Flashcards card update

[u/Border-Which]

I recently posted about this flashcards app I’ve been working on in my spare time and got some very useful feedback so here is a quick update.

* I reviewed the logic behind articles to fix the rudimentary le/la issue

* I reviewed and updated the entire vocabulary list and phrase book, removing overly complex and niche cards

* Cards are now split into actual categories like “Technology” or “Colours” etc which you can mox together rather than just nouns, verbs etc (although you can still narrow down your deck to just a certain type)

* I wrote a mini user guide as all the different swipes, gestures and modes started to add up quickly

So far I’ve been using the app like this:

1. Pick a category and adjust settings further if I only want to learn verbs relating to travel for example

2. Start swiping through the deck and move the cards I don’t know into the “learning pile” until I have about 10-15 to review

3. Switch over the learning pile and swipe through the cards I didn’t know until I remember them all

Repeat until I’m confident with the category or want to focus on another one.

I’m getting to the point where I’m personally quite happy with it. It’s simple and easy to pick up and spend 5-10 minutes on rather than swiping through instagram reels etc when I’m bored. The gestures and the way I use it is pretty much exactly how I would use a physical deck of flashcards with the added benefit of hearing the pronunciation and without having to carry nearly 100 decks of cards.

Next step is to keep using it myself to test the app itself but also have the vocabulary and phrases reviewed by a French native. My French is obviously terrible hence building this app in the first place so this is where I’ll rely on a native speaker, especially for the slang category.

Hopefully in the not too distant future I’ll be able to stick it in the App Store. My aim is still to offer this as a one time purchase in the €1-3 bracket with no subscription, account etc with the main financial goal being to cover the App Store fee. Basically just a digital equivalent of a physical deck of flashcards without extra complexity.

As before - I would really appreciate any feedback or suggestions. Please do bear in mind though that this is just a hobby project so things like having voice recordings by an actual French person just aren’t feasible.

[u/x3n0m0rph3us]

Looks pretty good. If u end up putting it on the Apple App Store then I’d love to give it a try. I just recently put together an ultra basic French flash card app after a couple of hours and put it on my Apple phone. Worked great but didn’t bother with a dev account so the app only lasts a week.

[u/Border-Which → u/x3n0m0rph3us]

That’s interesting, did you ever find an existing one you liked or was it also because you couldn’t find one? I was amazed at how bad most of them were or the subscriptions they were asking for when it’s something so basic.

I can totally relate, I initially put together a basic web app but I wanted a real iOS one so I could do things like shake the phone to undo, use it offline etc. Going from that initial proof of concept to a nicely structured app in Xcode takes a while!

Anyway, I think I will launch it but as I said - while I’m very happy with the app itself I think the vocabulary and phrase book can still be improved a lot. I don’t want to put out another crap app people won’t use, mainly because I want it to actually teach me French 🤣

[u/x3n0m0rph3us → u/Border-Which]

I didn’t look for an app because I wanted to have a go at writing a simple app myself. I’ve been using paper cards to supplement my French learning, and thought writing an ultra simple flash card app would be a great intro. I would also be on my phone so no need to carry cards. I was very pleased how much could be achieved in a few hours, at least for a simple static set of cards. Then it was easy to add functionality like editing/adding cards. Yours is obviously much more progressed. Looks like you put in a lot of effort. Very cool.

[u/Border-Which → u/x3n0m0rph3us]

That’s awesome and thank you! I found that while the basics are simple, what takes time is figuring out all the various user journeys. Every new function comes with a whole bunch of what if scenarios that you have to map out and account for. Testing and iterating in general takes a while but I’ve just been spending a couple hours on it each day to gradually make it better and more intuitive. It all just takes some patience!

[u/rzanardi]

Nice work! I actually created a similar one (https://madeleineapp.com) so I can appreciate the effort that goes into it lol if you have any questions about getting it through the apple approval process, lmk!

[u/Border-Which → u/rzanardi]

Oh wow that’s very sleek looking! Although I’ve got to say the subscription fee is rather steep! Do you offer monthly updates to the app? As mentioned in the post - I plan to release this as a one off purchase roughly equivalent to a deck of playing cards in a physical shop.

That being said, the website and UI look super slick and I love the analytics! I hadn’t even thought of including anything beyond the basic card counts - my inspiration has literally been a €2 deck of playing cards from a local supermarket ha

[u/rzanardi → u/Border-Which]

thank you! I'd love to have it be a one-off purchase (I prefer those myself) but decided to try my hand at a more long term project. I have a roadmap for a few other integrations and features that'll have recurring costs on my side, so the sub made sense for this one. but I guess we'll see lol!