# AnkiDroid

23 Hacker News commenters recommended AnkiDroid and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Free open-source flashcard app for Android; people praise its reliability and custom sync support, with notification problems and worries about the Anki ownership change as caveats.

## Why people recommend it

- Praised as a great, fantastic app (4 comments): "AnkiDroid has been such a great boon for me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49520168)) "a general thanks for AnkiDroid as well!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46310234)) "one of my favorite apps on android" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49521083))
- Useful for language and exam study (3 comments): "More than just memorizing kanji on AnkiDroid during my commute" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46865336)) "I made hundreds of cards to get me through the ACR core exam" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49530265)) "using it for learning danish and finding it very useful" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49725807))
- Free and open source (3 comments): "a fully self-contained version of Anki for Android, not requiring pairing with a desktop app and completely free" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46755680)) "Ankidroid is much better, which I would attribute to being open source with lots of eyeballs on it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46865626)) "I've long been jealous of the open source Android one." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46862598))
- Works well and keeps improving (3 comments): "We've moved from being years behind upstream to being able to release in tandem with the Desktop app." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46299897)) "Improved app rating from 4.5 to ~4.8 stars, dramatically reduced crash rate" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47975590)) "Because the Android version works." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46436513))

## What people warn about

- Notifications often don't work (2 comments): "push notifications haven't worked in AnkiDroid for years" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46868764)) "Notifications work extremely badly." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46870234))
- Ownership transfer to AnkiHub worries people (4 comments): "it would mean any contribution by AnkiDroid's owner to AnkiDroid would be considered property of his new employer" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46873511)) "So... why is one soliciting donations on behalf of the other?! My Fraud Meter is rising, not falling here." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49523719)) "we won't be privy to any employment contract language" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46866985))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Anki](https://hackerapproved.com/p/anki.md): 136 recommend
- [Hashcards](https://hackerapproved.com/p/hashcards.md): 13 recommend
- [Mochi flashcard app](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mochi.md): 9 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "AnkiDroid", https://hackerapproved.com/p/ankidroid/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).