Flashcards World

What is Flashcards World app?

Flashcards World reflects how students use physical flashcards while providing the convenience and features that only a digital version can add. Students create decks of cards with each card containing a definition and a term. These are labels that the app uses, but you can also think of them as question and answer or anything else relevant. The important thing is that the app user can link a prompt to a response.

For example, you practice mental arithmetic or times tables by entering math questions as the definition and the answer as the term. Language learners can have a word's meaning as the definition and the word as the term. Science students could link chemical formulae to substances or atomic weights to elements. The great thing about flashcards is that they are very flexible.

Parents, teachers, and students can create decks in the app or its associated website. They can also share built decks by passing on a code they generate. The app can also import decks using a comma-separated file.

When revising with flashcards, students need to be honest with themselves. They select whether they have made a correct answer in the traditional mode, called the Basic Review in this app. This mode reflects the typical way students use physical flashcard apps. Students enter their response with a simple grading of easy, good, or hard to help them keep track of what they have securely learned and what they need to focus on more.

Other practice modes in the app ask for answers in different ways, such as  multiple-choice, typed-in, matching pairs and more. These are generated automatically by Flashcards World from the deck created by the student. The multiple-choice answers are derived randomly from the other cards in the parent deck.

The app records how students interact with their decks and presents the information clearly to inform future learning and focus.

This review of Flashcards World app mainly uses the premium version, although we also looked at the free version.

What we love about Flashcards World app.

In a world where apps are taking up more and more device storage, it is great to see one that is so quick to install and doesn't compete for much space. Flashcards World is a tiny download coming in at less than 8MB, which will grow as you add content and cards. This small size can be especially important for kids and schools using older or lower-specced devices.

Flashcards World's design also preserves simplicity by not throwing every possible feature at the user. The app's features are helpful and relevant to most students rather than making the app more complicated with options and tools that most students will rarely use. 

This straightforward approach doesn't mean that the app is basic in any way. It adds a lot to the learning experience of a physical deck of Flashcard apps by offering the user alternate modes that do not require any extra work to produce.

What skills does it teach?

Whatever you want! Flashcard apps are great for building knowledge in many subjects. Mental arithmetic practise, historical dates, vocabulary building, technical terms and definitions and anything else where you can set a term and definition or a question and answer are possible uses.

What age is it appropriate for?

Flashcards are a method of learning and revision that requires self-discipline and motivation. Kids of elementary and primary school ages can display these, and many have used flashcards to learn. Parents and teachers will need to decide whether each child would respond well to flashcards — the older the student, the more likely they will have the right mindset to use them fully.

Is Flashcards World app easy to use?

Flashcards World includes some clear guidance, but it is very easy to pick up. Most users understand the idea of a deck of revision cards, and by linking to this concept, they should be able to create cards and decks before learning effectively with them.

How will students benefit?

Flashcards World makes using the flashcard method of learning and revision very convenient. Students will have their revision decks everywhere they take their phones, which in most cases will be everywhere. They can put the time to good use whenever they have a few spare minutes.

The data generated when using Flashcard World is excellent for personal reflection. Students build a useful picture of what they find challenging and what they can focus on less in the future. Knowing this improves the productivity of their learning time and provides motivation or satisfaction.

How will parents and teachers benefit?

Flashcard apps are easily understandable by parents who may well have used physical versions when they were at school. Parents who homeschool or have expertise in a topic can use it to support kids. They can easily make a deck to pass on to their kids via the app's simple code-sharing method and the associated website.

Other flashcard apps might have more features, but Flashcard World's more focused toolset makes it simple to use. This could make it more accessible to parents and help them use it with younger kids.

Teachers will also recognise these benefits. Those who wish to introduce Flashcards World to their students are encouraged to email the app developer.

What can Flashcards World app improve on?

The developer has acknowledged the improvements we would most recommend as being in development. 

Be aware that the following are promised but not yet available:

A better supporting website both for providing additional support and for card and deck creation.

We'd also like to see a few basic starter decks on common topics to help newcomers to flashcards understand what they can do with the different practice modes and maybe inspire some additional learning. A good subject might be countries and capital cities. If these were added to the app via a developer-shared code, this would allow the app to maintain its content safety.

How much does Flashcards World app cost?

You can download Flashcards World for free. The free version is useful and usable with some inconveniences and locks on features you can remove by paying a single in-app purchase price.

What is included with the free version vs. paid?

When you pay the one-off in-app purchase, you remove advertisements from the app, open up the feature to add images, access useful statistics about your use of the decks, add a background audio feature, and unlock additional practice modes.

Flashcards World is also available as part of Google's Play Pass, so if your family has a subscription, definitely give this app a try.

Remember that the price you pay for these enhancements is a one-off, not a subscription. If you compare this app with other flashcard apps, you'll notice that many are subscription-based. The single payment for this app won't take very long to prove better value, and as flashcard apps reward long-term use, the overall cost is something you should keep in mind.

Is Flashcards World app safe to use?

Flashcards World is an 'offline-first' app. This brings advantages such as not requiring a data connection to access decks and reassuring users that whatever they put on their cards is not publicly accessible.

As users might want to share decks across their own devices, the cards they create will be saved in the cloud. Users need to create a simple email-based account to enable this functionality, but they do not have to do this. 

This approach is a distinction between Flashcards World and other flashcards apps. Users of this app can share a deck they have created by giving another user a code they generate from within the app, but there is no public repository. 

Both approaches are valid, and each has its advantages. Flashcards World's benefits are that kids won't risk accessing a publicly available deck containing inappropriate content and aren't dependent on using up data allowances if they are out of WiFi range.

Overall rating of the app.

Flashcard World provides an excellent alternative to other Flashcard apps with meaningful distinctions in its toolset and approach. It also offers parents and students a way to ensure that they don't add to their monthly burden of subscription costs. 

Many students will find that the decks that they create will be the most relevant and motivating for them, so not having a public repository might not be any loss. From a teacher and parent's point of view, the very act of creating a deck also has strong learning potential, so cutting out the temptation to get decks from others could be an advantage.

Flashcards are a traditional learning resource that loses very little on translation to digital but gains a great deal. Flashcards World maximises these gains and is a five-star app.