Hi there, I assume this is a common topic, but I have searched the forums and cannot find the required answer.
I have posted some shared decks on AnkiWeb. I am wanting some users with iPads, or iPhones to study the decks, but just in the browser, not with the AnkiMobile app.
From the Anki net home page: “If you can’t afford the app, you can still use AnkiWeb.”
When I try accessing the shared decks from AnkiWeb by default they download to the iOs device and obviously need the app installed.
Is there a way to access the decks directly in AnkiWeb so you don’t need to have the app?
Many thanks for any information provided.
I’m afraid not. See this statement below the download button of shared decks on AnkiWeb:
At this time, it is not possible to add shared decks directly to your AnkiWeb account - they need to be added from the desktop then synchronized to AnkiWeb.
This means you need to tell your users to import the decks to Anki Desktop (which is free and available for Mac, Windows and Linux), then upload them to AnkiWeb.
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Hi there, I think you misunderstand my intention. I have created the decks on Anki Desktop, and have added them to my AnkiWeb account and made them publicly shareable. I am wanting users with either an iPad or iPhone to view and learn from the decks, not edit or create them.
I have tried the process, ie borrowed an iPad, visited AnkiWeb and created an account, searched for the shared decks, and found them, but there is no facility to view them in AnkiWeb, the only option is to download.
Does this mean that the user has to download the deck to their iPad, and then upload it back to AnkiWeb just to view the content?
Is that the only solution, or am I missing something?
Currently, AnkiWeb doesn’t allow you importing shared decks. If you don’t want to pay for AnkiMobile, you have to resort on Anki Desktop, which is free, but you need a computer.
Thank you.
Why is it not stated as simply as that on the site, rather than “If you can’t afford the app, you can still use AnkiWeb.”?
I can now inform any potential users that they must download and install AnkiMobile on the iOS devices if they want to view the decks.
Probably because the app, just as ankiweb, started as a companion app rather than full featured Anki Dekstop alternatives. It was though mainly to review on the run, while the main interface to edit the collection would still be Anki Desktop, I think (at least that’s how I understood it when I first read about Anki). Over the years, since AnkiMobile has been quite popular, and since it’s currently the only sold part of Anki, AnkiMobile received much more attention from the dev than AnkiWeb. Currently, AnkiWeb is still though as a “companion app”, because it lacks many features with respect to Anki Desktop, while AnkiMobile can be used as a standalone. “If you can’t afford the app, you can still use AnkiWeb” probably meant (at the time it was wrote) that if you can’t afford to have AnkiMobile as a companion app, you can still use AnkiWeb, even though it is less powerful, and since most users (I guess? that’s roughly estimated based on the number of issues I read on this forum for each category) still use Anki Desktop, that sentence makes sense for most of them.
Besides that, can’t your users just use a computer? That’s a one-time operation (download and sync), and then you’re good to go (until the next update of the deck).
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No. They need to download and install Anki Desktop on their computer, import the decks there. Then they can log in with their AnkiWeb ID, sync the deck to AnkiWeb and review on mobile if they wish.
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