Flashcards deluxe, anki, and others

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Re: Flashcards deluxe, anki, and others

Post by bounceit » Wed Nov 18, 2015 10:32 am

Appreciate those replies. I have a better understanding and think I will use them both for the time being. I'll probably FCD more because it doesn't feel kludgy like Anki feels to me and I only use mobile to study. My only hesitation is that I want to make comprehensive cards with: sound, image, multiple text pages and I'm not sure what best/fast practices to do that in FCD is as I've only been using slightly modified quizlet sets. I'm going to try and figure that out now. Cheers

PS implementation of that mode Anki has would be welcomed.

Re: Flashcards deluxe, anki, and others

Post by Ernie » Tue Nov 17, 2015 9:48 pm

kraemder,

Thank you for taking the time to share.
True, my SRS doesn't have a short-interval build up like that. I might consider adding something like at... I'll think about it.

bounceit,
My minimum interval is 8 hours and the default initial interval is 1 day. So there's a big jump there vs Anki. But what I do differently is I have a "new card" mode where you get familiar with cards in small groups. When you get a card correct 3 times in a row, the app sets it to active and will test it again in 20 hours. The risk is that if you have only 10 cards in your new card set and your very-short term memory is good, you might get it correct 3 times in a row, but not know it well enough to remember after 20 hours. When I study, I usual create a new card set of about 30 cards and don't move a card to active until I feel I can probably remember it in 20 hours.

P.S. A card's stats are reset when the card moves from new to active. The new card mode might be ugly because I like answering wrong a lot, so I like starting from a clean slate when the card becomes active.

Re: Flashcards deluxe, anki, and others

Post by kraemder » Tue Nov 17, 2015 9:20 pm

I've used both and will probably continue to use both because both apps have their pros and cons. It's mostly about the interface than the algorithm - both are SRS so both space out repetitions accordingly if you check off correct repeatedly you're going to see that card less and less. What I liked about Anki was the direct control I had over intervals while learning or reviewing if I get it wrong. I could set for example to space out repetitions as: .3, 3, 15, 30 if I wanted to. So I would see the card at .3 minutes... if I get it right then at 3 minutes... and at 15 minutes etc. I don't have a complete understanding on the algorithm after that. I will say that I tend to make liberal use of the weak response available in Anki because the default setup.. with 'green' response is very aggressive I think for words that you're just starting to study. But if you do the weak response then it spaces it out ok.

There's a few things I like about FCD though. I like how the SRS algorithm is straight forward and explained so that the user can understand. Anki seems like the app author keeps the formula to himself. Maybe others get it but I only see the results from using it, which isn't terrible but I haven't tweaked it at all because the documentation just leaves me too much in the dark. Reading through FCD though I can see and understand how the formula works so if I wan to try tweaking it in the settings that's something I'm comfortable doing. It's a little limited in that you can't duplicate what Anki lets you do in terms of setting up steps from 1 minute to 10 minutes etc. But there's a lot you can do. I also like the animations involved in FCD - you get no animations at all in Anki. I like how in FCD you have a nice text to speech built right into the app - you do not get this in Anki but a user has made a nice add on that works well but it's still not built INTO the app. With FCD you have a "jukebox" option built in. It's pretty nice. You can auto play cards and if you have audio cards you can just listen to them like an audiobook etc. There's options so you can control to an extent what cards you listen to according to your stats - per your streak for example. Only cards you have a low streak on. It's very configurable. FCD also has a menu for selecting manually when you'll see a card next.. if you press options while reviewing you can bring it up and select in one day, in 3 days, in a week, in a month. It's not an option exercise a lot but it's nice and not one I've seen on Anki.

The two apps are both really good SRS programs so you can't really go wrong no matter what I think.

Re: Flashcards deluxe, anki, and others

Post by bounceit » Fri Nov 13, 2015 8:37 pm

Thanks Ernie,
I've recommend FCD a ton as a learning aid for people I've been mentoring and I will continue to use it because I have so much invested in it and like the UI. I think the tool that you enjoy using is probably better than the perfect tool. That said, I still can't help but wonder about the Anki algorithm when I see it being hyped up. Anki seems to have a popular blogger following and I'll be honest there is a little cynicism in that I think it's because they can make more money affiliate blogging the 25. app. Still open to hearing opinions though. Cheers

Re: Flashcards deluxe, anki, and others

Post by Ernie » Fri Nov 13, 2015 3:16 pm

Anki's and my Spaced Repetition are very similar. Their algorithm is more complex than mine. I tried to keep mine simple so that people could hopefully understand it better and also modify the scheduling to fit their own needs. My opinion is that there's no perfect scheduling for all material and all people, and that small differences in scheduling will have little overall impact in you successfully learning the material. I do have trust in their system though. I just haven't used it for real studying on a large deck so I can't say much. You might try a 50 card deck on each at the same time as a test and see how it goes.

I'll see if I can get someone else more knowledgeable on Anki to chime it.

Flashcards deluxe, anki, and others

Post by bounceit » Fri Nov 13, 2015 2:30 pm

I've owned flashcards deluxe and used it for years because I like the UI. I'm curious about Anki's algorithm though, is it that much different or better than Flaschard deluxes? I own the mobile version of Anki and I'm going to start building an extensive collection 30,0000 > and wondering if I should move over to it. I know this might not be the best place to get unbiased information, just curious if anyone has some insight? Cheers

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