Questions

What is Flora?

You give Flora the address of something worth remembering - an article, a paper, a page of your own notes. It reads the page, turns it into question-and-answer pairs, and asks you a few of them each day until you know them.

What should I point it at?

Anything with facts in it that you’d be annoyed to lose. Wine regions, the bones of the hand, a language’s vocabulary, the terminology of a field you’ve just started in, the argument of a paper you’ll want to cite next year.

What is it bad at?

Understanding. Spaced repetition builds recall of specific things; the evidence that it produces insight, reasoning or fluency is thin, and we don’t claim it. What the evidence says goes into this properly, and so does what types of information Flora works best on.

How long does it take each day?

A few minutes. The interval between reviews of a card grows each time you get it right, so a subject you’re on top of asks less of you every week. Days get shorter as you learn, which is the opposite of how most apps are built and the whole point of this one.

Can I write my own cards?

Yes, and you can edit or delete any of the generated ones. They all go into the same rotation on the same schedule.

How do I answer a card?

You see the question, decide on your answer, turn the card over, and say how it went. There are three answers, and they set how long Flora waits before asking again.

What does it cost?

Nothing yet. There’ll be a free plan and a subscription: what you pay for is Flora writing new cards, and practising the cards you have stays free for good, whatever you decide later.

Is there an app?

There’s a web app now. The iOS app is built and running, but it isn’t in the App Store yet. Android isn’t started.

Do I have to keep a streak going?

No. Flora keeps a count of the days you’ve practised - it doesn’t reset if you miss one, and there’s nothing to buy. We think guilt is a bad reason to open an app, and it doesn’t produce learning either.

Whose cards are they?

Yours. If you want a copy of everything you’ve made, email us and we’ll send it - there’s no export button yet, and it’s on the list.

How do I delete my account?

Use Delete account on the Account screen in the iOS app, which deletes it and everything attached to it straight away. If you only use the web app, email us and we’ll do it. See privacy for what that covers.

Does AI make the cards?

Yes, and that’s all it does. How we use AI is the specific version of that answer.