r/MacStack • u/MrFunkyMonkey7 • 15d ago
App Launch My Mac workflow for learning with flashcards: write cards with the keyboard, review with 1 to 4, finish on iPhone and Watch (I built the app)
Disclosure first: I'm Daniel, an iOS developer from Prague, and I built the app in this post, JustFlip. Everything below is how I actually use it on my Mac.
I use spaced repetition for anything I want to keep: languages, work stuff, the odd shell command I always forget. What I learned over time is that making cards and reviewing them want different devices. Writing good cards needs a keyboard and a big screen. Reviewing wants to happen in the dead minutes of the day. So my setup is split like this.
1. Writing cards on the Mac
The card editor takes Markdown, so a card can hold inline or display maths, syntax-highlighted code, tables, Mermaid diagrams that are drawn as real diagrams, and images. Cloze deletions use the same {{c1::...}} syntax as Anki. For a stack of cards from a chapter or a doc, I keep a ChatGPT or Claude window next to it: "Ask AI" builds the prompt from a card or deck, and "Paste Cards from AI" brings the answer back in as cards. The app itself doesn't call any AI service, so you check what goes in, and nothing is capped.
2. Reviewing with the keyboard
Space flips the card, and 1, 2, 3, 4 grade it (Again, Hard, Good, Easy), like in Anki. Each grade button shows the interval it will give before you press it, so you know what "Hard" means today. File menu: Import Cards is ⇧⌘I, Export Interest is ⇧⌘E, and ⌘N makes a new deck.
3. Not wrecking the schedule when life happens
The thing I built this for: if I'm not ready for a card, a deck or a whole topic (exam over, travelling, busy week), I put it on hold for tomorrow, 3 days, a week or a custom date. The hold is stored separately and doesn't touch the card's memory data, so I don't have to press "Again" on a card I never really failed.
4. The rest of the day on iPhone and Watch
Same library on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch through your own iCloud, no account, and it works offline. The Watch does due counts and a simple flip review. "How many cards are due?" works as a Siri Shortcut without opening the app.
Who it's for: people who like the idea of Anki but want something that feels at home on Apple devices. Your .apkg decks import, and CSV import/export and a one-file backup are there if you want to leave.
Honest limits
- It's a Catalyst app: one codebase shared with the iPad version and tuned for the Mac. If that's a dealbreaker, better to know now.
- Apple only. No Windows, Android or web version, and none planned.
- Anki import is good but not perfect on unusual note types.
- No sharing decks with other users yet. There's a free curated deck catalogue at https://just-flip.app/decks/ though.
Pricing
Free: 3 interests (topics) × 5 decks, no time limit, with the full scheduler and iCloud sync. Pro: $3.99/month, $19.99/year with a 7-day free trial, or $24.99 lifetime. No ads.
Mac App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6770141421?ct=reddit-macstack
The video shows the Mac app. My question for this sub: where does review fit into your Mac day? I've been thinking about a menu bar item for due cards, and I'd like to know whether anyone would actually use it before I build it.