am-manual.txt

:toc:

AnkiMobile 2.0 User Manual
___________________________

Introduction
============

Thank you for buying AnkiMobile! Anki development would not be able to
continue without your support, so it is greatly appreciated.

As mentioned on the app store page, AnkiMobile is currently intended to be
used in conjunction with Anki on your computer. While it is possible to
download shared decks and study without using the desktop version at all, card
layout and study options can currently only be changed on a computer. While
this is expected to change over time, for now please ensure you have access to
a computer in order to perform some of the operations mentioned below.

= Help & Bugs =

There's a dedicated http://ankisrs.net/docs/help.html[support site] for
questions, suggestions and bug reports. I monitor the site on a daily basis,
and also employ someone to help answer questions.

= Changes =

For information on recent changes, please see
http://ankisrs.net/docs/am-changes.html[this page].

[[adding]]
= Adding Decks =

To start using AnkiMobile, we need to add some cards to study. We can either
download card decks that other people have shared, or add existing decks from the
computer.

== Shared Decks ==

To download a shared deck directly to your mobile device:

 . Ensure you're connected to the internet.
 . Tap *Import/Export* on the bottom left.
 . Choose *Download Shared Deck*. AnkiWeb will open.
 . Select a category, or type in a search.
 . Tap *Info* on a deck you'd like to study.
 . Scroll down and tap *Download*.
 . Safari will download the file and display a button near the top right
   labeled *Open in Anki*. Tap this button.
 . AnkiMobile will return, and ask you if you want to add the shared deck, or
   replace your collection with it. Choose *Add*.
 . When the import completes, your deck should be ready to study.

Information on reviewing is available further below.

[[ankiweb]]
== Cloud Sync ==

Anki has a free cloud synchronization service called AnkiWeb that makes it
easy to keep your card decks in sync between mobile devices and your computer.

To sync with AnkiWeb, you'll first need to create an account. If you have used
AnkiWeb in the past, you can skip this step.

 . Visit https://ankiweb.net and click the *Sign Up* button.
 . Type in your email address and a password of your choice.

Once the signup is complete, return to your computer, and simply click the
synchronization button at the top right of the Anki window - it has two arrows
in a circle. Anki will upload all your cards, images and audio to AnkiWeb. If
you have a lot of media, this may take some time.

Once the synchronization has completed, return to your mobile device, and tap
*Sync* at the bottom of the screen. After entering your email and password,
AnkiMobile will download all your cards and media, and remember your login
information for next time.

After the first synchronization has completed, you can click the sync button
again any time you wish to synchronize your changes to the cloud. Only changes
made since the previous sync will be sent, so subsequent syncs are a lot
faster.

If you add some new cards on the desktop computer and want to sync them to
AnkiMobile, you'd repeat the same process: sync on desktop (or close the
program, as it syncs automatically on close by default), and then tap the sync
button on AnkiMobile.

== iTunes Import/Export ==

If you don't have regular internet access, it's still possible to copy decks
back and forth to your device, by using iTunes.

The iTunes import/export works by importing or exporting all your decks at
once. This means that unlike syncing via AnkiWeb, you can't make changes from
two locations at once and then merge them. Instead, if you wish to add cards
on the desktop, you need to make sure you export the latest version of your
collection from your mobile device first, or you'll end up losing any reviews
done on the mobile device.

Thus the workflow you would typically use is to export your collection from
your mobile device and import it into the desktop, make modifications on the
desktop, and then export your collection and import it back into your mobile
device.

AnkiMobile can't directly import text files. If you wish to do that, you'll
need to do that with the desktop program, and then import your collection into
AnkiMobile.

=== From computer to mobile device ===

On your computer:

 . Open the desktop program.
 . Choose File>Export from the menu.
 . Click the 'Export...' button. Make sure to leave "all decks" selected, as
   it's not possible to import individual decks into AnkiMobile.
 . Anki will automatically create a collection.apkg on your desktop.
 . Connect your Apple device to your computer via the USB cable.
 . Open iTunes if it doesn't open automatically.
 . Locate Anki's file sharing section with
   http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4094[Apple's instructions].
 . Drag the collection.apkg file from your desktop into iTunes.
 . Click the sync button.

Then in AnkiMobile:

 . Tap the Import/Export button on the bottom left.
 . Choose *Import from iTunes*, then confirm the replacement.

Once complete, the decks on your device will have been replaced with the decks
from your desktop.

=== From mobile device to computer ===

On AnkiMobile:

 . Tap the Import/Export button on the bottom left.
 . Choose *Export to iTunes*, and tap *Export*

Then on your computer:

 . Connect your Apple device to your computer via the USB cable.
 . Open iTunes if it doesn't open automatically.
 . Locate Anki's file sharing section with
   http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4094[Apple's instructions].
 . Drag the collection.apkg file from iTunes to your desktop.
 . Double-click on the file to start Anki.
 . Confirm you wish to replace, so that the deck from your mobile device
   overwrites the old data on your desktop.
 . After importing, you can delete the file on your desktop if you wish.

= The Deck List =

The deck list is the screen you see when you start AnkiMobile. It displays a
list of your card decks, and provides buttons for performing various actions.

Next to each deck, two numbers are displayed. The top, green number
corresponds to how many cards are due to be reviewed again today. On a deck
you've never studied before, there won't be any cards waiting for review. The
second, blue number, corresponds to how many new cards you have to learn
today. Anki will introduce 20 new cards a day by default, and you can
customize this number if you'd like.

To study cards in a deck, simply tap on the deck, and AnkiMobile will switch
to study mode.

If you wish to delete a deck, swipe your finger from left to right over it,
and a delete button will appear.

At the top of the screen, you'll see three buttons. The question mark opens
this help page. The top right gear/cog button opens the AnkiMobile preferences
screen. And the other button displays graphs and statistics.

On the bottom of the screen, there are three more buttons. *Import/Export*
allows you to download shared decks, and import/export .apkg files from
iTunes. *Sync* synchronizes your cards with the cloud.

= The Study Screen =

If you have not used Anki on a computer before, please have a look at the
first http://ankisrs.net/docs/manual.html#_intro_videos[intro video]
before reading on, as it explains the basic review process.

When you tap on a deck in the deck list, the study screen will load, and if
any cards are waiting to be studied, a card's question will be shown to you.

If you wish to change to a different deck, you can do so by tapping the top
left button. The next four buttons allow you to add cards, edit the current
card, search/browse all cards, and display a list of all possible actions. The
top right button will open up the <<tools,tools screen>>, where you can modify
deck options and access more card actions.

On the bottom of the screen you'll see three numbers. From the left, these
correspond to new cards, learning cards, and cards to review. These are
explained in more detail in the intro videos for the desktop program, so
please http://ankisrs.net/docs/manual.html#_intro_videos[check them out]
if you haven't already.

When you've looked at a card's question and remembered the answer, or decided
you don't know it, tap anywhere in the card area in order to show the answer.
When you do, the bottom area will change to display 2-4 answer buttons,
depending on how you've answered the card previously. The buttons will display
the time a card will next be shown, so 10m means "10 minutes" and "5d" means
"5 days". You can tap directly on these buttons to choose a particular answer.

To make reviewing faster, you can also tap on the card in order to answer it.
For more information on the available taps and how to customize them, please
see the <<taps,taps>> section.

When you've finished the cards that are due to be studied today, you'll be
shown a congratulations message. If you have other decks, you can tap the top
left button to return to the decks list and select a different one. If you've
finished studying for the day, you can simply tap the home button in order to
close AnkiMobile (and you can also do this in the middle of reviews if you
wish).

If you wish to keep studying the same cards after the congratulations message
is displayed, please see the <<filtered,filtered deck>> section.

[[tools]]
= The Tools Screen =

The tools screen will open when you tap on the top right button while
studying.

*Study Options* allows you to configure some options related to the current
deck, such as the number of new cards and reviews to introduce each day. Some
options can only be configured by the desktop Anki at the moment, though
AnkiMobile will honour them when the changes are synced to it.

*Font Scale* allows you to increase or decrease the size of the text on cards
without modifying how they appear on a computer. It is not specific to a deck
- when changed, it changes all cards in all decks in the same way.

*Tool Buttons*: Please see the <<toolbuttons,tool buttons>> section.

[[studyopts]]
= Study Options =

The study options can be accessed from the <<tools,tools>> screen. Currently
only new cards per day and reviews per day can be adjusted.

If you tap on the study options while reviewing a filtered deck, the filtered
deck options will open instead.

For more information about the study options, please see the
http://ankisrs.net/docs/manual.html#deckoptions[desktop documentation].

= Preferences =

The preferences screen can be accessed by tapping on the gear icon at the top
right of the deck list. It allows you to customize various application
settings and how AnkiMobile appears.

The Preferences screen is divided up into different sections, which are
covered below.

== Syncing ==

The syncing screen allows you to customize cloud synchronization with AnkiWeb.
For more information on syncing with the cloud, please see <<ankiweb,this
section>>.

Download Media :: By default, AnkiMobile will sync sounds and images as well
as your cards and review history. If you disable this option, sounds and
images will not be synced by AnkiMobile.
Confirm Cell Sync :: When syncing over a cellular data connection (not wifi),
AnkiMobile will ask you if you want to proceed. If you disable this option,
AnkiMobile will not ask you.
Full Sync :: The full sync button allows you to force a full upload or
download of your cards. This is useful if you accidentally deleted some cards
and want to revert to the local or remote version, instead of having those
deletions propagate to other devices. After tapping the button, you'll be
given a choice of whether you want to upload your collection or download it from
AnkiWeb.

== Review ==

The review screen allows you to customize how AnkiMobile behaves when you're
reviewing cards.

The top four buttons will be covered later below.

Force Orientation :: Allows you to force the reviewing screen to stay in
portrait mode or landscape mode.
Status Bar :: Allows you to hide the top bar that displays the time,
battery life and so on.
Bottom Bar :: Allows you to hide the bar at the bottom of the screen, that
shows due counts while the question is shown, and answer buttons when the
answer is shown.
Bigger Answer Buttons :: Makes the answer buttons taller so you can press them
more easily.
Next Times :: By default, the answer buttons will display the time a card will
next be shown. If you disable this option, labels like "Again", "Good" and
"Easy" will be shown instead.
Remaining Count :: Allows you to hide the card count, while still showing the
answer buttons when the answer is shown.
Audio Buttons :: Allows you to hide the play button that appears on the top
left of a card that has audio attached to it.
Quieten Music :: When on, Anki will lower the volume of background music while
Anki is active, so that audio on cards can be better heard.
Pinch Scales Text :: Normally when you do a pinch gesture, Anki will expand or
contract any images that have been shrunk to fit the screen. If you enable
this option, the text will also scale when you pinch.
Never Type Answer :: If you have set up your cards to ask you to type in the
answer (as explained in http://ankisrs.net/docs/manual.html#templates[this
section] of the desktop manual), AnkiMobile will display a keyboard on such
cards and allow you to check your answer. If you find typing on a mobile
device inconvenient, you can use this option to disable the keyboard for all
cards.
Shake Action :: Allows you to customize what happens when you shake your
device. The default action is to undo the previous answer.

[[actions]]
=== Actions ===

AnkiMobile allows you to customize the interface, so that actions you perform
frequently can be accomplished quickly. It's possible to assign actions to
taps, swipes, buttons on the top bar and buttons in the tools screen.

The following actions are available:

Add :: Opens a new window to add cards to the deck.

Answer "Again" :: When the answer screen is shown, choose the red
button, indicating you wish to review the card again soon. This is useful when
you forgot a card or wish to review it more frequently.

Answer "Hard" :: When the answer screen is shown and there are four buttons,
choose the second button from the left, indicating you found the card hard to
remember.

Answer "Good" :: When the answer screen is shown, choose the green button.
This is the button you should end up using the most.

Answer "Easy" :: When the answer screen is shown, choose the button on the
right, indicating you found the card too easy to remember and would like a
much longer delay.

Bury :: Hides the current card from review. When you return to the deck list,
it will be added back for review.

Card Info :: Shows information about the current card.

Custom Study :: Allows you to study outside of the normal schedule. Please see
the documentation of the computer version for more information on custom study
presets.

Deck Info :: Shows graphs and statistics about your deck or collection.

Deck List :: Returns to the deck list.

Delete Note :: Deletes the currently shown note and all of its cards. If
you're not studying in multiple directions, this will just delete a single
card.

Edit :: Edits the current card.

Find:: Lets you search/browse your cards.

Filter/Cram:: Allows you to create a temporary deck based on search criteria such as
"tag:hard". Please see the documentation of the computer version for more
information on filtered decks.

Mark :: Adds a tag called "Marked" the current note, so it can be easily found
in a search.

Mark & Bury :: Marks the card, then buries it.

Mark & Suspend :: Marks the card, then suspends it.

More :: Shows a list of all available actions.

Off :: Don't do anything. Useful if you want to disable certain swipes, tap
zones and so on.

Rebuild :: When in a filtered or custom study deck, rerun the search to fetch
any cards that may newly match the criteria.

Replay Audio :: Replay the card's audio. You can customize whether the audio
in the question is replayed while the answer is shown in the computer Anki.

Show Answer :: Reveals the answer when a card's question is shown.

Suspend Card :: Prevent current card from being shown during review until you
unsuspend it via the search action.

Suspend Note:: Prevent all cards of current note from being shown during
review until you unsuspend them via the search action.

Tools :: Show the tools screen.

Toggle Nav. Bar :: Display or hide the navigation bar (the part between the
status bar and the review screen).

Toggle ScratchPad :: Show or hide the writing pad, allowing you to
practice writing characters during review. Anki will remember the on/off state
for each card type.

Undo :: Undoes the last action.

[[taps]]
=== Taps ===

When you're reviewing, you can tap on different parts of a card in order to
trigger different actions.

Anki divides the screen into 9 sections:

[width="30%",cols="^.^1,^.^1,^.^1"]
|=====
|Top Left|Top Center|Top Right
|Mid Left|Mid Center|Mid Right
|Bottom Left|Bottom Center|Bottom Right
|=====

Each section can have a different action assigned to it if you wish, and the
taps when the question is shown are also different from the taps when the
answer is shown.

By default, AnkiMobile responds as follows when the question in shown:

[width="30%",cols="^.^1,^.^1,^.^1"]
|=====
|Show Answer|Show Answer|Show Answer
|Show Answer|Show Answer|Show Answer
|Show Answer|Show Answer|Show Answer
|=====

In other words, tapping anywhere on the screen will show the answer.

When the answer is shown, by default AnkiMobile responds as follows:

[width="30%",cols="^.^1,^.^1,^.^1"]
|=====
|Answer "Again"|Off|Answer "Good"
|Answer "Again"|Off|Answer "Good"
|Answer "Again"|Off|Answer "Good"
|=====

This allows you to tap on the left side of the screen to trigger the red
button, and the right side of the screen to trigger the green button. Taps
near the middle of the screen will be ignored.

=== Swipes ===

You can also swipe up, down, left or right across a card to trigger an action.

To ensure swipes don't interfere with your ability to scroll on a large card
or select text, a swipe must begin from the left or right side of the screen.
Begin by placing your finger on the left or right side of the screen, and then
move it up, down, left or right to trigger the relevant swipe.

With the default settings:

 * Swiping left displays the tools window
 * Swiping right returns to the deck list

[[toolbuttons]]
=== Tool Buttons ===

In the middle of the tools screen, AnkiMobile displays 6 buttons for commonly
used operations. By default, the actions are:

[width="30%",cols="^.^1,^.^1"]
|=====
|Mark|Delete Note
|Undo|Card Info
|Bury|More
|=====

For descriptions of what each action does, please see the <<actions,action
descriptions>> above.

[[quickbar]]
=== Quickbar ===

When studying, the middle buttons at the top of the screen are called the
'quickbar'. By default they allow you to add cards, edit the current card,
and search/browse cards.

== Theme ==

The theme screen allows you to customize the colours AnkiMobile uses for the
interface: the buttons, background image and so on.

To customize the appearance of your cards, it's currently necessary to adjust
the appearance in the desktop and then sync or copy your cards over to
AnkiMobile. For more information, please see
http://ankisrs.net/docs/manual.html#templates[this section] of the desktop manual.

= Adding Material  =

To add cards to a deck, tap the "Add" button while reviewing.

The "Type" button at the top allows you to select the type of note you'd like
to add. For more information about note types, please see the introduction in
the http://ankisrs.net/docs/manual.html#basics[desktop manual].

When you tap on a field, a keyboard will come up, allowing you to type in
information. You can use the next and previous buttons to move between fields,
and the done button to hide the keyboard.

The camera icon allows you to add an image to your note, either via your
device's camera (if it has one), or from your photo library. The microphone
icon allows you to record your voice and place it into a field.

When you've typed in the content of a note, hit the save button to add it to
your collection.

The magnifying glass at the bottom allows you to see a preview of the card(s)
which would be added.

= Editing =

To edit a note, tap the "Edit" button while reviewing.

The edit screen is similar to the adding screen mentioned above, with some key
differences:

 * There is no note type selection button or deck selection button. If you
   want to change the type of an existing note or which deck it's in, you
   currently need to do so with the desktop client.
 * There are two extra buttons at the bottom of the screen. The middle button
   allows you to perform various actions on the current card or note. Please
   see the <<actions,action descriptions>> for more information on what each
   action does.
 * The trash icon allows you to delete the current note and all its cards.

= Finding/Searching/Browsing =

You can search or browse your deck by tapping the "Find" button while
reviewing.

The find screen starts by displaying a search bar with the text:
`deck:current`, and displaying the keyboard. If you tap the return button on
the keyboard, AnkiMobile will display all cards in the current deck.

You can type text into the search box in order to limit the cards further. If
you only wanted to show cards in the current deck that contain the text
"hello" for example, you'd modify the text so it says `deck:current hello` and
then tap return. If you wish to search across multiple decks, you can remove
the `deck:current` part.

AnkiMobile supports all the search strings that the desktop version of Anki
does, allowing you to perform quite complex searches. Some examples:

 tag:marked :: show cards that with the tag "marked"
 is:due :: show only cards that are waiting for review
 front:rabbit :: show only cards where the front field is exactly "rabbit" 

For a full list of the possibilities, please see the section in the
http://ankisrs.net/docs/manual.html#searching[desktop manual].

When a search returns one or more cards, you can tap on a card to edit it, or
perform various actions like previewing it, deleting it, showing information
about it, and so on.

[[filtered]]
= Filtered Decks =

Anki is designed to optimize the learning process, so that you study the
minimum amount necessary to remember the majority of your cards. Once the
congratulations screen is reached, further study becomes a case of diminishing
returns: the amount of extra time spent going over the same cards again is
generally not worth the moderate increase in retention you'll see.

That said, if you have a test looming, or simply want to pass some time, it's
possible to keep reviewing once the congratulations screen is reached.

A 'filtered deck' is a temporary deck that contains cards based on various
criteria, such as "forgotten today", "is tagged 'hard'", and so on. After
studying cards in a filtered deck, or when the filtered deck is deleted, the
cards are automatically returned to their original deck.

The easiest way to create a filtered deck is by using the "custom study"
feature. A custom study link will appear when you've finished all waiting
cards in a deck. You can also access custom study ahead of time by clicking
the tools button, and then choosing "More" and then "Custom Study".

Advanced users can create a filtered deck manually, by clicking the tools
button, then choosing "More" and then "Filter/Cram".

For further information on filtered decks, please see the http://ankisrs.net/docs/manual.html#filtered[desktop documentation].

= Automatic Backups =

AnkiMobile will automatically create backups of your collection for
you. The backups include all your cards and statistics, but do not include
sounds or images.

The backup is taken in the background when you return to your device's home
screen, or switch to another app. A backup will only happen if more than an
hour has elapsed since the last time a backup was created. AnkiMobile will
store the last 15 backups.

There is no way to restore from a backup directly from AnkiMobile at the
moment. AnkiMobile places the backup files into the iTunes file sharing area,
so they can be retrieved by connecting your device via USB and then following
the instructions on the iTunes exporting section above. To restore AnkiMobile
to a particular backup:

 * Drag the backup from the iTunes file sharing area to the desktop
 * Rename the file to collection.apkg
 * Drag the file back into the iTunes file sharing area
 * In AnkiMobile, tap Import/Export and choose to import from iTunes.

It is also possible to customize the frequency and amount of backups that are
created, though this can only be done with the desktop software the moment. To
do so, please sync your collection with the desktop client, and then type the
following commands via the http://ankisrs.net/docs/manual.html#debug[debug
console]:

-----
mw.col.conf['amBackups'] = 15
mw.col.conf['amBackupMins'] = 3600
mw.col.setMod()
-----

You can change 15 to a different number to adjust the number of backups - set
it to zero to disable backups completely. amBackupMins specifies the number of
seconds (not minutes) between backups. The default 3600 seconds means a backup
is taken once an hour.

After you've entered the commands, please use the key combination described in
the link above in order to execute them, then close the debug window and sync
to have your settings updated on AnkiMobile.

= Advanced Features =

== Custom Fonts ==

AnkiMobile allows you to use non-system fonts on your cards. To set them up,
the desktop client is required. Please see
http://ankisrs.net/docs/manual.html#installingfonts[the section in the desktop
manual] for more information.

Please note that AnkiMobile has to load the entire font into memory in order
to use it, and fonts for Asian languages can be quite large. If you have an
older device and notice AnkiMobile crashing frequently after installing a
font, you may have exceeded your device's memory limits.

== Dictionary Links ==

The desktop version of Anki provides the ability to open a web page based on
the contents of a field, for easily creating a link to an online dictionary
site. This is documented
http://ankisrs.net/docs/manual.html#_dictionary_links[in this section] of the
manual, though please start from the
http://ankisrs.net/docs/manual.html#templates[cards & templates] section as
the above link assumes you have read it.

Like the desktop, AnkiMobile supports links to dictionary websites. In
addition to that, you can also link to different dictionary apps that you have
installed on your device, by making use of an iOS feature called a 'URL
Scheme'.

NOTE: When tapping on a dictionary link, holding down your finger for a little
longer than you usually tap to advance to the next card will ensure the tap is
treated as a tap on the link and not a tap to advance.

A 'URL Scheme' is like a link to a website, but it instead links to an app. A
simple example is:

  anki://

If you type this into Safari on your device, you'll see AnkiMobile open up.

Some dictionary apps provide a URL scheme that allows you to provide a
particular phrase to search for. For example, an app called iDict+ allows the
following type of URL:

  idictplus://?search=mysearchtext

If you have iDict+ installed and type that into Safari, iDict+ should open up
and immediately search for "mysearchtext".

iDict+ also supports passing a return link. We can replace the above with:

  idictplus://?search=txt&scheme=anki://

If you type that into Safari, it will search for "mysearchtext" like before,
but will also provide a "return" button that when pressed will open up Anki.

By taking that text and combining it with the instructions for the desktop
version linked above, it's possible to have a link on your cards that searches
for a word in another app, and then allows you to return to Anki when you're
done.

Unfortunately, there is no standard for URL schemes: some apps implement them,
some don't, and the way they implement them can different. For example, in the
app called "Kotoba!", the URL scheme is:

  kotoba://dictionary?word=mysearchtext

Note how not only the app name differs but also the text after it, and how
Kotoba! doesn't provide the ability to automatically return to the app that
opened it, meaning that you need to double tap the home button and manually
return to AnkiMobile.

Some dictionary apps publish their URL scheme in their documentation. If
you're using a dictionary app that doesn't, please contact the authors and ask
them for more information.

== Debug Log ==

If you're encountering a problem with Anki and we've asked you to provide
a debug log, please follow the following steps:

 . Connect your device via USB.
 . Open iTunes if it doesn't open automatically.
 . Locate Anki's file sharing section with
   http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4094[Apple's instructions].
 . Drag the debug.log file on to your desktop, then attach it to your support ticket.
 . If a debug.mdb file is there too, and you're having issues with syncing,
   please include that file as well.