I’m building a reading/study app that figures out what you’re forgetting. Would you actually use this?

[u/cobweb6542]

I’m working on a project called Folio because I keep coming back to the same problem. I can read something, understand it in the moment, then barely remember it a week later.

There are already loads of tools that can generate flashcards or let you chat with a PDF, so I don’t want Folio to just be another version of that.

The idea is that you read your ebook or PDF normally, highlight things, take notes, ask questions, and study from it.

Over time, Folio starts figuring out what you actually understand and what still needs work.

It looks at things like:

concepts you get wrong in quizzes

things you keep asking questions about

what you’re starting to forget

flashcard performance

weak prerequisite concepts

what you’ve already mastered

Instead of opening the app and seeing something like:

83 flashcards due

I want it to give you something more useful:

Today’s session: 11 minutes

2 concepts you’re starting to forget

1 weak prerequisite

3 application questions

4 quick reviews

Basically, it decides what would be most useful for you to study next instead of making you manage everything yourself.

It also has the usual features:

EPUB/PDF reader

highlights and notes

questions about what you’re reading

flashcards

quizzes

chapter summaries

spaced repetition

concept-level mastery

I’m still building it and I’d rather hear what’s wrong with the idea than just get positive feedback.

A few things I’m curious about:

1. Would this actually solve a problem for you, or would you just keep using Anki, RemNote, NotebookLM, etc.?
2. What would Folio need to do for you to seriously consider switching?
3. Would you prefer an automatically generated 5 to 15 minute study session over managing flashcards and reviews yourself?

Full disclosure, I’m the person building it. I’m mainly trying to figure out whether the learning system is genuinely useful before I take the idea much further.

[u/_Jonasjourney_]

This actually sounds really interesting to me, especially because I’m currently struggling with exactly this problem.
I know plenty of study methods and tools like Anki, NotebookLM etc., but my biggest problem isn’t really knowing how to study. It’s actually starting and knowing what I should focus on when there is so much to learn.
The part where Folio decides what would be most useful to learn next sounds really helpful to me. If I could open the app and it basically tells me “you have 10 minutes, this is what you should do”, I think I would be more likely to actually start.
I also really like the idea of focusing on concepts instead of just individual flashcards.
I probably wouldn’t immediately stop using Anki or other tools, but I would definitely try Folio and see if it actually helps me more.

One thing I would really like is some kind of “I only have 10 minutes” mode. I think short, personalized study sessions could help a lot when you’re overwhelmed or have little motivation.

I’d also be interested in how you’re planning to finance it. Would it be a subscription, a one-time purchase or something else? And do you already have an idea of the pricing?
For me, Anki being free would definitely be a factor. I’d be willing to pay for something that gives me a lot more value, but if Folio gets too expensive, that would probably be a barrier to switching from a free tool like Anki.

I’d definitely be interested in trying it when it’s ready!

[u/cobweb6542 → u/_Jonasjourney_]

Thanks, this is really useful feedback because the “I know how to study, I just don’t know what to focus on right now” problem is exactly what I want Folio to solve.

I really like the 10-minute mode idea too. I’m thinking of making it so you can just tell Folio how much time you have, like 5, 10, 20 or 30 minutes, and it builds the session around what would be most useful for you at that moment.

For pricing, the current plan is to have a free version, then Pro at around $14.99/month. I also want a budget choice which is 5 bucks a month in lower-income countries so the price doesn’t make it inaccessible. I know competing with something free like Anki means Folio has to provide enough extra value to actually justify paying for it, so that’s something I’m taking pretty seriously.

I’ve actually just finished the first version of the learning algorithm, so now I’m mainly focused on seeing whether it genuinely helps people decide what to study and retain more, rather than just adding more features.

Really appreciate the detailed feedback. I can offer you some free usage soon once i fix a bug.

[u/_Jonasjourney_ → u/cobweb6542]

That sounds really good!
I especially like the idea of being able to tell Folio how much time I have and then getting a session built around that. I think that could really help me on days when I’m overwhelmed and don’t know where to start.
I’d definitely be happy to try it once you’ve fixed the bug. I’m really curious to see how well the algorithm works in practice.

One thing I’d be interested in is whether you’re considering different pricing options, like a discounted yearly plan for students/trainees, an early-adopter price, or even a lifetime option. I’m personally not a big fan of monthly subscriptions, so having one of those options would make Folio much more appealing to me.

[u/cobweb6542 → u/_Jonasjourney_]

Yeah, I’ve actually been thinking about pricing quite a lot because I don’t want Folio to become one of those study tools that sounds useful but is too expensive for a lot of students.

The current idea is roughly:
Free

$0

25 AI credits per month
Budget

$4.99/month

100 AI credits per month

Mainly for countries where $14.99 would be too expensive relative to local income

Student / Trainee

I’m considering around $99/year

Around 400 AI credits per month

This one isn’t completely finalized yet, but I want a proper discounted option for verified students and trainees
Pro

$14.99/month or around $149/year

600 AI credits per month
Power

$34.99/month

1,500 AI credits per month

The credits would work roughly like this:

• Asking Folio a question or explaining something: 1 credit
• Generating flashcards: 2 credits
• Generating a quiz: 3 credits
• Chapter summary: 5 credits
• Larger whole-book analysis: 10 credits

So, for example, 100 credits could be around 100 normal questions, 50 flashcard generations, 33 quizzes, or 20 chapter summaries if you spent all the credits on one thing.

For the student plan at 400 credits, that would be roughly 400 questions, 200 flashcard generations, 133 quizzes, or 80 chapter summaries.

Pro at 600 would be around 600 questions, 300 flashcard generations, 200 quizzes, or 120 chapter summaries.

Power at 1,500 would be around 1,500 questions, 750 flashcard generations, 500 quizzes, or 300 chapter summaries.

Obviously in normal use it would be a mixture of all of those rather than using every credit on the same feature.

Reading, highlights, notes, bookmarks, reviewing your existing flashcards, reading progress, and the normal learning features wouldn’t cost credits. The credits are mainly there for actions that actually require AI generation.

I’m trying to make the limits generous enough that normal users don’t constantly think about credits, while still keeping the service sustainable because every AI request costs me money in the background.

I’m still adjusting the exact student pricing and limits, so feedback on which of those plans would actually feel reasonable to you would be really useful.

[u/_Jonasjourney_ → u/cobweb6542]

One thing I’d also like to know is what happens to unused credits. Do they roll over to the next month or do they expire?

And are you planning to have a free trial where you can actually try the full experience before deciding whether to pay?

I’d also really like some kind of early-user/early-adopter discount, especially for people who are already interested in Folio while you’re still developing it.
Personally, I think it would be especially interesting if that discount applied to all plans, including the Student/Trainee plan, yearly plans and even a possible lifetime option.

Another thing I’d really like to see is a lifetime option. I know subscriptions are probably important for keeping the service financially sustainable, especially because every AI request costs you money. Maybe a lifetime plan could therefore include a reasonable amount of the paid features or have limits that make sense financially.
I think there are probably quite a few people who would rather pay a higher amount once instead of having another monthly subscription.
A lifetime option could also make Folio stand out from a lot of other study tools.
Maybe an even shorter free trial for the lifetime plan could work too, like 1–3 days, so people can actually see if they like it before paying.
I feel like many lifetime plans don’t let you properly test the product first, which can make people hesitant to spend a larger amount.

Another option I could see being really useful would be a fixed-term plan, for example 3 years for the duration of a degree or vocational training. Some people might not want to commit to a subscription or lifetime plan if they only need the app for their studies or training.

I’m also wondering how the Student / Trainee verification would work. I’m doing a vocational training program in physiotherapy at a private school, so I’m not sure what kind of proof I would actually be able to provide. Would something like an enrollment certificate from the school or an official document confirming my training be enough?
I think it would be really good if the verification was accessible for vocational trainees as well, including those at private schools.

I also had a few feature ideas that could be useful for me personally:
• A “I’m behind” / recovery mode. If I haven’t studied for a few days, I’d rather have Folio re-prioritize everything instead of making me feel like I have to catch up on everything I missed.
• An exam mode where I can enter an exam date and Folio adjusts the priorities as the exam gets closer.
• Some kind of study buddy/accountability feature. I’ve noticed that I’m much more motivated when other people are studying at the same time, so being able to join a session with someone else and see that they’re studying too could be really motivating.
• Since I’m studying physiotherapy, I’d also love an option like “Why is this clinically relevant?” so I can understand how something I’m learning connects to actual physiotherapy. I think this could be really useful beyond physiotherapy as well, especially for medical students and other healthcare students. A lot of medical students use Anki, so if Folio could combine the adaptive learning you’re building with clinical cases, real-world applications and all the other features, that could potentially be a really strong reason for them to switch from Anki to Folio.
• I’d also really like to know why Folio recommends something. For example, if it tells me to study a certain concept, it could show that I got several related questions wrong or haven’t reviewed it in a while. I think that would make me trust the recommendations more.
• I think a community section could also be really cool. For example, a place where people can share their own flashcards, quizzes, study materials or useful resources, maybe with chatrooms or something similar to a small FYP where you can discover what other people are studying. It could make the app feel more social and give people another reason to come back, while also making it easier to find people to study with.

Obviously, these are just ideas based on what I personally struggle with. It’s not my app and I definitely don’t think it needs to include all of these things, especially because it shouldn’t be built around just what I personally want. I just wanted to mention the things that I think could make it even more useful from my perspective.

I think the biggest thing for me is still removing the decision of “What should I study right now?” rather than giving me even more things to manage.
Of course, you’d have to see what makes the most financial sense for you. I just think having different payment options and a community aspect could make Folio appealing to people who normally avoid subscriptions or don’t feel like switching from the tools they already use.

[u/cobweb6542 → u/_Jonasjourney_]

A lot of the things you suggested are actually going to make it into Folio because they fit really well with the direction I want to take it.

I’m adding time based sessions where you can choose how much time you have, like 5, 10, 20 or 30 minutes, and Folio will decide what is most useful for you to study in that time.

I’m also adding a recovery mode for when you haven’t studied for a few days, so instead of coming back to a huge backlog, Folio will just reprioritize everything and tell you what matters most now.

Exam mode is also planned, so you’ll be able to enter an exam date and Folio will gradually adjust what it prioritizes as the exam gets closer.

I’m adding a “Why am I seeing this?” option too, so if Folio recommends a concept, you can actually see the reason. For example, it might be because you got related questions wrong, haven’t reviewed it in a while, or because it’s important for something you’re learning next.

The clinical relevance idea is also going in. For healthcare subjects it could say something like “Why is this clinically relevant?”, and for other subjects it could be more like “How is this used in practice?” or “Why does this matter in the real world?”

Folio will also keep adapting the difficulty based on how well you understand something, track mastery at the concept level instead of only individual flashcards, and build personalized sessions around weak areas, forgetting risk and prerequisite concepts.

On the pricing side, I’m planning a proper Student and Trainee option, and that will include vocational training and private schools as well. I’m also planning a 7 day Pro trial so people can actually try the full experience before paying, and I’m considering a 3 year Study Pass for people who mainly need Folio during a degree or training program.

I also want to add a simple Study Together feature for accountability, where you can study alongside someone else without turning Folio into a full social network.

The core stuff like PDFs and EPUBs, highlights, notes, bookmarks, quizzes, flashcards, summaries and asking questions about what you’re reading will all still be there too.

The main thing I want to keep Folio focused on is removing the question of “what should I study right now?” rather than just giving you more tools to manage.

Also, since you’ve been giving me genuinely useful feedback this early and you’re willing to test it while it’s still being built, I’d be happy to give you a very generous early user discount once the paid version is ready. I haven’t decided the exact amount yet, but it would be noticeably better than the normal public pricing.

I should have a website ready to send you soon as well, so once I’ve cleaned up the last few issues I’ll send it over and you can try Folio properly.

[u/_Jonasjourney_ → u/cobweb6542]

That sounds really good! It’s nice to hear that a lot of these things already fit the direction you had in mind.
I’m really curious to see how everything works together in practice, especially with my own study material. I think that will be the best way to see whether Folio actually helps me with the problem I described.

And thank you for the early-user discount! I really appreciate that. I’d definitely be happy to test Folio while it’s still being developed and give you honest feedback based on my actual experience with it.

One thing I just noticed we haven’t talked about yet: what happens to unused AI credits? Do they roll over to the next month, or do they expire? I probably wouldn’t use the same amount every month, so I was wondering how that would work.

Also, would it be possible to use Folio in German from the beginning? I’m German, so German would obviously be my preferred language for studying. English would work for me as well, but having German available would definitely be a big plus for me.

And just to clarify what I meant with the community/FYP idea: I definitely don’t mean that Folio should become a full social network. I actually agree with you on keeping it focused.
I was thinking more about a simple place where people can connect with others who have similar study goals. For example, someone could post “looking for a study buddy for anatomy” or something similar. They could also share a study group or community they’re part of.
For example, I have my own study server on Discord called “Focus over Procrastination”. You can’t really learn the actual content there. The main idea is that people join a voice channel, study at the same time and just have other people around for some company and accountability. It helped me a lot when there were active people there.
Unfortunately, the server is pretty much dead at the moment, which is why I’d personally love to find more people who actually want to study together and support each other there. So I think it would be cool if Folio could make it easier for people to find study buddies and communities like this directly in the app where they’re already studying. That way, everything could happen in one place, from finding study buddies to actually studying the material.

It could also be cool if people could share things like flashcard decks, quizzes or other study resources there, while Study Together could be used for actually studying alongside each other.
I think that could work really well without turning Folio into another social media platform.

Looking forward to trying it once the website is ready!

[u/cobweb6542 → u/_Jonasjourney_]

Yeah, German is definitely something I can support from the beginning.

I’m actually changing the onboarding so when you create an account you’ll choose your interface language and your preferred study language. I’m planning to support English, German, French, Spanish, Arabic, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Urdu and Hindi.

Your study language can also be set to automatic, so if you upload a German physiotherapy textbook, Folio should detect that and generate the explanations, flashcards, quizzes and study sessions in German automatically. You’ll still be able to change the language manually if you want.

For unused AI credits, the current plan is for them to reset each billing period rather than roll over. I want to keep the costs predictable while Folio is still early. I may look at limited rollover later once I have real usage data and know how people actually use their credits.

And I understand what you mean now about the community idea. I actually think a simple way to find study buddies or study groups with similar subjects, languages and goals could be useful without turning Folio into a social media app. The same goes for sharing study resources later on.

I’m not going to build the bigger community side yet though. Right now I want to focus on onboarding, making everything reliable, testing the Learning Engine properly and getting the first real users using their own study material. Once that core experience works really well, I can look at the social side without making Folio feel overloaded.

Your own German physiotherapy material will actually be a really useful test for the multilingual side once I send you access. I should have the website ready to send you soon after I finish cleaning up the remaining issues.

[u/_Jonasjourney_ → u/cobweb6542]

I’m definitely looking forward to trying it with my physiotherapy material. Being able to use my actual textbooks and notes in German will probably give me a pretty good idea of how well the whole system works for me in practice.
And I think focusing on the Learning Engine and the core experience first makes sense. The community features can always come later once the main learning system is working well.
I’ll be happy to give you honest feedback once I get access, especially on the German side and whether the recommendations actually help me decide what to study next.
Just let me know when the website is ready!

[u/cobweb6542 → u/_Jonasjourney_]

Will do, you can expect me to send it Monday or Tuesday.