Anki – Powerful, intelligent flash cards

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Anki, an open-source spaced repetition flashcard tool, is praised as a powerful way to reliably memorize everything from languages and medical facts to bird calls, networking concepts, and even piano passages. Commenters highlight how daily, low-friction use and well-crafted, personally authored cards can feel like a “memory superpower,” but also describe common failure modes: overwhelming review backlogs, tedious card creation, clunky UX, and the risk of over-optimizing memorization at the expense of deeper understanding or enjoyment. Alternatives, add-ons, and newer algorithms such as FSRS are mentioned as attempts to reduce the workload and make long-term use more sustainable.

Common Use Cases

  • Heavy use for language learning (vocab, grammar, kanji/hanzi, genders, pronunciation, phrases from media).
  • Memorizing technical material: networking, programming APIs, CLI flags, Vim, PyTorch, AWS, amateur radio, medical and radiology facts, FAA exams.
  • “Everyday knowledge”: bird calls, plant and mushroom ID, geography and country shapes, metro systems, knots, cooking times and recipes, music theory, Rubik’s Cube algorithms.
  • Parenting/education: daily decks with spelling, geography, science, religious facts, life memories, numeracy; some report kids enjoy it in short sessions.
  • Skill practice: tricky piano bars, knot tying, filesystem commands.

Benefits Reported

  • Strong long-term retention and “superpower” feeling of choosing what to remember.
  • Better vocabulary and reading ability; less frustration when using complex tools or libraries.
  • Helps maintain social ties via contact-reminder decks.
  • Creating cards itself deepens understanding and reveals knowledge gaps.

Workload & Habit Challenges

  • Many struggle with rising review load, punishing backlogs after missed days, and eventual burnout.
  • Some cap daily reviews, pause new cards, or separate “easy fact” vs “thinking-heavy” decks.
  • Others switch to alternatives (e.g., SuperMemo) that feel less punishing after breaks.

What to Memorize (and What Not)

  • Split views on memorizing things easily looked up (tar flags, Vim, rare commands):
    • Pro: tiny marginal cost if you already use Anki; saves repeated lookups.
    • Contra: better to script/alias; risk of “overfitting” and memorizing trivia.
  • Broader debate: memorization as foundation for higher-level thinking vs “memorization for its own sake.”

Card Creation & Deck Strategy

  • Strong advice to:
    • Prefer simple, atomic cards (often cloze deletions).
    • Mostly write your own cards; shared decks often feel ill-fit or low quality.
    • Add material organically from real study or life, not in huge upfront batches.
  • Some use AI to auto-generate cards from notes; others argue this loses learning benefits from authoring.

Algorithms & SRS Debates

  • Discussion of Anki’s older algorithm vs newer FSRS and vs SuperMemo; some see FSRS/SM as more efficient, others consider tuning algorithms a hyper-optimization.
  • Concerns about leech handling and backlog behavior; some want models that adapt to available time.

Tools, UX, and Ecosystem

  • Desktop Anki praised; mobile apps (AnkiMobile, AnkiDroid) widely used but UX sometimes criticized.
  • Integration with Obsidian, Logseq, Pleco, browser extensions, TTS, and homegrown generators.
  • Alternatives mentioned: SuperMemo, Mochi, RemNote, Clozemaster, WaniKani-like systems, custom apps.

Critiques and Limits

  • Some find SRS inherently boring, mechanical, or misaligned with how they prefer to learn (immersion, problem-solving, writing/teaching).
  • Worries about overly complex personal systems becoming fragile, and about SRS “controlling your life” via rigid schedules.
  • Others argue memory is not the main bottleneck for their work, so effort is better spent elsewhere.