Hi, do you usually use this Anki shortcut feature?
Is it true that this feature is temporary and that they might remove it in future updates?
It’s very useful for creating shortcuts — I hope they don’t remove it.
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Me three.
Are you just taking a survey? 
Where’d you get that idea? It would be easier to answer if we knew the source and timeframe.
That’s always true, to a certain extent. But it’s unlikely to happen unless it’s being replaced with something else – like a WYSIWYG editor
No, I was just looking for some way to create a shortcut in AnkiDroid, but I couldn’t find it in the settings. When I decided to search about those bars that appear below the note editor, I found this post. In the first comment, a guy (one of the Anki developers) said that this bar wasn’t even supposed to be there anymore—it was temporary—and that it will be replaced by something else, meaning they will remove this shortcut feature.
If they remove this feature, is there any other way to create a shortcut there while editing in AnkiDroid?
Now… you said:
[quote=“Danika_Dakika, post:3, topic:67907”]
That’s always true, to a certain extent. But it’s unlikely to happen unless it’s being replaced with something else – like a WYSIWYG editor
[/quote]
What do you mean by a WYSIWYG editor? Will it have the same shortcut functionality? How do you know it won’t change? How do you know they’re going to add this? Are you also AnkiDroid developers?
I’m glad I asked.
I don’t think “temporary” is quite what David meant to imply by that. (Something that has been in the app for 5+ years has certainly surpassed “temporary” status.) He meant it was the solution to make formatting easier in the raw HTML editor that AnkiDroid has. It sounds like he thought they would have moved on to the next phase of the project much sooner – a WYSIWYG/visual editor, just like in desktop Anki – that will have formatting buttons for the most common things you’d need, just like desktop Anki.
I don’t see them removing the toolbar item functionality before it is replaced by something better. I know that they are doing that because that’s what David said in that reddit comment from over a year ago, and that plan is discussed regularly and openly by the Anki and AnkiDroid devs. Work is already underway to rewrite the desktop Anki note editor so the code can be re-used by the mobile apps.
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Thank you Danika!
TL;DR: I don’t see the buttons going away given how we interface with Anki Desktop code, it’s more likely that custom buttons will be included in a cross-platform manner, rather than removed.
BUT: if I need to make the choice between a visual note editor or keeping the buttons, I’d take the blame and choose the visual note editor, having the legacy screen as an ‘deprecated’ option until we come to a resolution on the buttons.
For context:
The note editor is (IMO) our most common complaint. The current screen in AnkiDroid is in ‘maintenance mode’: the screen itself will be replaced, and the components which we’re continuing to improve (images, audio recording etc…) are designed to be integrated with the replacement.
About 5 years ago, when I was new to the project, I added the toolbar buttons and started on a visual note editor. The visual editor was usable, but it didn’t meet the bar for public release: rendering didn’t match Anki Desktop in all cases, and I had significant maintenance concerns with the library which I was using.
The toolbar buttons were intended as a stopgap for technical and advanced users while we worked on a more permanent solution. Our aim at the time was to host screens which were coded for Anki Desktop, but how this worked on a technical level hadn’t been finalized. There was a fair chance that we’d have to make the decision:
- Do we want a visual note editor from Anki Desktop
- OR Do we want custom buttons?
Now we understand how AnkiDroid uses Anki Desktop code, it’s likely that we’ll be able to have our cake and eat it:
- Abdo has a pending huge note editor update, and I strongly suspect we’ll be able to integrate custom buttons in a cross-platform compatible manner.
- Even if we can’t, we have a multitude of options to on our side to add custom buttons to the editor
But I’d push for a visual ‘Anki Desktop’ style editor if push came to shove, deprecate the old screen, and remove the old editor once a decision on the buttons was made.
I added the custom buttons: they’re a power-user feature (HTML is complex), I find them useful, but I’ll take responsibility if they need to go.
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Ok everyone, I understand now. I’m very grateful that you took the time to reply. I hope, David, that this feature of “creating custom buttons in the editing toolbar” will remain.
But now, if you allow me, I’d like to change the subject a bit. I’m not sure whether you can answer two different questions in the same post, so if necessary, there is a post I had already made earlier about this topic.(Video and audio should only play together, at the same time)
Since there is an Anki developer here, who probably knows why this happens, I’d like to talk to you, David, about a bug in AnkiDroid. It’s about how audio and video are played.
Why is it that when a video file (mp4) is playing and you tap to play an audio file (mp3), the video that was playing before does not stop, and both play at the same time?
To explain it better: when a video file (mp4) is playing and you press “play” on an audio file (mp3), the video that was already playing does not stop. Both play at the same time, which is a problem because my notes contain both audio and video.
The same thing happens if a video (mp4) is playing and you press play on another video (mp4). The first one does not stop, and both videos play at the same time. Please fix this.
However, this does not happen with audio and audio (mp3 and mp3). That is, if one audio file is playing and you press “play” on another audio file, the first one stops; they do not play at the same time.
Why does this work correctly for audio + audio, but not for video + video or audio + video? It should work the same way for both videos and audios.
Are you going to fix this in a way that will be permanent? I mean, if it gets fixed, will it stay fixed and not change again after an update?
Notes:
I use AnkiDroid and I’m on the latest version. I add normal audio and video files to Anki (I download them and put them into Anki). I don’t use any code or special settings that could be causing this.
I asked this question on Reddit, and someone said that this does not happen in Anki for desktop. That is, if a video is playing and you play an audio file, the video stops. They don’t play at the same time. This suggests that it might be a bug in AnkiDroid. It seems like this part was overlooked.
I also tested it on AnkiWeb, and it behaves like AnkiDroid — actually, it’s worse. Even audio doesn’t work correctly there. That is, if one audio is playing and you press play on another audio, the first one does not stop. Both play at the same time.
Note:
If you’re interested, here is a screenshot of the Reddit conversation. I tried to reply, but I don’t know why my comment is not appearing publicly.
I’m not sure whether you can answer two different questions in the same post,
I won’t. Let’s keep this on-topic. Other posts can be answered by the community, and I’ll reply in depth if/when necessary.
Okay, so the other post I made about the other subject is this one here