Anki

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Anki is a spaced repetition system (SRS), a program which allows you to create, manage and review flashcards. Anki is very flexible and also allows the creation of templates. Apps for Android and iOS as well as a web interface can be used to interact with the user's flashcard database. Anki supports addons, written in python.

Installation

Install the anki^AUR package, or anki-official-binary-bundle^AUR if you prefer an installable binary. For the development version, install the anki-git^AUR package.

By default, cards are synchronized using anki's web server, but you can use your own anki-sync-server-git^AUR.

Flashcards

Flashcards can be obtained by:

Creating them inside Anki, organized in decks and possibly tagged. Cards can contain audio, pictures and even TeX formulas;
Downloading them, grouped in an existing shared deck (e.g. top 1000 words in a language);
Generating them as a csv file that will be imported in Anki.

Tips and tricks

Kanji stroke support

Install the ttf-kanjistrokeorders^AUR package if you want to display kanji stroke orders in Anki. You have to select this font inside Anki in your deck properties after installation.

Asian language support

Install the mecab-ipadic^AUR package and the kakasi package.

Launch Anki, and inside Anki use File > Download > Shared Plugin to download and install the "Japanese Support" plugin, restart.

After creating a new deck, you need to select "Japanese" as the deck model in "deck properties" to have Japanese support. Make sure that the Japanese Support plugin is installed, otherwise you cannot select "Japanese" as the model.

Self-hosted sync server

AnkiWeb is a proprietary service. If you prefer a self-hosted free (as in freedom) alternative, you can use anki-sync-server. One tutorial how to set it up is available here.

Dark theme

Anki UI may be unreadable with dark GTK theme. You may want to enable night mode to fix that (Tools > Preferences... > Night mode).

If you have an older version you may need to install an addon (e.g. 1496166067 and View > Night mode > Enable night mode).

Troubleshooting

If Anki core dumps at launch with error "qt: No suitable graphics backend found" the following may resolve:

echo auto > ~/.local/share/Anki2/gldriver

Anki has not been stabilized for use under Wayland. If you want to use it in Wayland anyway, then you have to set some env vars.

QT_QPA_PLATFORM=wayland ANKI_WAYLAND=1 anki