In the app, the text ‘Add’ is needlessly vague, and inconsistent with other texts.
First of all, we are creating a new note, not just adding it from somewhere else. For decks and filtered decks, we also use ‘create’:
So why not for notes, such an important object?
Second, we are creating a new note. If we mention this explicitly, messages like these become clearer:
‘Add note’ would also work here. ‘Create note’ is okay too. In any case, it’s better than ‘Add’.
Those commands – using “add” for notes, using “create” Decks and Filtered decks – are consistent with desktop Anki, so they shouldn’t change. Consistently using “add” for notes also reduces the chance for the sort of confusion you’re concerned about.
Having the main point of connection to the feature simply say “Add” is also consistent with desktop Anki.
However, beyond that main point of connection, if there are places where desktop and AnkiDroid are inconsistent in using “add” vs. “add note,” there may be reasons to bring them closer together for ecosystem compatibility. So if you want something to be clarified around this, you may want to look for those parallels in desktop.
Ah, the real Anki. Of course. But does AnkiDroid really have to be consistent with Anki’s tab bar and its tiny tab names? In that case, the text ‘Card browser’ in AnkiDroid should be ‘Browse’ as well.
And there are many other differences between the AnkiDroid text and the Anki text: ‘Show answer’ vs ‘Show Answer’, ‘Get shared decks’ vs ‘Get Shared’, ‘Card marked as leech and suspended’ vs ‘Card was a leech’, … I have to say that I prefer the AnkiDroid versions here: they don’t use that weird title casing, and they tend to better explain what’s happening.
So maybe change Anki to be more consistent with AnkiDroid?
(Also, isn’t it funny how the mobile app uses longer texts than the desktop app?)
While “Add note” or “Create note” makes more sense, I prefer the concise and clean “Add”. Especially on the Anki Desktop tabs.
I also think it is vague to call to “Add” but the verb is appropriate. “Add” is what we do to “notes” and Anki “creates” the cards for us. Sure, they mean the same thing in common parlance but that’s how I use it in relation to Anki.
The name for that screen should be “Add note”, it also makes sure that newer users have clearer idea of the distinction between notes and cards.
I blame the title cases, they don’t look good with longer texts so there’s a tendency to make things shorter. Fortunately for us, Google pushes for sentence casing in Android.
