I’d love an option in AnkiMobile that allows users to choose whether to temporarily block social media apps until they finish their daily reviews.
Similar to a recent update in Duolingo (https://www.threads.com/@floperillat/post/DUqHAIGCADp), but arguably even better suited to Anki’s daily review system. In Duolingo’s case, this was implemented via Apple Screen Time, and I imagine Anki could leverage the same system to enable this kind of focus lock.
Why would it be useful? Personally, I often review 3/4 cards, then start doomscrolling (hehe 2026 problems), which makes my daily reviews take much longer than necessary. An optional focus lock tied to “0 cards due” on decks of our choice would be incredibly helpful.
I regularly see people routinely and without hesitation bypassing their screen time limits. Just delete your social media apps. You’ll have plenty of time for Anki.
I would also be very interested in this - a function that uses Apple’s Screen Time API to block user-selected apps until a daily card review target is met. In fact it was my child who mentioned it to me, as he already uses that function in Duolingo and would like to use it in Anki as well. It looks like an application that would very much appeal to adult users too - the social media block was a good example.
Developer here, with the obvious disclosure up front: I built exactly this because I
wanted exactly what this thread asks for.
FareGate (iOS) uses Screen Time to shield the apps you pick; opening one routes you to a
review session with cards from your own collection, and clearing the toll (10 cards)
unlocks the app for 15 minutes. The part this forum will care about: it’s not a quiz
clone — your real notes and templates render in the gate, and grades sync back to your
desktop collection as ordinary reviews via an open-source (AGPL) add-on, so FSRS and your
review history stay yours.
Honest limits, since this thread deserves them: iPhone only today; the desktop side needs
the bridge add-on; and there’s a free emergency pass by design — it’s a turnstile, not a
jail, so if you want something that can never be bypassed, this isn’t that.
