How to do your Anki reviews without your phone

Why the phone is the weak link

Spaced repetition only pays off if the reviews that are due today actually get done today. Miss a few days and the backlog grows, and a big backlog is the most common reason people quit Anki.

Phones are built to pull you away. Every notification that lands mid-review is a decision point, and some of those decisions end the session. The cards are not the problem; the device is.

If you are staying on your phone

You can reduce the damage with a few settings:

• Turn on a Focus or Do Not Disturb mode that allows nothing through while AnkiDroid or AnkiMobile is open.
• Move Anki to your home screen dock and move social apps into a folder off the first screen.
• Review in one sitting at a fixed time (with coffee, on the train) so it becomes automatic.
• Keep sessions short: clear due cards first, then add new cards only if you have time.

Use a device that only does Anki

The most reliable fix is to separate reviewing from everything else. A dedicated device has nothing to interrupt you with, so the only thing to do when you pick it up is the next card.

Ankiboy is a handheld built for exactly this. It syncs your existing decks through AnkiWeb, then you reveal each answer and grade it with physical buttons: A reveals, then Again, Hard, Good or Easy on four coloured buttons. Each grade flashes the screen in that button's colour. There are no notifications, and once your cards are downloaded you can review offline and sync later.

Make the habit stick

Whatever you review on, the same rules help:

• Put the device where the free moments are: your bag, the bedside table, the desk at work.
• Aim to finish today's reviews, not to hit a number of new cards.
• Watch your streak. Ankiboy shows a study heatmap when you hold L1 + R1; Anki's statistics screen does the same on other devices.