Srsing On The Go

[aristotle1990]

Sparked by this thread.

What is the best system for SRSing on the go? I mean mobile (UMPC laptops + stuff like the Nokia N810 don't count -- it has to fit in your pocket). The software must be able to do the following:

• Display cards with images, audio, and text.
  
• Run offline.
  
• Be able to sync with a corresponding PC program that is also capable of SRSing.
  
• Have full SRS implementation -- this includes having more than just "right" and "wrong" as answers.
  

From the other thread we've got Mnemododo for Android (works with Mnemosyne) and FullRecall for Windows Mobile. Unfortunately, neither work with Anki. I've heard some good things about Anki on the iPhone/iPod Touch, but most involve jailbreaking (not that I'd be averse to that) -- anyone have any experience with this?

[HerrPetersen]

I really like ankimini. Jailbreak is necessary. You can review offline, media-support (audio+pics) works fine. Synchronization works good too. Four answer options are available. The only downside seems to be, that you can't edit your cards on your ipod/phone (you have to use your computer for that).

The creator of anki is now dedicating 100% of his time on anki. Right now he is creating an anki-app that can be bought in the app-store. It's already in the beta-phase I believe.

Edit: Just checked the anki page. The official anki-app should be ready in a few days.

http://ichi2.net/anki/#iphone

[aristotle1990]

Huh, look at that. If it proves to be the best mobile SRS program out there, I just may have to get me an iPhone...

[HerrPetersen]

Or an iPod Touch

[valikor]

I have AnkiMini for iPhone (iTouch).

I jailbroke it specifically so I could install it (thanks to Phyrex for his help--it really ideally only takes 10 minutes)

Generally it works very well and I'm happy with it. One time I had a problem with syncing.

Great for the subway, bus, etc. Can be a lifesaver at times.

[OneEye]

I'm sure the new Anki app for iPhone will prove to be fantastic. Unfortunately, it won't include audio yet, but I've read that it will be included in a future version. It will be so nice to be able to do my Anki decks on the go instead of being tied to my computer for reviews.

[aristotle1990]

Or an iPod Touch

I want to be able to carry around a single device for phone calls, taking pictures, jotting down notes, Chinese dictionaries, and, of course, Anki. One ring to rule them all.

Unfortunately, it won't include audio yet, but I've read that it will be included in a future version.

Ah! You've just shattered my dreams, you know...thankfully, my deck doesn't have too many audio cards...

[aristotle1990]

Alright -- according to this thread, Anki for the iPhone will not be able to sync directly with PCs, only with AnkiOnline, which currently only supports images and audio if you have a third-party server to store them on. (I don't have a spare web server lying around, unfortunately.) That sort of rules out the iPod Touch option for me. It's not the developer's fault, it's Apple's fault. (There's still AnkiMini, but they say that's too slow...)

Ankidroid seems to be getting better and better, fortunately. I'll have to look into that once I get back to the US.

EDIT: Syncplicity is free and not blocked in China, so you can use that to sync your media with AnkiOnline. Unfortunately, the developer plans on charging a monthly fee for AnkiOnline decks above 10MB, although according to him there will still be ways to sync with your iPhone/iPod Touch...at this point, I have no clue whether it's worth it to hop on down to Sanlitun and get an iPod Touch. An Android is the other obvious option, but I really want to do Anki outside...like, right now...

[Gleaves]

I wholeheartedly recommend Pleco flashcards. I love anki (and have used ianki on my ipod quite a bit), but I am now using Pleco for the majority of my srsing. You can easliy create cards based on any of Pleco's dictionaries, including audio. As long as the character/word/phrase is in one of the Pleco's dictionaries, Pleco will populate the card with all the data (pinyin, definition, audio, etc.). Pleco does not support images or custom audio. It also does not sync to a desktop application, but I see no need/want to do so when I can just do my srsing on the ipod (even when I'm near a computer).

I am still a big fan of the way anki handles media. I have some subs2srs and iKnow decks that I wouldn't mind reviewing on the go, so I am curious to see how functional images and audio are on the pending anki app. I think you can use free online storage sites like dropbox to get media working on AnkiOnline, but have never really tried it.

[Guest realmayo]

(I don't have a spare web server lying around, unfortunately.)

Gleaves is right, there are free sites like Dropbox you can use for media, I did this a while ago and it was pretty easy to set up.

[aristotle1990]

As long as the character/word/phrase is in one of the Pleco's dictionaries

There's the rub. (Well, Anki can't really provide all that stuff either...) Can it do sentences/phrases?

I am curious to see how functional images and audio are on the pending anki app. I think you can use free online storage sites like dropbox to get media working on AnkiOnline, but have never really tried it.

The app will support images on release and audio via later update. The developer plans to release a personal sync server that can run on one's computer without interacting with AnkiOnline.

[mikelove]

Can it do sentences/phrases?

Pleco's flashcard system can handle sentences/phrases, yes, and it certainly supports characters / words / phrases not in Pleco's dictionaries - you can input them right on the phone or import them en masse from a text file.

Desktop sync is a definite future possibility, and custom audio and embedded images are both things people have been requesting for a long time; now that we've finished the yearlong process of getting things ported to iPhone, we're finally hoping to get a lot of those features implemented sometime this year. Audio at least works for custom cards even now, though, it's just played syllable-by-syllable instead of smoothly-blended as in a full text-to-speech system. A dedicated example sentence search / database system is in the cards too, we've got something like 100,000 + sentences with translations between our various dictionary databases and we really want to make it easier to access / test yourself on them.