The app: Flashcards Deluxe

Price: $3.99

The days of carrying huge stacks of paper index cards around to study are over. With ‘Flashcards Deluxe,’ an app available in the Apple App Store, anyone can make on-the-go index cards for any subject right on his or her iPod.

When preparing for a big test, index cards can be useful, yet problematic at the same time. They can help with memorization, but no one wants to handwrite all that information, and it’s just more stuff to carry. Carrying hundreds of index cards can be a burden, especially when trying to get from Euclid Avenue to Marshall Square Mall in 10 minutes or less. This app solves these inconveniences by condensing the information into a pocket-sized solution.

As the app opens, a main menu displays all of the flashcard ‘decks,’ allowing easy access to whichever subject a student feels like studying. A deck is basically a stack of index cards, but the app helps to organize them into several different subjects. A series of menus allow you to name your deck, type in whatever words are desired on the slides, and even include pictures and sounds. These custom options are features that cater to every type of subject. The audio tracks can help with music theory, and that art history exam will be a piece of cake after downloading pictures from Picasso’s blue period.

If a user finds the iPod to be too small to study with, they don’t have to be restricted to a mobile device. Orangeorapple.com, the website of the ‘Flashcard Deluxe’ designer, allows you to type in the words on your cards and upload them onto your iPod using a Wi-Fi connection. To do this, simply type out the words into two columns on any spreadsheet software, such as Microsoft Excel or the iWork Numbers. Then copy and paste the columns into the website. You’ll be asked to type in a code word that will allow you to locate the deck.

After loading, go to your iPod and type in the custom deck code word, and your deck will appear at your fingertips. It certainly makes life a lot easier, as typing on the computer is a lot faster than pecking letter by letter on the iPod’s keyboard.

Once you go through the process to make all of your cards, the dreaded time to actually study them finally arrives. ‘Flashcards Deluxe’ does a great job of making smartphone studying extremely user-friendly. Once you open up a deck, your first card will come up. Tapping the card will flip it to the other side to reveal the answer. If you were right, sliding your finger up will tell the app you were correct.

Sliding your finger down means you were incorrect. This allows the app to keep track of the percentage of cards you answered correctly. These are all fully customizable if you prefer other movements to show whether you were correct or incorrect.

The individual cards are customizable, as well. You can randomize the order of the cards that come up to allow for more unpredictability. You can activate a setting that will automatically repeat cards you could not guess correctly. You can also change the size of the font if you simply want to be able to see the cards more easily.

If you are the type of person who likes to write out answers as a study method, then this app is especially for you. One feature that really makes this app impressive is an option in which a small box will appear below your card. This allows the user to write out his answer right on the screen. No need to use paper or a dry-erase board.

If there is a downside to ‘Flashcards Deluxe,’ it’s the $3.99 price tag. Sure, it may seem expensive for what is essentially an app to type in words and then look at them, but for all the money you would spend buying hundreds of index cards, this may actually save you some dough.

Keeping everything organized in one place can also save your sanity. Who hasn’t pulled his or her hair out trying to find the definition of ‘arminianism’ in a puddle of history flash cards?

Give ‘Flashcards Deluxe’ a try for your next exam. You won’t be able to turn the index cards into paper footballs when you’re done, but at least you’ll be better prepared to ace the test.

nerivera@syr.edu

Published on September 20, 2010 at 12:00 pm