Anki is an amazing platform — I love it and I really appreciate all the work that has gone into it. I use it a lot, and sometimes it’s just easier to review from the phone in certain situations.
Most of the time, I use an 8BitDo 02 controller, which is an external gamepad, to go through my flashcards. And that’s when I really notice how slow the transition from one card to the next is, especially compared to its desktop counterpart.
I would love to see an improvement in how fast the app moves from one card to the next after pressing a button like “Good.” Right now, it feels like there’s a noticeable lag between pressing the button and the next card showing up. Sometimes I even have to press the button two or three times before it responds.
This delay makes the mobile app less useful. Instead of being a truly competitive alternative to the desktop version, it feels more like a tool that’s only good for reviewing — not for really enjoying the app the way you can on the computer.
I hope future updates can bring faster transitions, or at least an option to disable animations so that card navigation is instant.
I’ve been experiencing significant slowness using AnkiMobile on my iPhone 14, especially compared to AnkiDroid and the desktop version on Mac. This happens both when using external controllers (I’ve tried with 8BitDo Micro and 8BitDo 2) and even when using touch. Card transitions often feel delayed — I have to press multiple times or hold the button longer than expected, and there’s a noticeable lag between cards.
Even my simplest decks, like one-word language flashcards without media or HTML, feel slow. In high-volume reviews (700+ cards), those small delays — just 0.5 to 1 second — really add up and make the experience frustrating. On other platforms, navigation is much faster and smoother, whether I use a controller, keyboard, or just tap.
I hope future updates can improve performance and responsiveness on iOS. Anki is a fantastic tool, and having it work just as efficiently on iPhone would make a big difference for mobile users.
I’m talking specifically about using Anki on the iPhone. I don’t know if it’s a RAM issue, but I’m using an iPhone 14, which, according to everything I’ve read, meets the system requirements for AnkiMobile perfectly.
On AnkiDroid (Android), there are sometimes options to disable animations or make transitions between cards faster. But AnkiMobile offers no such options — there’s nothing to adjust or optimize performance. Users are basically stuck with the current setup, with no way to improve the speed of card transitions.
Because of that, I feel like I’m forced to review my cards either on my tablet or my computer. The iPhone version just feels much less engaging. Sometimes I get tired while reviewing a large number of cards, and it’s frustrating — especially since using your phone should be the most convenient option. Like when you’re sitting somewhere with a moment to study, I wish the iPhone app were as fast as its Android or desktop counterparts.
But even with all these things, I love Anki and I’m completely in love with it. The app has helped me so much, and I just want it to have the best performance possible. I want it to adapt to all the needs of students. I really feel that the phone is a student’s best companion — aside from the computer, of course — but the phone is the best portable companion. And I truly believe that making AnkiMobile a fully powerful app would be amazing.
This is surprising to me. I’m using AnkiMobile on an 2nd gen iPhone SE (2020), which should be slower than your iPhone 14, and there is no perceptible lag when reviewing cards using the touch controls, and I’ve never had to press multiple times or longer than normal. I can go through multiple cards per second easily.
AnkiMobile on my device doesn’t use any transition between cards; it just replaces one card with the next instantly. As far as I know, I am using the default settings. I have not enabled the system-wide “Reduce motion” option in the iPhone accessibility settings, for example. Are you seeing some sort of animation? (I ask because you said you wanted animation/transition settings like AnkiDroid.)
Have you tried changing the Double tap prevention setting in the “Reviewing” section of the AnkiMobile preferences?
Surprised the reviewer is this fast, especially after what OP said. OP seems to have positive opinion on AnkiDroid, but AD’s current reviewer is so slow this speed is almost unimaginable. AnkiMobile already seems as fast as the new (work-in-progress) AD reviewer.
I’m sorry, Mr. Brubeck. You are absolutely right. The response time of AnkiMobile’s touch buttons is indeed quite fast—in fact, it’s very similar to AnkiDroid’s. Taps register quickly on both iPhone and Android devices. However, those taps still don’t compare to the speed of using the spacebar on a Mac. There’s a noticeable gap in timing.
What I was really referring to was the use of external controllers. When using an external controller with AnkiDroid or on a Mac, the performance is significantly faster than on AnkiMobile. That’s the distinction I was trying to make—my apologies for not being clearer earlier.
If you frame it in terms of regular touch input, then yes, the app is quite responsive. But it feels slow when compared to the experience with external controllers and what they allow you to do.
I’ll send over an example to show you what I mean.
This is what I’m talking about. You can literally go through twice as many cards on AnkiDroid or Mac when using an external controller, compared to AnkiMobile. In other words, using a controller on AnkiMobile feels very slow and somewhat clunky.
This issue doesn’t stand out much with medical cards, but it’s very noticeable with language cards or certain shorter medical cards—especially when I want to go through them quickly. So overall, the use of an external controller on iPhone just isn’t as smooth, and there’s no way to match the speed you get on Mac or AnkiDroid.
I really wish there could be improvements in this area, since external controllers are incredibly useful for Anki and are widely used.
If you watch the video I sent and really focus, you’ll notice that it’s impossible to keep track of how many cards are being reviewed at high speed on AnkiDroid. But on the other hand, with AnkiMobile, you can count them—because it’s noticeably slower. In just 3 seconds, you can go through 6 or 7 cards on AnkiDroid. But I actually had to slow down the footage in the video editor just to count them accurately. That’s how much slower AnkiMobile is when using an external controller.
Compared to AnkiDroid or the desktop version, AnkiMobile feels significantly sluggish with a controller. That’s why I really wish AnkiMobile could improve in this area. When I’m going to work or studying somewhere without my computer, I have to take my tablet instead—because otherwise, using Anki on my iPhone feels too slow.
And when I have 700 cards to review, I definitely notice the difference. It takes nearly twice as long on my iPhone. With an external controller, a lot more would be possible if AnkiMobile performed at the same speed as its desktop and Android counterparts.
What is your Double Tap Prevention (Español: Prevención de doble toque) setting in AnkiMobile? (You can find it in the Review section of the AnkiMobile preferences.) Does it work better if you change it to “Short” (Corto)?
Oh my God, you’re a Greek god! Thank you, thank you! I hadn’t realized that feature even existed. Between AnkiDroid and AnkiMobile, I’ve always felt that AnkiMobile has some incredible features—but some are a bit hidden. So I honestly thought the “double tap prevention” was just a button or something like that.
But you’re absolutely right. When I changed the setting, I saw there were three options—and switching it to “short” completely changed everything. I don’t know how I didn’t notice it before.
Anki is the best app in the world, and you’re amazing. I truly appreciate it. I’ll definitely stay active in the forums moving forward and report anything I notice in the app.
Honestly, all I care about is that my favorite flashcard app keeps growing and gets even better. It has helped me so much—thank you again! I can’t believe I missed that setting all this time. It feels like I’ve been under a rock, and now everything is different. That changes everything!
Now that I’ve discovered this, I’d really love it if Anki didn’t default to the current setting when connecting a gamepad. I don’t mind that the touch input has the same “double tap prevention” configuration—after all, you can customize it at any time to short, medium, or long, depending on your needs.
But I do think it would be better if the default setting for external controllers wasn’t set to “medium” or “long.” Maybe it should default to “short” instead. For example, I’ve been using Anki for nearly three years, and I never even noticed that option until now.
Since the setting is kind of hidden, I think having it set to “short” by default would really improve the experience for users who might not even realize that it can be changed. That’s just my opinion, based on my own experience—because I’ve literally been searching for a way to make it faster for a long time.