How it works
Why it sticks
Smart Aleck isn't flashcards with a coat of paint. It's built on two things that work: learning a little at a time, and being asked again just before you'd forget.
Step 1
Start small
Nobody learns 195 capitals in a sitting. Give a deck a learning path and Smart Aleck hands you a small batch, in an order that makes sense: a continent at a time, by date, by number, or as you added them.
Only the cards you've started turn up in the games, so every round is winnable. When the batch feels easy, ask for more. Too much? Put it back.
Step 2
Look, then play
New cards are shown face up first, one at a time, with any hints and memory tricks. Then the games take over.
A card can be asked many ways: country to capital, capital to country, flag to country. Smart Aleck tracks each way on its own and rotates through them, so you can't coast on the easy direction.
Step 3
Get it right, repeatedly
A card counts as learnt after 3 right answers in a row, once the latest answer to every way of asking it was right. One lucky guess doesn't do it.
Miss a learnt card in any game and it drops back to being learnt. No judgement. It just gets asked more until it's solid again.
Step 4
Come back on schedule
Memory fades unless it's used, and each time you pull a fact back it fades more slowly. So after a right answer Smart Aleck waits 1, 3, 7, 21, 60, 120 days before asking that way again, by its streak.
After a miss it's due straight away. Home tells you how much is due, and one game plays only that. A few minutes clears it.
Step 5
Keep the habit
The daily goal is 20 cards by default: a few minutes' play. Change it to whatever you'll actually do.
Every day you meet it adds to your streak, and the streak stays alive until today is over. Aleck will have something to say about it either way.
The gaps, to scale
Each right answer earns a longer rest. This is how long a card waits after its first, second, third review and so on.
Free for now.
Smart Aleck is going to be a paid app. While it's being built, every feature is free and there's no card to enter. Start today and what you learn is yours to keep.