kiwiguy
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Updated: Sept 2010
Flashcards: In the physical world, sets of cards used to aid memorization. One side of the card contains a question and the other side contains the associated answer that you want to memorize. Most flashcard applications mimic this same behavior.
Over the past couple of months, I have tested every single flashcard program that I have been able to find on the market so thought that I would share my findings. There are some good programs and some not some good; and 3 that are excellent.
A good flashcard program needs to have at least the following features:
Summary
A. The following are good flashcard programs that are worth your while downloading and trying out: [My current favorites = :heart:]
B. The following have one or more weaknesses:
C. The following is worth keeping an eye on - as it has the potential to be great if the developer keeps improving it:
D. The following are Fails!
Note: People may have other priorities on what they consider important (eg if you learning kanji then the ability to view and draw the characters is critical), so you may not rate these programs in the same order that I have! At the very least it is a handy list of what is on the market. I urge you to try all of the ones in Category A above and make up your own minds as to what works best for you.
I also have a great deal of respect for any person who takes the time and effort to write a program that he puts on the market for free (or low cost) so as to help other people - so once you find one that you like then support that developer!!
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Reviews
*** Features that are either unique to that app or make it stand out are listed in blue
A. Good Apps
Langleo - Rating: :rating09: :heart:
6/25 - The latest release of Langleo has moved it to the top of the chart!! Nice clean, simple interface. You can create collections (e.g. Spanish) and then within a collections create lists or sets of words (e.g. weather terms or countries). Learning is based on a spaced repetition system based on the Supermemo method. You view a card then tap it to show the "back of the card". You can then either tap one of two buttons: "Correct" or "Incorrect" or swipe up (correct) or down (wrong) on the screen. The words that you get wrong it will ask you again later in the session.
Here are the 4 features that I think make Langleo really stand out:
- fast and well designed, so fun to use (which is important)
- when in quiz mode, it remembers where in the test you are - so if you have to stop for any reason then when you come back to the app (whether 5 minutes or 5 hours) it simply picks up where you left off. This makes it very convenient for using in short bursts (eg. waiting in line at a store)
- You can set how many new words it should test you on in each session and each day (i.e. you can create a set of 100 words, but it will only quiz you on 20. If you get half of them wrong then next day it will quiz you on those plus 10 new words). This is very useful when you have very large lists as it automatically breaks up your learning into small chunks.
- Built in speech capability combined with swipe to answer. The program will ask you the questions out loud then say the answer. You can then swipe up on the screen for correct or down for incorrect - so possible to learn on a bus or train with headphones and the phone in your pocket without having to look at the phone! I have started to use this feature a lot.
Pros
- Very simple and fast to use. Easy to quickly run through a list when you have a few spare minutes.
- Easy and fast to add/edit/delete words directly within the program.
- Can create word lists on your PC then import them into the program.
- Can backup the database INCLUDING YOUR LEARNING HISTORY- so if you change your ROM, you can restore all of your word-lists and your learning status.
- Can have multiple card packs.
- Can download 100's of pre-made packs as there is a Download command that links to the StudyStack site. Can also preview the contents of a list before downloading - many of the other programs only show you the lists and it is kind of "pot luck" what you download. (Just be patient if you try this as it takes about 5 minutes to create a index of all of the lists on the site.
- It has speech capability - so it can speak aloud the question and the answer.
- Can display entire card pack in list mode - with all words and answers displayed. Can easily edit words in List mode.
- Responsive developer (Tomek Piotrowski from Poland)
Cons
- Can NOT reverse order that cards are asked (i.e. a -> b, b -> a)
- The only other weakness is that although the Test function works well, there is no Study function. Once you have tested yourself against a set of cards, the program does not allow you to review the cards that you got wrong. You just have to wait for them to appear again. You can view the entire set of cards in list form, but there is no indication which ones you know and which ones you have yet to learn.
Cost: Free.
FlashCards ToGo - Rating: :rating09: :heart:
FTG is another top choice - it is well designed and has some innovative features like auto-translate which makes entering new cards easier. Learning is based on the Leitner System. You view a card then tap it to show the other side. Three buttons (good, ok, and bad) also appear that you tap to select whether you got it correct. It then calculates the time interval until it asks that card again. I find the auto-translator useful as the way I tend to learn is that I see a word that I do not know in a book or on tv; grab my phone and look up its meaning then add it to my card pack. In addition, the feature that really made this a winner for me is that it reminds me (by putting a reminder in the status bar) when words come due to re-learn - which is a great incentive to actually use the program on a regular basis. The main weakness of this program is its limited study functions (see Cons).
Pros
- Can easily create lists on phone and add/edit/delete existing cards directly within the program.
- Easy to enter new cards. Has an auto-translate feature so you only have to type in the word that you do not know and it will look up the translation using Google and create the other side of the card for you.
- Intuitive to use. Easy to quickly run through a list when you have a few spare minutes.
- Can reverse order that cards are asked (i.e. a -> b, b -> a)
- Can backup/restore your entire set of decks to a CSV file on your SD card including learning history (There are actually 2 backup options - simple = cards only; Complex=cards+learning status).
- When a set of words come due, it pops an alert in the android status bar - which is great to remind you to retest yourself.
- Has a status screen with graphs that visually show you how much of the pack you have learnt and how many cards are coming due in next couple of days
- Can have multiple card packs.
- Supports many languages with the dictionaries
- Has a number of good quiz options to control how many new words are introduced each day including 1) Learn with a time limit and 2) Finish after 10 cards unknown.
- when in quiz mode, it remembers where in the test you are - so if you have to stop for any reason then it simply picks up where you left off. This makes it very convenient for using in short bursts (eg. waiting in line at a store.)
- It has slightly better learning function that Langleo (and most of the other flash card apps that I tested) in that once you have tested yourself against a set of cards, it will permit you to immediately retest yourself just against the words that you got wrong. There is also a "Memorize" where the program will do a one-time cycle through the cards that you got wrong showing the answers.
- Can display entire card pack in list mode - with all words and answers displayed. Can easily edit words in List mode.
- Responsive developer (Oliver Nölle from Germany)
Cons
- No related web site to download other people's packs.
- No speech capability
Cost: Both free and paid versions. The free version has all of the functionality of the paid, except it has a 100 card limit. The paid version is a reasonable 4 Euro (~$4.60) and works with unlimited cards.
AnyMemo - Rating: :rating09: :heart:
Anymemo (initially released on the market called Fantastisch) is my 3rd top choice - as it has nearly everything that you could want from a good flashcard program: sophisticated learning algorithm based on the Mnemosyne algorithm (which is meant to be a more modern variation of the Leitner System), speech capability, review capability, etc. You tap on a card to show the answer and then tap on one of a series of buttons to indicate how well you knew the word. [You can set in the Options menu whether you want 4 selection choices (1 Again, 2 Good, 3 Easy, 4 Very Easy) or 5 (0 Forget, 1 Forget, 2 Very Hard, 3 Hard, 4 Easy, 5 Very Easy)]. There are, however, no options to control how long the learning session should last or how many new words are introduced each day - so if you have a large list, the test basically keeps going until you get tired of it. (This is where I think Langleo is slightly better).
Pros
- Intuitive to use. Good graphics. Fast and responsive. Easy to quickly run through a list when you have a few spare minutes.
- It has speech capability - so it can speak aloud the question and the answer. It also allows you to set whether you want the words read automatically or only when you tap the screen (only app with this feature which is nice).
- Can easily create lists on phone and add/edit/delete existing cards directly within the program.
- Can download other people's packs directly from the website
- Can export/import sets of cards to SD card (Can import from multiple formats: Mnemosyne XML, SuperMemo PPC XML, Tab TXT, CSV, QA Text)
- Can have multiple card packs.
- when in quiz mode, it remembers where in the test you are - so if you have to stop for any reason then it simply picks up where you left off. This makes it very convenient for using in short bursts (eg. waiting in line at a store.)
- Has some learning functions such as preview mode to view entire card list and "Cram Review" which you can use to repeatedly test yourself without impacting the card's "known" status.
- Can reverse order that cards are asked (i.e. a -> b, b -> a)
- Lots of card customization options (font size, colors, shuffle cards, etc)
- Can display entire card pack in list mode - with all words and answers displayed.
- Can review and reset the learning level of each card - to force the app to retest you on it.
- App has a great web page with detailed help pages.
- Responsive developers (Haowen Ning, Qi Wang, Xufeng Han)
Cons
- No time options or options to control how many new words are introduced each day.
- No status screen to show you which words you have or have not learnt
- There is a list view which displays all words in a set - but it does not indicate each word's status. Also no ability to edit or delete cards in the List view - which makes editing the list on your phone a little tedious.
Cost: Free. Also a Donate version for $2.99 - which if you like this app is not a lot to pay.
Flashcards (formerly called Tea.ch cards lite) by Phylum Tea - Rating: :rating08:
Good program. Learning is based on the Leitner System. You tap each card to show "the back of the card" and then swipe left or right to indicate whether you knew it (left swipe = correct; right swipe = wrong). It then calculates the time interval until it asks that card again. Many nice features built into the app including being able to easily review current status of each card. See here for Help file for good explanation of features.
Pros
- Easy to use with large easy to read screens and swipe motions to navigate.
- Can create your own lists on PC (or download lists from the web e.g.. Flash Card Exchange) and import them
- Can easily create lists on phone and add/edit/delete existing cards directly within the program.
- Can reverse order that cards are asked (i.e. a -> b, b -> a)
- Undocumented feature: if you 'long press' on a word deck then you get a context menu which allows you to save the list to the SD card. The program stores the status of the learning process, which can be restored as well.
Cons
- Only Lite version available which can only handle 500 cards per deck and only permits up to 3 decks. (though you can have all the txt files you want saved on your SD card - so just delete a deck and make a new one anytime you need to re-learn something)
- No speech capability
- I found trying to remember to tap then swipe left or right tiring and not very intuitive and found that I constantly made swipes in the wrong direction.
Cost: Lite version is Free (No paid version available as of yet; see Cons for limitations).
AnkiDroid - Rating: :rating07:
Learning is based on a spaced repetition system. Word lists ("decks") are created on your PC the copied to your phone's SD card. You can have multiple decks and deiced when you start the program which deck you want to work with. The program remembers the learning status of each deck as you switch decks (as the decks are stored as files it is easy to back them up or migrate them). When learning the cards, you can control (1) the maximum number of questions in a session (2) the maximum number of new cards that you want to see a day and (2) where in the session the new cards appear (start, end or random). You view a card then tap "a Show Answer" button to show the "back of the card". You then select from 4 buttons with the following choices: "Again", "Hard", "Good" and Easy" which controls how quickly the question is re-asked.
The latest version adds a "Get Shared Deck" button that permits you to select from dozens of decks to download (languages, science, law, medicine,...) No registration/login is needed, it simply displays a list of decks (in order of popularity) and you choose one to download. There are dozens of decks to choose from as it is the same repository as the PC software "Anki", which is extremely popular on non-mobile environments(A couple of downsides is that there is no search or filter function so you have to just scroll through the lists and also you can not view a deck before downloading so is a bit of a "pot luck" as to what you are geting. A download can also take 5 minutes or more depending on size). The developers are also working on being able to add/delete cards directly on the phone.
Pros
- Word Lists (decks)stored as files (including learning history) so no concerns about backing up a database.
- Can import lists that you create on your PC then copy to your SD card.
- Can control what is shown in a review i.e. you can set it to just show new words or just show words that you previously got wrong (for learning purposes).
- Can suspend cards so they are not shown again - so if you download a deck and it contains words that you already know, you don't have to keep seeing them (useful as you can not delete cards from the phone. The downside is that this feature is awkward to use as requires 3 screen presses (Menu--> More-->Suspend)
- Easy to use in short bursts
- Has a timer - so you can set a certain time to learn - and a whiteboard function - where you can jot down notes on the fly - or draw kanji characters (I, personally, did not find either of these features particularly useful)
- Has an option that permits you to type answer.
- Responsive team, in all timezones, support requests are usually answered within 3 hours.
Cons
- Can NOT add or delete cards directly within the program. You can, however, edit them.
- Can NOT reverse order that cards are asked (i.e. a -> b, b -> a)
- No speech capability
- No list view so can not view all of the cards in a deck.
- No status screen so no way to tell how much of a pack you have learnt.
Cost: Free
Kaka Flashcards - Rating: :rating06:
A decent program. Learning is based on a spaced repetition system - where words get moved to 1 of 3 stacks depending how well you know them. The feature that I like least about Kaka is the navigation. You swipe a card horizontally to see next or previous flashcard. You swipe your finger vertically to "turn" the card. Then you have to double tap the screen to mark a card as unknown. I personally found constantly flicking left, flicking down, double tapping, repeat... a little tiresome.
Pros
- Good graphics. Fast and responsive. Easy to quickly run through a list when you have a few spare minutes.
- Can easily create lists on phone and add/edit/delete existing cards directly within the program.
- Can reverse order that cards are asked (i.e. a -> b, b -> a)
- Can import sets of cards from the phone or import pre-made lists from many popular websites such as Study Stack.
- Can also export stacks - so can create backups or upload them to websites.
- Can have multiple card packs.
- Good Help file available (see Help (Kaka Flashcards))
Cons
- Not very intuitive to use. You have to remember which directions to swipe and tap
- Awkwardly designed. You have to make 4 selections before you can actually start learning a set of cards. This is a nuisance if you want to just quickly spend a few minutes studying.
- No backup/restore function
- No speech capability
- No list view so can not view all of the cards in a deck.
- No status screen so no way to tell how much of a pack you have learnt.
Cost: Free
B. Runner Ups
CoboCards - Rating: :rating06:
This looks like a great program - a clean, well designed and easy to use interface. But, unfortunately, it has some major drawbacks. One of the biggest is cost. The Android application itself costs 2.99 Euro, but then you find that you cannot create your own lists, you can only download them from the CoboCards website and the access to this site is another $3.70 a month - or close to $40 /year!
The learning program is based on the Leitner system. As well as a well designed test function, it has by far the best learning function with multiple learning techniques and drills.
Pros
- Can download readymade lists from the CoboCards site
- Well designed and simple to use interface
- Good testing function based on Leitner system
- The app with the best learning functions. Easy to quickly run through a few drills when you have a few spare minutes.
Cons
- Can NOT create your own lists directly from within the program or import them from files on your SD card
- Can NOT add/edit/delete cards directly within the program.
- Expensive
Cost: $2.99 Euro plus a monthly $3.70 access fee.
StudyDroid - Rating: :rating05:
Basic flashcard program. The screen show a card with a single "KNOWN" button at the bottom. You tap on the screen to show the answer then press the "known" button if you knew the correct answer. You swipe sideways to see the next card. The next time you run it, it only asks you the cards that you did not know. (i.e. no logic to repeat cards and keep track of which ones you get wrong most often and ask these more frequently; or to re-ask cards after a certain time). See here for more info.
Pros
- Can download readymade lists from the StudyDroid site
- Can create your own lists on the StudyDroid site and download them. If you make changes on the phone it will also sync those changes back up to the StudyDroid site.
- Can add/edit/delete cards directly within the program.
- Tap on card to see "reverse". Nice left-to-right swipe motion to move to next card. You can also see previous card by swiping right-to-left.
- Can view card set as a list - although it does not show you card status.
Cons
- The biggest weakness of this program compared to some of the others is its simplistic learning logic - you either know the answer or you do not (Y/N logic).
- You can only see the question or the answer - not both together - so you often find yourself constantly toggling between the two sides. Most programs show the answer under the question.
- Can not pack up cards/learning status to SD card (although can upload to StudyDroid site)
- No speech capability
- No status screen so no way to tell how much of a pack you have learnt.
Cost: Free
gFlash + - Rating: :rating05:
Simple flashcard program. You either know the card or you do not (Y/N). When you run the test there seems to only be 2 choices - to only ask the cards you marked as "N" from previous run or to show entire set again. (i.e. pretty limited learning logic). See here for more info.
Pros
- Can download readymade lists from the gWhiz site
- Can create your own lists using Google spreadsheet and send to [email protected]. 30 minutes later you can download from gwhiz site.
- Can add/edit cards directly within the program.
Cons
- Not optimized for the Droid - so text extremely small and difficult to read.
- Simplistic learning logic
- You can delete cards on your phone, but cannot edit/add cards directly.
Cost: Free - but with large Advertising band across top of screen.
StudyBuddy - Rating: :rating04:
Very simple flashcard program. You flip through a pack and answer by pressing on either a "Right" or "Wrong" button. Neither the application nor the website state whether there is any space repetition logic included. In my tests, I do not think there is - it appeared that words are simply put in a good or problem "bucket".
Pros
- Can import lists that you create then copy to your SD card. You may can also download cards from the StudyBuddy site with the paid version (disabled in free version)
- Paid version allows you to review the cards that you got wrong
Cons
- Can NOT add, edit or delete cards directly within the program.
- Can NOT reverse order that cards are asked (i.e. a -> b, b -> a)
- Simplistic learning logic
- Limited learning options. Once you test yourself against a deck, you can retest against words that you got wrong (in paid version; disabled in free version. )
- Text is not optimized for the Droid so is far too big causing lot of word wrap.
Cost: Free for limited functionalitly. $1.00 for paid version.
Note: The app reviewed above is written by John Tucker. There is another app called "StudyBuddy" by upperCASE Software for $1.99 that I did not review.
C. Keep an Eye On - as May Get Better!
Flashcards Helper - Rating: :rating04:
This program would definitely be at the top of the list except for one fatal weakness - it does not remember which words that you have learnt between sessions - so if you have a list of 50 words and only got 3 wrong, then next time you run the app you have to go through the entire list of 50 to get to those 3. I emailed the developer about whether he intended to add some sort of learning history - but he said that he is tied up with other projects at the moment!
Which is a pity because other than that it is a great program - a clean, well designed interface - that makes it fun and easy to use. Multiple learning and testing modes (preview; skim; medium; thorough; and test); lots of preference options. Can add/edit and delete cards; downloads card packs from the web and sync your cards with the web version.
Pros
- Intuitive to use. Good graphics. Fast and responsive. Easy to quickly run through a list when you have a few spare minutes.
- Lots of test options that control order and frequency of cards
- Can reverse order that cards are asked (i.e. a -> b, b -> a)
- Can easily create lists on phone and add/edit/delete cards from within the program.
- Can download packs from a web site (FreezingBlue.com) that you have created as well as browse/download other people's packs.
- can import/export card packs to your SD card so can create packs on your PC and then import them.
- Can have multiple card packs.
Cons
- Does not remember which cards you got right or wrong between sessions - which if you have large lists of cards makes it nearly unusable!
- No backup/restore function
- No speech capability
Cost: a free version - has a limit on the number of cards you can save. Paid version for $3.99 (Flashcards Study Helper)
D. FAILS
Remata - Rating: :rating03:
Very simple flashcard program. You can create your own packs as CSV files that you can import or download ready-made packs of cards from the Remata web library. Once downloaded, you then flip though the pack answering whether you got the card "right" or ":wrong". The program will repeat those questions that you get Wrong. After the test, you can then retest yourself at any time on just those questions that you got wrong (paid version only)
Pros
- Can import read-made lists (csv files) from your SD card or lists that you create from the Remata website
Cons
- Can NOT add/edit/delete cards directly within the program.
- Only able to retest on words that you got wrong (i.e. no spaced repetition learning)
- Cannot reverse card direction (i.e. side a-> b and b ->a)
- Clumsy interface
Cost: Free version with limited functionality or full version for US$1.00.
A++ Flashcards - Rating: :rating03:
Very simple flashcard program that just lets you flip through sets of cards. No learning ability. Currently pretty much unusable on the Droid due to small text size.
Pros
- Can add/edit/delete cards directly within the program.
- Can save the cards sets to your SD card.
Cons
- not optimized for the Droid - text so small that is pretty much useless at the moment.
- Cannot reverse card direction (i.e. side a-> b and b ->a)
- No ability to mark cards as Known.
Cost: Free - but with Advertising band across top of screen.
SpanishFlashcards - Rating: :rating02:
If you just want a ready-made list of Spanish language cards then this program is quick and easy to use.
Pros
- Comes with a large list of words divided by category (colors, weather, etc)
- Easy to quickly run through a list when you have a few spare minutes
Cons
- No memory function - it asks you the same list over and over (i.e. no way to mark which cards you know)
- List is fixed - cannot add/edit/delete cards from program
Cost: Free
Learn - Rating: :rating01:
I had high hopes for this program as has 4 different learning algorithms built into it ("All in a Row"; Iterating; Leitner; and Negative Leitner - which is a variation of Leitner where the app assumes that you know the cards and from there the cards can move either up or down the levels). However, it failed miserably on the droid. I was able to download some readymade packs from its associated web site, but found that you can not edit them. Also trying to create your own card packs on the phone is very slow and tedious. You have to long press on a card to start editing it - which is pain, but worse there is no option to create a simple Question/Answer format. You can either create (1) a multichoice card where you type a question and then have to come up with and type 4 multi-choice options or (2) a written answer card - where it forces you to type the response when testing!
Pros
- I guess ok if you just want to quickly run through some pre-made packs - but even then is not very fast or smooth.
- Can download pre-made sets from website - but no option to view sets before download.
Cons
- Tedious and timeconsuming to create any cards on the Droid; and can only create multichoice/type answer type cards.
- Can not edit or delete cards from downloaded packs
- No backup/restore function to SD card - although can upload packs you create to website.
- No speech capability
- No list view so can not view all of the cards in a deck.
- No status screen so no way to tell how much of a pack you have learnt.
Cost: Free
Simplelingo Free - Rating: :rating01:
Confusing interface. Does not appear to work correctly on Droid.
Pros
- Can import lists of words that you create and then copy to your SD card
- Supposedly allows you to drill cards as well as test (but could not get either to work)
Cons
- No learning options
- Can NOT add/update/delete cards directly within the program.
- Cannot reverse card direction (i.e. side a-> b and b ->a)
- No related web site to download other people's packs
Cost: Free
Flashcards: In the physical world, sets of cards used to aid memorization. One side of the card contains a question and the other side contains the associated answer that you want to memorize. Most flashcard applications mimic this same behavior.
Over the past couple of months, I have tested every single flashcard program that I have been able to find on the market so thought that I would share my findings. There are some good programs and some not some good; and 3 that are excellent.
A good flashcard program needs to have at least the following features:
- Must have an easy to use interface that is fast and intuitive. I should be able to start testing myself with a set of cards within 3 clicks of starting the program. A plus is if the GUI is well designed and fun to use.
- Ability to easily add/edit/delete cards directly from within the program.
- Ability to import/export card packs so that you can edit them on your PC
- A plus is if it also permits you to upload/download packs from a website so you have access to other people's packs.
- Ability to remember what cards that you got correct/wrong between sessions so that you are only retested on the cards that you do not know. The best programs use some variation of the Leitner System where as you learn a card and get it correct, the length of time until you are shown that card again increases. Cards move through a series of levels or "buckets" until finally the card moves to the top level at which time it is considered known.
- Ability to not only test your knowledge on a set of cards, but also functions to help you study/learn the cards through a variety of drills or being able to repeatedly retest on the cards that you get wrong.
- A "Status" screen that shows your progress (i.e. if you have a pack of 50 cards, what is the number that you (1) know well, (2) kind of know, and (3) have yet to cram into your brain!)
- For languages, a speech capability where it can read the word and the response aloud is a big bonus
Summary
A. The following are good flashcard programs that are worth your while downloading and trying out: [My current favorites = :heart:]
- Langleo :heart:
- FlashCards ToGo :heart:
- AnyMemo (formerly called Fantastisch) :heart:
- Flashcards (formerly called tea.ch cards lite)
- AnkiDroid
- Kaka Flashcards
B. The following have one or more weaknesses:
- CoboCards
- StudyDroid
- gFlash +
- StudyBuddy
C. The following is worth keeping an eye on - as it has the potential to be great if the developer keeps improving it:
- Flashcards Helper
D. The following are Fails!
- Remata
- A++ Flashcards
- SpanishFlashcards
- Learn
- SimpleLingo Free
Note: People may have other priorities on what they consider important (eg if you learning kanji then the ability to view and draw the characters is critical), so you may not rate these programs in the same order that I have! At the very least it is a handy list of what is on the market. I urge you to try all of the ones in Category A above and make up your own minds as to what works best for you.
I also have a great deal of respect for any person who takes the time and effort to write a program that he puts on the market for free (or low cost) so as to help other people - so once you find one that you like then support that developer!!
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Reviews
*** Features that are either unique to that app or make it stand out are listed in blue
A. Good Apps
Langleo - Rating: :rating09: :heart:
6/25 - The latest release of Langleo has moved it to the top of the chart!! Nice clean, simple interface. You can create collections (e.g. Spanish) and then within a collections create lists or sets of words (e.g. weather terms or countries). Learning is based on a spaced repetition system based on the Supermemo method. You view a card then tap it to show the "back of the card". You can then either tap one of two buttons: "Correct" or "Incorrect" or swipe up (correct) or down (wrong) on the screen. The words that you get wrong it will ask you again later in the session.
Here are the 4 features that I think make Langleo really stand out:
- fast and well designed, so fun to use (which is important)
- when in quiz mode, it remembers where in the test you are - so if you have to stop for any reason then when you come back to the app (whether 5 minutes or 5 hours) it simply picks up where you left off. This makes it very convenient for using in short bursts (eg. waiting in line at a store)
- You can set how many new words it should test you on in each session and each day (i.e. you can create a set of 100 words, but it will only quiz you on 20. If you get half of them wrong then next day it will quiz you on those plus 10 new words). This is very useful when you have very large lists as it automatically breaks up your learning into small chunks.
- Built in speech capability combined with swipe to answer. The program will ask you the questions out loud then say the answer. You can then swipe up on the screen for correct or down for incorrect - so possible to learn on a bus or train with headphones and the phone in your pocket without having to look at the phone! I have started to use this feature a lot.
Pros
- Very simple and fast to use. Easy to quickly run through a list when you have a few spare minutes.
- Easy and fast to add/edit/delete words directly within the program.
- Can create word lists on your PC then import them into the program.
- Can backup the database INCLUDING YOUR LEARNING HISTORY- so if you change your ROM, you can restore all of your word-lists and your learning status.
- Can have multiple card packs.
- Can download 100's of pre-made packs as there is a Download command that links to the StudyStack site. Can also preview the contents of a list before downloading - many of the other programs only show you the lists and it is kind of "pot luck" what you download. (Just be patient if you try this as it takes about 5 minutes to create a index of all of the lists on the site.
- It has speech capability - so it can speak aloud the question and the answer.
- Can display entire card pack in list mode - with all words and answers displayed. Can easily edit words in List mode.
- Responsive developer (Tomek Piotrowski from Poland)
Cons
- Can NOT reverse order that cards are asked (i.e. a -> b, b -> a)
- The only other weakness is that although the Test function works well, there is no Study function. Once you have tested yourself against a set of cards, the program does not allow you to review the cards that you got wrong. You just have to wait for them to appear again. You can view the entire set of cards in list form, but there is no indication which ones you know and which ones you have yet to learn.
Cost: Free.
FlashCards ToGo - Rating: :rating09: :heart:
FTG is another top choice - it is well designed and has some innovative features like auto-translate which makes entering new cards easier. Learning is based on the Leitner System. You view a card then tap it to show the other side. Three buttons (good, ok, and bad) also appear that you tap to select whether you got it correct. It then calculates the time interval until it asks that card again. I find the auto-translator useful as the way I tend to learn is that I see a word that I do not know in a book or on tv; grab my phone and look up its meaning then add it to my card pack. In addition, the feature that really made this a winner for me is that it reminds me (by putting a reminder in the status bar) when words come due to re-learn - which is a great incentive to actually use the program on a regular basis. The main weakness of this program is its limited study functions (see Cons).
Pros
- Can easily create lists on phone and add/edit/delete existing cards directly within the program.
- Easy to enter new cards. Has an auto-translate feature so you only have to type in the word that you do not know and it will look up the translation using Google and create the other side of the card for you.
- Intuitive to use. Easy to quickly run through a list when you have a few spare minutes.
- Can reverse order that cards are asked (i.e. a -> b, b -> a)
- Can backup/restore your entire set of decks to a CSV file on your SD card including learning history (There are actually 2 backup options - simple = cards only; Complex=cards+learning status).
- When a set of words come due, it pops an alert in the android status bar - which is great to remind you to retest yourself.
- Has a status screen with graphs that visually show you how much of the pack you have learnt and how many cards are coming due in next couple of days
- Can have multiple card packs.
- Supports many languages with the dictionaries
- Has a number of good quiz options to control how many new words are introduced each day including 1) Learn with a time limit and 2) Finish after 10 cards unknown.
- when in quiz mode, it remembers where in the test you are - so if you have to stop for any reason then it simply picks up where you left off. This makes it very convenient for using in short bursts (eg. waiting in line at a store.)
- It has slightly better learning function that Langleo (and most of the other flash card apps that I tested) in that once you have tested yourself against a set of cards, it will permit you to immediately retest yourself just against the words that you got wrong. There is also a "Memorize" where the program will do a one-time cycle through the cards that you got wrong showing the answers.
- Can display entire card pack in list mode - with all words and answers displayed. Can easily edit words in List mode.
- Responsive developer (Oliver Nölle from Germany)
Cons
- No related web site to download other people's packs.
- No speech capability
Cost: Both free and paid versions. The free version has all of the functionality of the paid, except it has a 100 card limit. The paid version is a reasonable 4 Euro (~$4.60) and works with unlimited cards.
AnyMemo - Rating: :rating09: :heart:
Anymemo (initially released on the market called Fantastisch) is my 3rd top choice - as it has nearly everything that you could want from a good flashcard program: sophisticated learning algorithm based on the Mnemosyne algorithm (which is meant to be a more modern variation of the Leitner System), speech capability, review capability, etc. You tap on a card to show the answer and then tap on one of a series of buttons to indicate how well you knew the word. [You can set in the Options menu whether you want 4 selection choices (1 Again, 2 Good, 3 Easy, 4 Very Easy) or 5 (0 Forget, 1 Forget, 2 Very Hard, 3 Hard, 4 Easy, 5 Very Easy)]. There are, however, no options to control how long the learning session should last or how many new words are introduced each day - so if you have a large list, the test basically keeps going until you get tired of it. (This is where I think Langleo is slightly better).
Pros
- Intuitive to use. Good graphics. Fast and responsive. Easy to quickly run through a list when you have a few spare minutes.
- It has speech capability - so it can speak aloud the question and the answer. It also allows you to set whether you want the words read automatically or only when you tap the screen (only app with this feature which is nice).
- Can easily create lists on phone and add/edit/delete existing cards directly within the program.
- Can download other people's packs directly from the website
- Can export/import sets of cards to SD card (Can import from multiple formats: Mnemosyne XML, SuperMemo PPC XML, Tab TXT, CSV, QA Text)
- Can have multiple card packs.
- when in quiz mode, it remembers where in the test you are - so if you have to stop for any reason then it simply picks up where you left off. This makes it very convenient for using in short bursts (eg. waiting in line at a store.)
- Has some learning functions such as preview mode to view entire card list and "Cram Review" which you can use to repeatedly test yourself without impacting the card's "known" status.
- Can reverse order that cards are asked (i.e. a -> b, b -> a)
- Lots of card customization options (font size, colors, shuffle cards, etc)
- Can display entire card pack in list mode - with all words and answers displayed.
- Can review and reset the learning level of each card - to force the app to retest you on it.
- App has a great web page with detailed help pages.
- Responsive developers (Haowen Ning, Qi Wang, Xufeng Han)
Cons
- No time options or options to control how many new words are introduced each day.
- No status screen to show you which words you have or have not learnt
- There is a list view which displays all words in a set - but it does not indicate each word's status. Also no ability to edit or delete cards in the List view - which makes editing the list on your phone a little tedious.
Cost: Free. Also a Donate version for $2.99 - which if you like this app is not a lot to pay.
Flashcards (formerly called Tea.ch cards lite) by Phylum Tea - Rating: :rating08:
Good program. Learning is based on the Leitner System. You tap each card to show "the back of the card" and then swipe left or right to indicate whether you knew it (left swipe = correct; right swipe = wrong). It then calculates the time interval until it asks that card again. Many nice features built into the app including being able to easily review current status of each card. See here for Help file for good explanation of features.
Pros
- Easy to use with large easy to read screens and swipe motions to navigate.
- Can create your own lists on PC (or download lists from the web e.g.. Flash Card Exchange) and import them
- Can easily create lists on phone and add/edit/delete existing cards directly within the program.
- Can reverse order that cards are asked (i.e. a -> b, b -> a)
- Undocumented feature: if you 'long press' on a word deck then you get a context menu which allows you to save the list to the SD card. The program stores the status of the learning process, which can be restored as well.
Cons
- Only Lite version available which can only handle 500 cards per deck and only permits up to 3 decks. (though you can have all the txt files you want saved on your SD card - so just delete a deck and make a new one anytime you need to re-learn something)
- No speech capability
- I found trying to remember to tap then swipe left or right tiring and not very intuitive and found that I constantly made swipes in the wrong direction.
Cost: Lite version is Free (No paid version available as of yet; see Cons for limitations).
AnkiDroid - Rating: :rating07:
Learning is based on a spaced repetition system. Word lists ("decks") are created on your PC the copied to your phone's SD card. You can have multiple decks and deiced when you start the program which deck you want to work with. The program remembers the learning status of each deck as you switch decks (as the decks are stored as files it is easy to back them up or migrate them). When learning the cards, you can control (1) the maximum number of questions in a session (2) the maximum number of new cards that you want to see a day and (2) where in the session the new cards appear (start, end or random). You view a card then tap "a Show Answer" button to show the "back of the card". You then select from 4 buttons with the following choices: "Again", "Hard", "Good" and Easy" which controls how quickly the question is re-asked.
The latest version adds a "Get Shared Deck" button that permits you to select from dozens of decks to download (languages, science, law, medicine,...) No registration/login is needed, it simply displays a list of decks (in order of popularity) and you choose one to download. There are dozens of decks to choose from as it is the same repository as the PC software "Anki", which is extremely popular on non-mobile environments(A couple of downsides is that there is no search or filter function so you have to just scroll through the lists and also you can not view a deck before downloading so is a bit of a "pot luck" as to what you are geting. A download can also take 5 minutes or more depending on size). The developers are also working on being able to add/delete cards directly on the phone.
Pros
- Word Lists (decks)stored as files (including learning history) so no concerns about backing up a database.
- Can import lists that you create on your PC then copy to your SD card.
- Can control what is shown in a review i.e. you can set it to just show new words or just show words that you previously got wrong (for learning purposes).
- Can suspend cards so they are not shown again - so if you download a deck and it contains words that you already know, you don't have to keep seeing them (useful as you can not delete cards from the phone. The downside is that this feature is awkward to use as requires 3 screen presses (Menu--> More-->Suspend)
- Easy to use in short bursts
- Has a timer - so you can set a certain time to learn - and a whiteboard function - where you can jot down notes on the fly - or draw kanji characters (I, personally, did not find either of these features particularly useful)
- Has an option that permits you to type answer.
- Responsive team, in all timezones, support requests are usually answered within 3 hours.
Cons
- Can NOT add or delete cards directly within the program. You can, however, edit them.
- Can NOT reverse order that cards are asked (i.e. a -> b, b -> a)
- No speech capability
- No list view so can not view all of the cards in a deck.
- No status screen so no way to tell how much of a pack you have learnt.
Cost: Free
Kaka Flashcards - Rating: :rating06:
A decent program. Learning is based on a spaced repetition system - where words get moved to 1 of 3 stacks depending how well you know them. The feature that I like least about Kaka is the navigation. You swipe a card horizontally to see next or previous flashcard. You swipe your finger vertically to "turn" the card. Then you have to double tap the screen to mark a card as unknown. I personally found constantly flicking left, flicking down, double tapping, repeat... a little tiresome.
Pros
- Good graphics. Fast and responsive. Easy to quickly run through a list when you have a few spare minutes.
- Can easily create lists on phone and add/edit/delete existing cards directly within the program.
- Can reverse order that cards are asked (i.e. a -> b, b -> a)
- Can import sets of cards from the phone or import pre-made lists from many popular websites such as Study Stack.
- Can also export stacks - so can create backups or upload them to websites.
- Can have multiple card packs.
- Good Help file available (see Help (Kaka Flashcards))
Cons
- Not very intuitive to use. You have to remember which directions to swipe and tap
- Awkwardly designed. You have to make 4 selections before you can actually start learning a set of cards. This is a nuisance if you want to just quickly spend a few minutes studying.
- No backup/restore function
- No speech capability
- No list view so can not view all of the cards in a deck.
- No status screen so no way to tell how much of a pack you have learnt.
Cost: Free
B. Runner Ups
CoboCards - Rating: :rating06:
This looks like a great program - a clean, well designed and easy to use interface. But, unfortunately, it has some major drawbacks. One of the biggest is cost. The Android application itself costs 2.99 Euro, but then you find that you cannot create your own lists, you can only download them from the CoboCards website and the access to this site is another $3.70 a month - or close to $40 /year!
The learning program is based on the Leitner system. As well as a well designed test function, it has by far the best learning function with multiple learning techniques and drills.
Pros
- Can download readymade lists from the CoboCards site
- Well designed and simple to use interface
- Good testing function based on Leitner system
- The app with the best learning functions. Easy to quickly run through a few drills when you have a few spare minutes.
Cons
- Can NOT create your own lists directly from within the program or import them from files on your SD card
- Can NOT add/edit/delete cards directly within the program.
- Expensive
Cost: $2.99 Euro plus a monthly $3.70 access fee.
StudyDroid - Rating: :rating05:
Basic flashcard program. The screen show a card with a single "KNOWN" button at the bottom. You tap on the screen to show the answer then press the "known" button if you knew the correct answer. You swipe sideways to see the next card. The next time you run it, it only asks you the cards that you did not know. (i.e. no logic to repeat cards and keep track of which ones you get wrong most often and ask these more frequently; or to re-ask cards after a certain time). See here for more info.
Pros
- Can download readymade lists from the StudyDroid site
- Can create your own lists on the StudyDroid site and download them. If you make changes on the phone it will also sync those changes back up to the StudyDroid site.
- Can add/edit/delete cards directly within the program.
- Tap on card to see "reverse". Nice left-to-right swipe motion to move to next card. You can also see previous card by swiping right-to-left.
- Can view card set as a list - although it does not show you card status.
Cons
- The biggest weakness of this program compared to some of the others is its simplistic learning logic - you either know the answer or you do not (Y/N logic).
- You can only see the question or the answer - not both together - so you often find yourself constantly toggling between the two sides. Most programs show the answer under the question.
- Can not pack up cards/learning status to SD card (although can upload to StudyDroid site)
- No speech capability
- No status screen so no way to tell how much of a pack you have learnt.
Cost: Free
gFlash + - Rating: :rating05:
Simple flashcard program. You either know the card or you do not (Y/N). When you run the test there seems to only be 2 choices - to only ask the cards you marked as "N" from previous run or to show entire set again. (i.e. pretty limited learning logic). See here for more info.
Pros
- Can download readymade lists from the gWhiz site
- Can create your own lists using Google spreadsheet and send to [email protected]. 30 minutes later you can download from gwhiz site.
- Can add/edit cards directly within the program.
Cons
- Not optimized for the Droid - so text extremely small and difficult to read.
- Simplistic learning logic
- You can delete cards on your phone, but cannot edit/add cards directly.
Cost: Free - but with large Advertising band across top of screen.
StudyBuddy - Rating: :rating04:
Very simple flashcard program. You flip through a pack and answer by pressing on either a "Right" or "Wrong" button. Neither the application nor the website state whether there is any space repetition logic included. In my tests, I do not think there is - it appeared that words are simply put in a good or problem "bucket".
Pros
- Can import lists that you create then copy to your SD card. You may can also download cards from the StudyBuddy site with the paid version (disabled in free version)
- Paid version allows you to review the cards that you got wrong
Cons
- Can NOT add, edit or delete cards directly within the program.
- Can NOT reverse order that cards are asked (i.e. a -> b, b -> a)
- Simplistic learning logic
- Limited learning options. Once you test yourself against a deck, you can retest against words that you got wrong (in paid version; disabled in free version. )
- Text is not optimized for the Droid so is far too big causing lot of word wrap.
Cost: Free for limited functionalitly. $1.00 for paid version.
Note: The app reviewed above is written by John Tucker. There is another app called "StudyBuddy" by upperCASE Software for $1.99 that I did not review.
C. Keep an Eye On - as May Get Better!
Flashcards Helper - Rating: :rating04:
This program would definitely be at the top of the list except for one fatal weakness - it does not remember which words that you have learnt between sessions - so if you have a list of 50 words and only got 3 wrong, then next time you run the app you have to go through the entire list of 50 to get to those 3. I emailed the developer about whether he intended to add some sort of learning history - but he said that he is tied up with other projects at the moment!
Which is a pity because other than that it is a great program - a clean, well designed interface - that makes it fun and easy to use. Multiple learning and testing modes (preview; skim; medium; thorough; and test); lots of preference options. Can add/edit and delete cards; downloads card packs from the web and sync your cards with the web version.
Pros
- Intuitive to use. Good graphics. Fast and responsive. Easy to quickly run through a list when you have a few spare minutes.
- Lots of test options that control order and frequency of cards
- Can reverse order that cards are asked (i.e. a -> b, b -> a)
- Can easily create lists on phone and add/edit/delete cards from within the program.
- Can download packs from a web site (FreezingBlue.com) that you have created as well as browse/download other people's packs.
- can import/export card packs to your SD card so can create packs on your PC and then import them.
- Can have multiple card packs.
Cons
- Does not remember which cards you got right or wrong between sessions - which if you have large lists of cards makes it nearly unusable!
- No backup/restore function
- No speech capability
Cost: a free version - has a limit on the number of cards you can save. Paid version for $3.99 (Flashcards Study Helper)
D. FAILS
Remata - Rating: :rating03:
Very simple flashcard program. You can create your own packs as CSV files that you can import or download ready-made packs of cards from the Remata web library. Once downloaded, you then flip though the pack answering whether you got the card "right" or ":wrong". The program will repeat those questions that you get Wrong. After the test, you can then retest yourself at any time on just those questions that you got wrong (paid version only)
Pros
- Can import read-made lists (csv files) from your SD card or lists that you create from the Remata website
Cons
- Can NOT add/edit/delete cards directly within the program.
- Only able to retest on words that you got wrong (i.e. no spaced repetition learning)
- Cannot reverse card direction (i.e. side a-> b and b ->a)
- Clumsy interface
Cost: Free version with limited functionality or full version for US$1.00.
A++ Flashcards - Rating: :rating03:
Very simple flashcard program that just lets you flip through sets of cards. No learning ability. Currently pretty much unusable on the Droid due to small text size.
Pros
- Can add/edit/delete cards directly within the program.
- Can save the cards sets to your SD card.
Cons
- not optimized for the Droid - text so small that is pretty much useless at the moment.
- Cannot reverse card direction (i.e. side a-> b and b ->a)
- No ability to mark cards as Known.
Cost: Free - but with Advertising band across top of screen.
SpanishFlashcards - Rating: :rating02:
If you just want a ready-made list of Spanish language cards then this program is quick and easy to use.
Pros
- Comes with a large list of words divided by category (colors, weather, etc)
- Easy to quickly run through a list when you have a few spare minutes
Cons
- No memory function - it asks you the same list over and over (i.e. no way to mark which cards you know)
- List is fixed - cannot add/edit/delete cards from program
Cost: Free
Learn - Rating: :rating01:
I had high hopes for this program as has 4 different learning algorithms built into it ("All in a Row"; Iterating; Leitner; and Negative Leitner - which is a variation of Leitner where the app assumes that you know the cards and from there the cards can move either up or down the levels). However, it failed miserably on the droid. I was able to download some readymade packs from its associated web site, but found that you can not edit them. Also trying to create your own card packs on the phone is very slow and tedious. You have to long press on a card to start editing it - which is pain, but worse there is no option to create a simple Question/Answer format. You can either create (1) a multichoice card where you type a question and then have to come up with and type 4 multi-choice options or (2) a written answer card - where it forces you to type the response when testing!
Pros
- I guess ok if you just want to quickly run through some pre-made packs - but even then is not very fast or smooth.
- Can download pre-made sets from website - but no option to view sets before download.
Cons
- Tedious and timeconsuming to create any cards on the Droid; and can only create multichoice/type answer type cards.
- Can not edit or delete cards from downloaded packs
- No backup/restore function to SD card - although can upload packs you create to website.
- No speech capability
- No list view so can not view all of the cards in a deck.
- No status screen so no way to tell how much of a pack you have learnt.
Cost: Free
Simplelingo Free - Rating: :rating01:
Confusing interface. Does not appear to work correctly on Droid.
Pros
- Can import lists of words that you create and then copy to your SD card
- Supposedly allows you to drill cards as well as test (but could not get either to work)
Cons
- No learning options
- Can NOT add/update/delete cards directly within the program.
- Cannot reverse card direction (i.e. side a-> b and b ->a)
- No related web site to download other people's packs
Cost: Free
