Truly Simple Flashcards vs Kinako
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Truly Simple Flashcards
This app uses a smart algorithm to help you memorize information effectively. Create custom flashcards with text, images, and audio, and study them across all your Apple devices. Import existing decks or start fresh with a simple, one-time purchase for unlimited access.
- FSRS smart scheduling
- Front/back and cloze card types
- Text formatting and color-coding
- Audio recording and playback
- Deck grouping
- Anki and CSV import
- Two-way study mode
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Truly Simple Flashcards is a clean, no-subscription spaced-repetition app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Whether you're a student cramming for exams, a language learner building vocabulary, a professional studying for boards, or an Anki refugee looking for a modern alternative, this app does the core job exceptionally well and stops there. Make decks, add cards, and study. The app decides when to show each card again using FSRS, which is the same modern spaced-repetition algorithm power users trust. By asking you to grade how hard a card was to recall, the schedule adapts, so you spend your time on the cards you're about to forget. Format your cards with bold, italics, and colors, keep related decks together in groups, and add audio when hearing something matters as much as reading it. Bring in your existing decks from Anki or a spreadsheet, export your decks to use elsewhere, study seamlessly across all your Apple devices, and own your software forever. Features: • Smart scheduling: Uses the proven FSRS algorithm to adapt to your memory, with an adjustable "target retention" rate per deck. • Two card types: Create classic front-and-back cards, or use fill-in-the-blank (cloze) cards to memorize words in context. Images are fully supported on either side of the card. • Formatting and color-coding: Make words bold, italic, or underlined, and color-code your cards with five text colors and four highlights. Colors stay readable in light and dark mode. • Audio on your cards: Attach audio to the front, the back, or both. Add an existing audio file, or record it right in the app. • Deck groups: Keep related decks together, like every topic in a unit. Groups fold away when you don't need them and show what's due inside. • Simple imports: Bring your existing decks with you. Import Anki files (.apkg / .colpkg, including the newest formats) or CSV/TSV spreadsheets. Anki subdecks arrive as groups, with their formatting intact. • Two-way study: Turn on two-way review to test your recall back-to-front, which is especially effective for learning vocabulary words. • Paced learning: Set a daily limit for new cards so a huge imported deck doesn't overwhelm your study session. • Study ahead: Caught up for the day and want more? Study tomorrow's cards early. • Undo a grade: Tapped the wrong button? Undo brings the card back so you can answer it again. • Flip-through mode: Review a deck casually without affecting your spaced-repetition schedule. • Reliable device sync: Your decks sync privately and securely through your own personal iCloud account across your Mac, iPad, and iPhone. • Genuinely accessible: Built natively for Apple devices with full VoiceOver support, Dynamic Type for comfortable reading, light/dark modes, and calm, minimal motion. • Pay once, keep forever: Use one deck for free with unlimited cards. Unlock unlimited decks with a one-time, lifetime in-app purchase. No subscriptions, no ads, no hidden fees or data-harvesting.
Kinako
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Kinako is a private, local-first flashcard app with no ads, no account, and no tracking. Build unlimited decks, import existing material, and study with a quiet two-button spaced-repetition system. STUDY WITHOUT LIMITS • Unlimited decks and cards • Create, import, share, and lossless full-library export • FSRS spaced repetition in both directions • Flip, typed-answer, and multiple-choice study modes • Progress and statistics • Private iCloud sync through your own Apple account • Per-card read-aloud for every deck • Daily reminder, Home Screen widget, share extension, Apple Watch app, and Siri shortcuts LISTEN HANDS-FREE Listen Mode reads a deck aloud—term, pause, definition—with playback controls on the Lock Screen and supported headphones. The 40 Words Worth Knowing starter deck and the first-run demonstration are always available for trying Listen Mode. Kinako Complete expands Listen Mode to every deck. ON-DEVICE SPEECH Natural English and Japanese speech models ship inside the app and work offline from first launch. Speech content and model execution stay on your device. Other supported languages use voices managed by iOS. Kinako never uploads cards, recordings, transcripts, or study audio. YOUR LIBRARY STAYS YOURS • No Kinako account or login • Private iCloud sync • Full export whenever you want • Recently Deleted keeps deletions recoverable for 30 days • Curated packs are read-only, but your notes and study progress remain yours KINAKO COMPLETE Kinako Complete is one non-consumable purchase. It unlocks: • Listen Mode on every deck • Scan to Card after ten successful scans • Spoken answers • Sticking Points • Medical Terminology • SAT® Vocabulary Travel Japanese remains available to own and study. Everything needed to study your own material—including unlimited decks and cards, every study mode, progress, iCloud sync, per-card read-aloud, export, reminders, widgets, sharing, and the Watch app—remains available without Complete. There is no subscription, time-based trial, account, advertising SDK, analytics SDK, or developer-operated backend. Passive Listen Mode never changes scheduling progress. SAT® is a trademark registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse, Kinako.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Kinako at none against Truly Simple Flashcards's 1. Kinako also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs monthly) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Truly Simple Flashcards sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Kinako asks for nothing beyond the download.
Truly Simple Flashcards ships an update monthly, Kinako every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Truly Simple Flashcards | Kinako |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 209 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Colin Wright | Phu Ho |
In-app purchases
Truly Simple Flashcards
- Pro$4.99
Kinako
No in-app purchases








