AnkiDroid
Hacker ApprovedRanked 2 of 4 flashcard apps by recommenders
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.
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.
27 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 23
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 85%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 23 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 5.8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 8 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Praised as a great, fantastic app
“AnkiDroid has been such a great boon for me”
Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “AnkiDroid: Google Play no longer allowing Open Collective donation link” “a general thanks for AnkiDroid as well!”
Comment from 18 Dec 2025 in “Hashcards: A plain-text spaced repetition system” “one of my favorite apps on android”
Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “AnkiDroid: Google Play no longer allowing Open Collective donation link” - Comment from 1 Mar 2026 in “Samsung Galaxy update removes Android recovery menu tools, including sideloading”
Useful for language and exam study
“More than just memorizing kanji on AnkiDroid during my commute”
Comment from 3 Feb 2026 in “Ownership of open source flashcard app Anki transferred to for-profit AnkiHub” “I made hundreds of cards to get me through the ACR core exam”
Comment from 2 Sep 2026 in “AnkiDroid: Google Play no longer allowing Open Collective donation link” “using it for learning danish and finding it very useful”
Comment from 16 Sep 2026 in “The Google Play app review process now regularly takes longer than a week” Free and open source
“a fully self-contained version of Anki for Android, not requiring pairing with a desktop app and completely free”
Comment from 25 Jan 2026 in “Google confirms 'high-friction' sideloading flow is coming to Android” “Ankidroid is much better, which I would attribute to being open source with lots of eyeballs on it”
Comment from 3 Feb 2026 in “Ownership of open source flashcard app Anki transferred to for-profit AnkiHub” “I've long been jealous of the open source Android one.”
Comment from 2 Feb 2026 in “Ownership of open source flashcard app Anki transferred to for-profit AnkiHub” Works well and keeps improving
“We've moved from being years behind upstream to being able to release in tandem with the Desktop app.”
Comment from 17 Dec 2025 in “Hashcards: A plain-text spaced repetition system” “Improved app rating from 4.5 to ~4.8 stars, dramatically reduced crash rate”
Comment from 1 May 2026 in “Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (May 2026)” “Because the Android version works.”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Win32 is the stable Linux ABI”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Notifications often don't work
“push notifications haven't worked in AnkiDroid for years”
Comment from 3 Feb 2026 in “Ownership of open source flashcard app Anki transferred to for-profit AnkiHub” “Notifications work extremely badly.”
Comment from 3 Feb 2026 in “Ownership of open source flashcard app Anki transferred to for-profit AnkiHub” Ownership transfer to AnkiHub worries people
“it would mean any contribution by AnkiDroid's owner to AnkiDroid would be considered property of his new employer”
Comment from 3 Feb 2026 in “Ownership of open source flashcard app Anki transferred to for-profit AnkiHub” “So... why is one soliciting donations on behalf of the other?! My Fraud Meter is rising, not falling here.”
Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “AnkiDroid: Google Play no longer allowing Open Collective donation link” “we won't be privy to any employment contract language”
Comment from 3 Feb 2026 in “Ownership of open source flashcard app Anki transferred to for-profit AnkiHub” - Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “AnkiDroid: Google Play no longer allowing Open Collective donation link”
Other flashcard apps people recommend
The three most recommended other flashcard apps, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anki | 136 | 50 | 73% | 12 | 6 yrs11 owners | Approved |
| AnkiDroidThis page | 23 | 4 | 85% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Hashcards | 13 | 5 | 72% | 2 | — | — |
| Mochi flashcard app | 9 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
28 of the 35 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“using it for learning danish and finding it very useful”
“I made hundreds of cards to get me through the ACR core exam”
“So... why is one soliciting donations on behalf of the other?! My Fraud Meter is rising, not falling here.”
“The bottom line is that Anki's lawyers messed up.”
“one of my favorite apps on android”
“AnkiDroid has been such a great boon for me”
“I've run Ankidroid on both those devices.”
“Together they work pretty well”
“I do use Telegram, Ankidroid, and a few other apps that I trust”
“Improved app rating from 4.5 to ~4.8 stars, dramatically reduced crash rate”
“Most of the apps I enjoy the most are in alternatives stores.”
“AnkiDroid is a fantastic app.”
“it would mean any contribution by AnkiDroid's owner to AnkiDroid would be considered property of his new employer”
“it's a feature which AnkiDroid supports, but isn't one which I use.”
“Notifications work extremely badly.”
“it's already fixed in the current version - so literally the only minor issue I hit on my way to a custom sync server is resolved already”
“push notifications haven't worked in AnkiDroid for years”
“we won't be privy to any employment contract language”
“Ankidroid is much better, which I would attribute to being open source with lots of eyeballs on it”
“More than just memorizing kanji on AnkiDroid during my commute”
“I'm going to keep using AnkiDroid”
“I've long been jealous of the open source Android one.”
“the actually good mobile Anki client, AnkiDroid, remains out of the hands of this potentially questionable new entity”
“a fully self-contained version of Anki for Android, not requiring pairing with a desktop app and completely free”
“Because the Android version works.”
“a general thanks for AnkiDroid as well!”
“We've moved from being years behind upstream to being able to release in tandem with the Desktop app.”
“I've used four generations of Nooks to run AnkiDroid.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.