and something I think I'm going to try and use. But to answer your question, here is my one nitpick: On the Mac app, why do some of the "tabs" at the top replace the contents of the current window, while others open up a whole new window. For example, clicking on "Decks" shows a list of desks in the main Anki window. Clicking on "Stats" opens up a second window, and leaves the main window unaffected. What is the purpose of this inconsistency. I personally rarely want a second window in an App, as it is another window I have to manage. But perhaps some people like having 3 Anki windows open at once, and being able to simultaneously see their Decks, Stats, and Browse content at once. But if this is how the workflow is supposed to be, you shouldn't make all the buttons look like tabs at the top.

EE84M3i 6y ago

Anki has _way_ too many knobs and options. It is overwhelming, and they are also footguns. The success of WaniKani for example is notable because you can effectively make the exact same thing for free using Anki (and the unofficial decks are available) but it is still quite popular to pay for the managed experience.

henrikeh 6y ago
I’m sorry for being dense, but I don’t quite understand the issue. From the workflow of downloading Anki and adding to the default deck, how do the settings and knobs factor into it? I’m not here to just argue. I am legitimately interested. I just don’t want to assume too much.

refactor_master 6y ago

Have you seen the iOS app, for example? https://apps.apple.com/app/ankimobile-flashcards/id373493387 https://apps.apple.com/app/ankimobile-flashcards/id373493387 It looks just as dodgy as “doctors hate this one weird trick”, and costs a ton up front. Why would I believe something like that?

henrikeh 6y ago
Sorry if I come off as pedantic, but what makes it look dodgy? Is it just the polish and alignment? I use it daily and I just find it functional, but I’m also very used to it.
kazinator 6y ago
The AnkiDroid app for Android is free, and is basically a reimplementation of Anki with compatible behaviors, storage formats and configuration. It's a complete, self-contained Anki implementation; it does not require anything on a desktop computer.
sjy 6y ago
I baulked at the $25 price as much as anyone else would, so I used the free desktop app, and web app which works on mobile (ankiweb.net), for a month. After that, I was happy to pay $25 to support the developer and get the ability to edit cards on mobile and work offline.

keiferski 6y ago

I also use Anki daily. Just off the top of my head: - The UI is an ugly light gray with too much text. I'd make the design far more minimal. - Too much of a focus on text. Video, audio and GIFs should be more integrated into cards, especially for stuff like foreign languages. - Way too many options: note types, sort fields, tags, on and on. I've been using Anki for years and I don't even know what half of these things do. - The entire process of adding cards is confusing and not immediately obvious. There's not even a tutorial. - Premade decks have zero quality control and you have to go looking for them online. - Above all, Anki just looks and feels like a chore. When I show it to people (like OP), the overwhelming reaction is always, "Meh." There's nothing exciting, beautiful or futuristic about it.

kazinator 6y ago
I use AnkiDroid on Android. The UI supports a dark mode. I can't imagine why anyone would want to use the original desktop Anki, which chains you to a PC or laptop. Though in the pre-mobile-computing era, such a program would have been attractive. This technique begs to be mobile, so you can do reviews in any occasion when you would be otherwise idly waiting for something, like standing in line somewhere. Buses, trains, planes, waiting rooms, washroom stalls ... You can micro-review. If you have just a few seconds to spare, you can whip out your phone and just do one review and put it away. That's one less to do later. I sometimes do AnkiDroid reviews lying down in bed, before sleeping. You can turn of screen rotation and work sideways. I've woken up in the middle of the night and completed the last few reviews of the day. That's possible from having the phone near the hand; no way would I get up, and sit at a desktop PC to do that, or even laptop. The desktop Anki is completely pointless except for (1) serving as the reference implementation and (2) certain complicated maintenance tasks on large decks.
- keiferski 6y ago
  I use Anki on desktop because it lets me type 1000x faster than on a phone. Hugely important for Cloze cards and language learning. It really isn't even a comparison...the mobile app is only useful if I'm on the go and have a minute to do some cards. An hour on the desktop version will let you do hundreds, even thousands of cards, while mobile is maybe a hundred, tops, assuming you want to stare at your phone that long.

buzzerbetrayed 6y ago

Just downloaded it as a result of this post. Seems highly functional, and something I think I'm going to try and use. But to answer your question, here is my one nitpick: On the Mac app, why do some of the "tabs" at the top replace the contents of the current window, while others open up a whole new window. For example, clicking on "Decks" shows a list of desks in the main Anki window. Clicking on "Stats" opens up a second window, and leaves the main window unaffected. What is the purpose of this inconsistency. I personally rarely want a second window in an App, as it is another window I have to manage. But perhaps some people like having 3 Anki windows open at once, and being able to simultaneously see their Decks, Stats, and Browse content at once. But if this is how the workflow is supposed to be, you shouldn't make all the buttons look like tabs at the top.