[Aachen]

(Same person as above but felt that this part had a separate purpose so I've moved it into its own comment)

The ecosystem is currently such that it seems hard to enshittify it. They say they have no intention of doing that and I believe it, but their vision of a healthy and good product might involve a fair price (for rich countries at least) whereas it was always free so far

Time will tell; it sounds like there's currently no plans either way, but it's also simply open enough that users can always just install the open source software and share decks with each other by whatever file transfer/sharing means. Everything that's already there won't simply go away. I'm going to keep using AnkiDroid and building the language deck I am working on

[runarberg]

Worth mentioning too is the FSRS algorithm for scheduling cards is implemented in separate libraries which are released under MIT license.

[zozbot234]

The iOS app has never been free and that's the way most people use it these days. Desktop computing is a niche.

[cosmic_cheese]

This may be true, but as someone who picked up Anki as a desktop app back around 2009 it feels a little crazy.

I also can’t imagine making cards on a phone, given how much switching between apps/windows is involved and how poor mobile platforms are at multitasking. It’s difficult to envision it being anything but maddening.

[zelphirkalt]

That's how some people do their "computing" these days, if they do any that deserves the name at all. I had to do some of that on vacation. With a modern phone it's possible, but mentally taxing. Phones feel like MS-DOS operating systems, where each application is fullscreen. Most people are just consumers. This is probably true for Anki decks as well. Only a small minority creates decks, the vast majority only consumes.

[7jjjjjjj]

Desktop for creating cards, mobile for reviewing them.

[cosmic_cheese]

I prefer a laptop for reviewing because it’s still portable, but also more amenable to comfort for longer sessions and makes spot corrections easier.

[angeladarby077]

Who is this

[Aachen]

Why'd people choose a closed ecosystem but then care about open software? I assume the main crowd is on AnkiDroid, either via f-droid or google play, and that the few iOS people don't care about a new corporation taking over the rights

[rjh29]

In America perhaps. Android is more popular in other countries, most people I know use Anki for free. The desktop app and sync are useful for editing cards and managing a large collection. Both of those are free too, but for how long?

[deaux]

It's very unlikely that a majority of Anki users only uses the iOS app.

1. Anki isn't your everyday application with your everyday audience.

2. The number of people willing to splash $25 on an iOS flashcard app without first having tried it for free elsewhere, is incredibly small.

[Gormo]

> The iOS app has never been free and that's the way most people use it these days.

Where are you getting the stats that drive this claim? How are you measuring usage on platforms that don't necessarily collect usage metrics, e.g. desktop versions?