How to learn with iPhone ? Flashcards?

[MyMcMac]

Are there flashcards programs or plans from developers to write this kind of applications for iPhone via Developer Tools?

[JayLenochiniMac]

I'm sure some developer will write one, given there is iStudy. It'll be nice to have as my stack of flashcards is ten times thicker than the iPhone.

[JMax1]

What I do is spend a little time making an image or PDF for each card, importing them into iPhoto and then sync up to the iPhone. That way I can flip through them very easiy.

[t0mat0]

Yes. I've seen one that could easily port to the iPhone, and think they were making plans to bring it to the iPhone. Will try and find the name.

[Vegeta-san]

I currently use http://iflipr.com/ for flashcards on the iPhone. The interface is great and the community is lively. Hope you like it...

[t0mat0]

Hope these are of help.
Basically, I haven't seen much come through specifically for the iPhone, but it's only a matter of time.
Possbiel programs that will port
http://www.maccoremac.com/
Mental Case flash card application
http://www.supermemo.com/english/news.htm 98 version good

General Wired article
http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/magazine/16-05/ff_wozniak?currentPage=all

http://www.mnemosyne-proj.org/index.php

http://ichi2.net/anki/
http://www.opencards.info/

I've emailed mental case designers to see if they're porting over. In the meantime,
http://feeds.macosxhints.com/~r/macosxhints/recent/~3/206566091/article.php

[techlover828]

I can't wait for the sdk in june, there's going to be so many great apps like this and the iphones/ipod touches will be amazing little devises (not that it already isn't)

[xUKHCx]

I can't wait for the sdk in june, there's going to be so many great apps like this and the iphones/ipod touches will be amazing little devises (not that it already isn't)

iFlash (http://www.loopware.com/iflash/) will be coming (http://www.loopware.com/blog/2008/03/07/announcing-iflash-touch/) to the iPhone/touch (http://www.loopware.com/blog/2008/04/24/progress-update-iflash-iflash-touch/)

[t0mat0]

iFlash (http://www.loopware.com/iflash/) will be coming (http://www.loopware.com/blog/2008/03/07/announcing-iflash-touch/) to the iPhone/touch (http://www.loopware.com/blog/2008/04/24/progress-update-iflash-iflash-touch/)

Is the spaced repetition of the loopware app using something clever enough as supermemo's algorithm, or is it a fixed time period?

[xUKHCx]

Is the spaced repetition of the loopware app using something clever enough as supermemo's algorithm, or is it a fixed time period?

I don't know (http://www.loopware.com/iflash/) what you are (http://www.loopware.com/iflash/) talking about.

[t0mat0]

I don't know (http://www.loopware.com/iflash/) what you are (http://www.loopware.com/iflash/) talking about.

This (http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/magazine/16-05/ff_wozniak?currentPage=all) is what i'm talking about (http://www.supermemo.com/english/princip.htm) ;)

SuperMemo is based on the insight that there is an ideal moment to practice what you've learned. Practice too soon and you waste your time. Practice too late and you've forgotten the material and have to relearn it. The right time to practice is just at the moment you're about to forget. Unfortunately, this moment is different for every person and each bit of information. Imagine a pile of thousands of flash cards. Somewhere in this pile are the ones you should be practicing right now. Which are they?

Fortunately, human forgetting follows a pattern. We forget exponentially. A graph of our likelihood of getting the correct answer on a quiz sweeps quickly downward over time and then levels off. This pattern has long been known to cognitive psychology, but it has been difficult to put to practical use. It's too complex for us to employ with our naked brains.

Twenty years ago, Wozniak realized that computers could easily calculate the moment of forgetting if he could discover the right algorithm. SuperMemo is the result of his research. It predicts the future state of a person's memory and schedules information reviews at the optimal time.

[t0mat0]

Are there flashcards programs or plans from developers to write this kind of applications for iPhone via Developer Tools?



Drew McCormack MacCoreMac Software
wrote back

> Ah
> cool, basically i was asking as it came up on a macrumors.com iPhone thread.
> Is there any intention to do a supermemo style algorithm based timing interval ?
> I really should look at your website, but asking directly can be useful too :)
>


Hi,
MC already does basic supermemo style algorithms. The main page has a box called 'The Science of Mental Case' which explains it in a little more detail.
Kind regards,
Drew

[joecode]

Creator of iFlipr here. Of course I'm a bit biased, but I think iFlipr's learning algorithm at least rivals that of supermemo. If you have any suggestions for how to make it better, please let me know.

Joe

[t0mat0]

Creator of iFlipr here. Of course I'm a bit biased, but I think iFlipr's learning algorithm at least rivals that of supermemo. If you have any suggestions for how to make it better, please let me know.

Joe

1) Use the right font on the website - as per the guidelines Apple gives - You've specifically mocked up a horizontal iPhone on the front page. However, the first thing that caught my eye was the jarring use of the wrong font.

Arial vs helvetica.
2) The background is white - again, it's going against guidelines. I know it's only a mock-up, but your trying to show what the product looks like... (unless your product truly does have a white background, in which case i'd refer you to guidelines more vehemently :) )

3) Fugly black right arrow. Seriously ugly.
4) Why the underlinedness of the Card Mastery, Settings and Deck Mastery?
Why even have the hyper link there? They all link to the same thing. Doesn't make sense.
Same again with the more normal left and right arrow - you're on the main page. So why include 2 hyperlinks to the page you're already on? Irrelevant for the main page.

5)The login page looks wrong, when viewed on a PC with Firefox 3 - or basically I imagine anything other than an iPhone. Plus there's no page as to how to get a login in the first place. ISn't there a way of checking what browser is being used i.e. iPhone vs normal desktop and giving them a website experience suitable for these?
6) I would have thought you'd want the youtube video on the front page. For the non-iPhone website at least.

Sorry if this comes across as harsh - I only want to help :)


PS - Use screenflow, and the iPhone simulator - will probably give you a much better video for youtube.

PPS - Why have the interface cluttered with the words deck mastery or word mastery? because you're going to learn what they mean a lot - why not have those words only showing when you click on the actual 2 different numbers? It'd make the interface a lot simpler and less cluttered.

[extraextra]

Creator of iFlipr here. Of course I'm a bit biased, but I think iFlipr's learning algorithm at least rivals that of supermemo. If you have any suggestions for how to make it better, please let me know.

Joe

Is it possible to categorize flashcards into subgroups? Like I want a French deck, but in the French deck I want a group for fruits, clothing, numbers, etc. I haven';t had a chance to scour around the site properly so sorry if this is available and I missed it!

[joecode]

Thanks for the feedback. Its the best kind: the tough kind. :)

1) Use the right font on the website - as per the guidelines Apple gives - You've specifically mocked up a horizontal iPhone on the front page. However, the first thing that caught my eye was the jarring use of the wrong font.

Arial vs helvetica.
2) The background is white - again, it's going against guidelines. I know it's only a mock-up, but your trying to show what the product looks like... (unless your product truly does have a white background, in which case i'd refer you to guidelines more vehemently :) )

Yea, I'll check out them guidelines. I have a tendency not to pay much heed to rules and guidelines. Also bad habit of being so set on function I forget design: severe case of programmer's bias.


3) Fugly black right arrow. Seriously ugly.


Thanks for reminding me. It is probably the worst design sin of iFlipr. That'll be the first thing to go come this Monday.



4) Why the underlinedness of the Card Mastery, Settings and Deck Mastery?
Why even have the hyper link there? They all link to the same thing. Doesn't make sense.
Same again with the more normal left and right arrow - you're on the main page. So why include 2 hyperlinks to the page you're already on? Irrelevant for the main page.


On all the browsers I've tested, the Card Master and Deck Mastery each just put up alerts to tell you what they are (which looks a bit nicer on the real iPhone). The two regular arrows are just there to be somewhat true to the actual iPhone safari layout. With fullscreen safari coming out, I can just make the whole matter moot by removing it altogether.


5)The login page looks wrong, when viewed on a PC with Firefox 3 - or basically I imagine anything other than an iPhone. Plus there's no page as to how to get a login in the first place. ISn't there a way of checking what browser is being used i.e. iPhone vs normal desktop and giving them a website experience suitable for these?


Yep. Totally agree. I have only barely begun making separate pages for iPhone versus regular browsers. With eyes as sensitive as yours, you're lucky not to have seen the landing page when I first built it---you'd have gouged them out, I'm afraid.


6) I would have thought you'd want the youtube video on the front page. For the non-iPhone website at least.

Sorry if this comes across as harsh - I only want to help :)


PS - Use screenflow, and the iPhone simulator - will probably give you a much better video for youtube.


I've tested a little with both on the front page. My vague estimate was that the simulator on the front page performed better in terms of less bounces. But that is probably related to the still relatively poor quality of the video. I better make a really good quality video and do some A/B testing pretty soon.

Only problem with using the simulator for the video is that you don't see a finger and so the clicking looks a bit different, but there might be a way around this: a crystal clean video would be really nice.


PPS - Why have the interface cluttered with the words deck mastery or word mastery? because you're going to learn what they mean a lot - why not have those words only showing when you click on the actual 2 different numbers? It'd make the interface a lot simpler and less cluttered.

Seems reasonable to me, as long as the numbers are discoverable. Or maybe just put a small question mark near the numbers, which is at least pretty standard.

Thanks again and best,
Joe

[joecode]

Is it possible to categorize flashcards into subgroups? Like I want a French deck, but in the French deck I want a group for fruits, clothing, numbers, etc. I haven';t had a chance to scour around the site properly so sorry if this is available and I missed it!

Maybe the simplest way to get the kind of categorization you want is to make separate decks and then combine them into bigger decks. That means of course that I need to make it easy to combine decks, or perhaps mix and match cards from different decks at will. This is a feature that's been in the queue for a little while now. It just got its priority increased ;)

-Joe

[extraextra]

Maybe the simplest way to get the kind of categorization you want is to make separate decks and then combine them into bigger decks. That means of course that I need to make it easy to combine decks, or perhaps mix and match cards from different decks at will. This is a feature that's been in the queue for a little while now. It just got its priority increased ;)

-Joe

Alright, that sounds great! I'll look forward to using iFlipr on my new iPhone. :D

[mooney47]

If anyone has a chance, please take a look at http://iphone.prettydarnsmart.com and tell me what you think.

When I was looking for flashcard programs in the past, I wasn't satisfied with what I found. I tried to implement a simple, ajax/ruby on rails, pseudo-leitner system.

The original site is http://prettydarnsmart.com, but I haven't finished moving all the functionality to the iphone site.

[shinenjk]

Is iFlipr worth it for $9.99? Seems kinda pricey for such a simple app. $4.99 would've sufficed IMO.

[joecode]

I'm the author of iFlipr. I think it may or may not be worth it depending on your needs. There will be a Lite version coming out soon, so folks can try out a limited version before spending anything on the full version. Of course, I'm always looking to improve iFlipr, and so should you find it lacking in any particular respect, please do let me know.

Joe

[t0mat0]

I'm the author of iFlipr. I think it may or may not be worth it depending on your needs. There will be a Lite version coming out soon, so folks can try out a limited version before spending anything on the full version. Of course, I'm always looking to improve iFlipr, and so should you find it lacking in any particular respect, please do let me know.

Joe

Will check out the app - just to say thanks for taking the suggestions on board - taht kind of feedback interaction really helps get people involved and linked to an app, and if you can broadcast the conversations, it means people not directly involved in teh conversations can see that you're visibly working on improvements - it's a rgeat thing to show.

[t0mat0]

Just a quick update:
http://www.whatsoniphone.com/blogs/iphone-app-review-case-mental-case

Linking in with Flashcard Exchange.com is great!

Drew is also at http://www.macresearch.org/cocoa_for_scientists
blog is http://www.macanics.net/
(Drew worked with his brother, Cody McCormack, and also Marcello Luppi that I know of in their team (Marcello did the design work, inc. icons and web site - he's available for work afaik from Drew's twitter status recently.)

Looks an impressive app. Anyone used flash based apps for their iPhone yet?

[MST]

I am glad that I found this thread, I posted something similar quite recently asking if there were any apps like this available but because I used the term cuecards as opposed to flashcards I didn't get much of a response, or it could just be that people couldn't be bothered.

Anyway, I've just downloaded Wet Leaf's Study Aid from the App Store, I was torn between that and iFlip [as mentioned in this thread] but Study Aid won out due to sheer simplicity and the fact that it's got a higher rating from the reviews it has received.

So far so good...

[giku]

I use mental case and memoreasy. The second one is great, when you don't have much time or like working with voice only. iFlipr .. don't like their UI.

[kas23]

I have gFlash+. You can make notes in the A and B columns of Google Spreadsheets. You can then syn with Google Spreadsheets to make the Flash cards using the 2 columns. The UI isn't the greatest, but it works great and best of all, it's free.

[shoebobs]

my friend recently created a flashcard site which is also optimized for your iPhone. It uses the spacing effect and I have found it very useful for learning Mandarin. Right now the selection is pretty limited to learning Mandarin, but you can easily create your own flashcards if you want. Plus users can share the decks they created with other users, so the selection should expand in the future.
Oh, and it's free -
http://cognitionapp.com/

[BobLutz]

I use Study Cards - this tool is SOLID as a rock. www.worklifestudy.com
Create cards on the site and download them. I use Excel to create my cards, I use the batch loader page. It's faster than the Easy upload page but I have to use my own syntax.

Downside - no pictures or sound. I don't need pictures and sound to study languages, I need to know how to spell the word and this gives me everything I need. If you need pictures then this may not be for you.

Upside - great support. Simple and straight forward interface.

[erniethomason]

I just released an iPhone flashcard app called "Flashcards Double-Platinum Pro". A unique feature is a built-in searchable dictionary of your cards. This is another option.

[ctarda]

I use Keep Your Word

http://www.bambooapps.com/kyw

It is a Mac and iPhone app (the iPhone app is free) and I really like its categorization features.

[kas23]

I currently use gFlash+. It allows you to make flash cards on Google Docs and then wirelessly import them.

Does anyone know if there is a flashcard app out there that has a search function. For example, if I wanted to test myself on subject "X", then all I would have to do is a search for "X" and go through all the cards that popped-up? Erneithomason, is your app able to do this?

[Bozley0621]

I use Flash My Brain.

[kovalchuk71]

Haha, so does anyone have a general consensus about the best one? I dont want to have to buy them all/DL them all. Any suggestions?

Mental Case
Keep Your Word
iflipr
Memoreasy

[t0mat0]

There is also Cram for Mac (http://www.simpleleap.com/cram/mac.htm) and for the iPhone (http://www.simpleleap.com/cram/iphone.htm)

There are quite a few app developers here :)

Representing
SimpleLeap Cram for Mac - simpleleap
I use Keep Your Word - ctarda Cesar from http://www.bambooapps.com/kyw
Flashcards Double-Platinum Pro - erniethomason
iFlipr - joecode
Prettydarnsmart - mooney47
mental case - Drew was on here somewhere I think

[asevie]

I've been using Flash Q/Ard! for the iPhone to study some aircraft limitations and I think the interface is much much better than any of the others. Personally I don't care for iFlip or gflash, the interface on both seems to go against most of what the iphone is all about...ie form AND function. If you just want flashcards that you can flip back and forth between and delete or flag look at this one. Cards are also organized into categories and have references if the author of the cards provide it.

[azsromej]

I use an app I wrote called Touchcards (there's a free version too) to study. I really wanted a way to access the many thousands of sets available at quizlet.com and studystack.com.

Those sites have good export capabilities, so I'll sometimes export a set to a csv file that I can then import into Google Docs. The app can sync with my google docs spreadsheet and I can maintain the master copy of my flashcards on Google's reliable servers.

[t0mat0]

Just to post an update - Mental Case should be getting some fun new features (some seen already in iFlash) in the next version - hopefully their webcast presentation should be available soon and i'll link to it.

Have to say, having gone with MC for Mac and iPhone i'm liking it (though tempted by the iFlash and n sideed cards).
With a bit more flexibility, and adding video/audio support, there could be a lot more able to be done. However, with HTML5 they'll face more online competition (cloud storage of music and other data could help).

[WillRivendell]

Ok so I've looked at some of these flashcard programs and I'm not really liking what I see.

I got the ipod cuz it was thinner and plays music so its good for the car and carrying around. I replaced my Palm TX with this essentially........ i learned Japanese using my Palm Flash card program and it was simple and EASY!!!

You make an excel spreadsheet... convert it to CSV or the DB file Palm knows and SYNC it.. done.. whats with using google apps?! and having to upload all of your stuff to the public in order to personally use them. What if I don't want to share my cards right now?

and most importantly... I see that all of the ipod programs dont let you edit your cards?!?!? u have to re upload the sheeet and re download.. WHAT A HASSLE. There is bluetooth and wifi AND a USB connection and there is NO way to import this stuff locally? I can't always have the ipod online when I want to add new DB's....

I wish the guy that made this program for Palm would make one for ipod.

http://www.geocities.com/s_laiblin/palm/learn.html

No it doesnt have pics or sound but I personally dont want pics or sound!.. argh..........

[WillRivendell]

After getting StudyCards from worklifestudy, i like it. Its the closest to the program I used on Palm and its simple. The only issue I have so far is the spreadsheet format is pretty complex... i donno u cant just do column a and column b without having crazy syntax... but a template is provided which works fine and creates this for u... I havent played enuff with it to know if u can edit cards individually.. if u can. this program is top notch for me. if not... argh...

[AJATTFan]

For users of Mnemosyne and spaced repetition flash card programs in general, I recommend checking out iSRS. It just came out a few days ago and I think it has a lot of potential to be the best in its class.

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=332352818&mt=8

On a side note, if you're studying Japanese or other languages, I highly recommend checking out this site:

www.alljapaneseallthetime.com

[kagenokami]

One Iphone / Desktop app that I really like for Flash cards is Winc. It's simple and relatively cheap. Its better than quite a few of the other options I've seen anyway. It's at www.getwinc.com. Not too bad.

[yanki85]

Frankly, the best repetition system has been implemented by supermemo in my opinion. I've also found information that the SuperMemo World company has alredy created an application for iPhone that lets using supermemo courses. The application will be available for free in December 2009. You can find more information here (http://www.supermemo.eu/supermemo_for_iphone).

[DustinKirk]

Stacks 3.0 has added the capability to create and share your own flashcards.

http://www.dustinkirk.com/images/stacks/ssv3_mainNav.png

"Stacks is hands down the best flashcard application for the iPhone and iPod
touch. Stacks offers unparalleled quality in its design, ease of use, and rich
variety of content. Download one of the many editions of Stacks which comes
pre-loaded with professionally created flashcards for your enjoyment. Stacks
Pro, the best value at $4.99, comes with over 15,000 high quality flashcards
on topics ranging from trivia questions, to Pirate phrases. When you are
ready, create your own Stacks online and share them with friends, and
update them at any time."

More information on the stacks website: http://www.dustinkirk.com/stacks

[JohnGaby]

We have just had our flash card application approved by Apple. It allows you to create your own flash cards, or download cards from Quizlet or Study Stack. In addition to the flash cards, it has a multiple choice quiz mode and a test mode where you type in your answers.

http://www.gabysoft.com/quizard.aspx

[arielitovsky]

Flash Cards Free! is a brand new iPhone app for studying flash cards.

http://fcfree.globesforkids.info/wp-content/themes/iPhoneApp-1/images/dummy/screen2.png

http://www.fcfree.com
Flash Cards Free! allows you to create and study your own flash cards quickly and easily. It also integrates with Quizlet.com, giving you access to thousands of flash cards in seconds. Then, you can use the learn mode to familiarize yourself with them.

In addition, the test mode saves the cards in different stacks, following the Leitner System. If you take the test again, FC Free will show you the cards you have the most trouble with first.

This application is free and ad supported.

http://fcfree.com/wp-content/themes/iPhoneApp-1/images/fcFreeLogoTran.gif
See on iTunes store (http://itunes.apple.com/app/fc-free/id400052197)

Features
-Create and edit your own card sets and cards
-Download cards from Quizlet.com
-Learn mode
-Test mode

[SchoolBuddy]

If anyone is looking for a cool flashcard app, check out Voice Cards are Not Flashcards. It's really easy to use, all you do is record questions and answers vocally and then playback in many different ways. It def gets rid of the whole typing aspect of it.

It's free at the moment:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/voice-cards-are-not-flashcards/id337227808?mt=8

[Hurricano]

I currently use http://iflipr.com/ for flashcards on the iPhone. The interface is great and the community is lively. Hope you like it...

If you are happy with that then you should spend a free minute at this application: Pass the Exam !!
it has a great allgorythm behind, I have tested it and I am very convinced about.

there is also a webpage where you can find more information: www.passtheexam.net

enjoy

[flashcardapps]

My 2 cents: all of them.

Well, they’re not all equally good, but I maintain a website which has all the flashcard apps for iOS (bit more than a 100) in a list which you can filter by functionality (like: can have images, sounds, studying system, etc..)

Here it is: www.flashcardapps.info (http://www.flashcardapps.info/)