Expected behavior of Auto-Advance

spaspi · December 28, 2025, 12:16pm

If “seconds to show question for” is set at 1 second, “wait for audio” is enabled, and the card contains a 2-second audio file,

Currently on desktop: flips immediately after the audio ends
Currently on AnkiDroid: takes both into account and flips 1s after the audio ends

Which is the expected behavior? I’d really prefer it to work in the AnkiDroid way and hope it doesn’t change to align with the desktop. I was scared to even ask about it because it seems to suggest that the desktop is working as intended.

If you’re interested in why I need it that way: link

(posted in “Suggestions” because I’m suggesting AnkiDroid to not align with the current desktop.)

Anon_0000 · December 28, 2025, 12:44pm

In-app Documentation

The in-app manual says that “Seconds to show question for” is

the number of seconds to wait before applying the question action.

“Question action” is

The action to perform after the question is shown, and time has elapsed.

“Wait for audio” is

Wait for audio to finish before automatically applying the question action or answer action.

Expected Behavior based on Documentation

To me, this implies the expected behavior is like this:

Wait 1 second. If that second elapsed, show the question action, UNLESS the audio isn’t finished yet; in that case, finish audio first, then apply the question action immediately.

(assuming “Seconds to show question for” is 1 second and “Wait for audio” is true)

That being said: As someone that never used or uses Auto Advance, I think the described AnkiDroid behavior makes more logical sense:

vaibhav · December 28, 2025, 1:18pm

I am just wondering: Can the logic behind auto-advance be implemented in the Rust backend so that all clients have consistent behaviour?

That being said, waiting for the specified number of seconds after finishing the audio makes more sense. Otherwise, the user won’t get the time to answer the card.

Anon_0000 · December 28, 2025, 1:35pm

It currently is part of reviewer.py:

github.com/ankitects/anki

qt/aqt/reviewer.py

8f2144534


      
                  f"_showQuestion({json.dumps(q)}, {json.dumps(a)}, '{bodyclass}');"
              )
              self._update_flag_icon()
              self._update_mark_icon()
              self._showAnswerButton()
              self.mw.web.setFocus()
              # user hook
              gui_hooks.reviewer_did_show_question(c)
              self._auto_advance_to_answer_if_enabled()
          
          def _auto_advance_to_answer_if_enabled(self) -> None:
              self._clear_auto_advance_timers()
              if self.auto_advance_enabled:
                  conf = self.mw.col.decks.config_dict_for_deck_id(
                      self.card.current_deck_id()
                  )
                  if conf["secondsToShowQuestion"]:
                      self._show_answer_timer = self.mw.progress.timer(
                          int(conf["secondsToShowQuestion"] * 1000),
                          self._on_show_answer_timeout,
                          repeat=False,

That means changes should go into the porting efforts:

github.com/ankitects/anki

Feat/Svelte port for reviewer

main ← Luc-Mcgrady:svelte-reviewer-bottom

opened 01:25AM - 26 Aug 25 UTC

Luc-Mcgrady

+2090 -65

> [!NOTE] > While testing this, make sure to enable "Use new reviewer" in the… preferences: > <img width="310" height="273" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/4e7691cb-63bc-4937-9a47-b0dabb0132c5" /> <img width="947" height="86" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/5a3dab25-9e7f-4495-bda1-e2345164468e" /> I'm not sure if I have the right idea here. If I don't please tell me so I can give up and leave it to the people who probably should be left to do this. - [x] It doesn't appear until you enter and exit back out, I'm assuming because the height is unknown. This didn't happen when I initially tried it with the ts page rather than the sveltekit one (7e92c4016938be6964d3d85e89bdf8f4c19b873b last good commit). - [x] The due dates aren't shown yet (although "due" is passed to the element so it should be quick) - [x] The down arrow for the more button is a placeholder - [x] Buttons look weird, I don't think width is set correctly I'm not sure how faithful to the original html I need to be. If I should use the old table methods, for addon support reasons perhaps, let me know. Reviewer - [ ] Main window API access - [X] Mathjax - - [x] MathJax Font's - [x] Typed answers - [X] Audio buttons - - [x] Autoplay - [x] Flags display - [x] "More" menu - - [x] Flags don't un-set - - [x] Shortcuts - - [x] Audio control buttons - - [x] Add vertical scroll to menu when it overflows the screen(?) - [x] Timer - [x] Undo - [x] Image occlusion is broken for `./tools/runopt` - [x] Congratulations screen - [x] Spacebar rates cards option - [x] Changing flag resets timer - [ ] Auto Advance Wait for audio - [x] Preload resources - [ ] "Processing" equivalent for when `next_card_data` takes a long time. - [ ] Hooks - [x] Clicking the toolbar causes enter to do the toolbar action rather than progress the card. - [x] Holding enter rushes through the cards - [x] Clicking the edit or more button, then hitting enter, both reviews the card and triggers the button - [ ] "Card is a leech" tooltip - [ ] Custom Scheduling - [ ] Light mode tooltip background colour > [!NOTE] > I'll repeatedly edit this comment with any queries I have about how things should be implemented. For the time being. > - https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4289#issuecomment-3518166035

vaibhav · December 28, 2025, 1:51pm

In that PR, the logic is in the TS code, which will be shared. So, it looks good.

github.com/Luc-Mcgrady/anki

ts/routes/reviewer/reviewer.ts

87650f576


      
          updateAutoAdvanceQuestion() {
              clearTimeout(this.autoAdvanceAnswerTimeout);
              if (get(this.autoAdvance) && this._cardData!.autoAdvanceQuestionSeconds) {
                  const action = ({
                      [DeckConfig_Config_QuestionAction.SHOW_ANSWER]: () => {
                          this.showAnswer();
                      },
                      [DeckConfig_Config_QuestionAction.SHOW_REMINDER]: () => {
                          this.showTooltip(tr.studyingQuestionTimeElapsed());
                      },
                  })[this._cardData!.autoAdvanceQuestionAction];
          
                  this.autoAdvanceQuestionTimeout = setTimeout(action, this._cardData!.autoAdvanceQuestionSeconds * 1000);
              }
          }
          
          updateAutoAdvanceAnswer() {
              clearTimeout(this.autoAdvanceQuestionTimeout);
              if (get(this.autoAdvance) && this._cardData?.autoAdvanceAnswerSeconds) {
                  const action = ({

This file has been truncated. show original

The OP’s suggestion should still be reviewed by a maintainer and then the appropriate changes should be made.

Danika_Dakika · December 28, 2025, 3:41pm

What version of AnkiDroid are you using? [Settings > About > Copy Debug Info – paste that here]
Have you enabled the optional new study screen?

spaspi · December 28, 2025, 4:13pm

Both current = latest (AnkiDroid 2.23.x, desktop 25.09)

For AnkiDroid it’s the same with or without New Study Screen.

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Expected behavior of Auto-Advance

In-app Documentation

Expected Behavior based on Documentation

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