Hello Skritter team.I used skritter nearly 4 years and achieved great progress.I generally use skritter website version on my phone.I also like mobile version but it has one problem that prevent me from using.I generally use the add characters when adding words which works on website but not on mobile app? Is it bug or there is no this feature on skritter mobile?
Also,I want to know that is there are disadvantages of using website version of skritter instead of using app? Which one is more efficient especially in terms of time and learning efficiency?
Welcome to the forum, and thanks for the questions!
If you have “Add characters when adding words” enabled on the website it’ll work on the mobile apps, too. We don’t have it in the mobile settings right now because we’d like to re-work the feature a bit, which requires some updates to how learning mode works with those items specifically. In the meantime, turning it on from the website will still continue to add the contained characters into the review queue of due cards.
In terms of the web vs. the mobile apps, I think the efficiency largely depends on your level and comfort with characters. If you’re studying lots of new things you’ve never encountered before, the mobile app allows you to learn, test, and review things in pretty dynamic ways. These three study modes have been designed to help boost retention short-term and long-term and give you a few different ways to study.
You have lots of control over when to start and stop learning new items on the mobile apps. Test activities a great for focused study on small groups of items over and over again (good for students in a classroom who might have dictation quizzes and that sort of thing). The mobile apps also play better with some of the course structure we’re creating for things the Idiom decks of the Character Course. Watching an in-app video and then learning/testing from those sections is a powerful and fun combo.
The website is good for adding lots of things in rapid succession, especially if you don’t care where they’re coming from and just want lots and lots of reviews. That element of Skritter is something we very much intend to bring to the mobile app as a review option in the future for OG users, or those who don’t need the extra guidance in learning mode specifically.
Personally, I can’t go back to the website anymore. I’m willing to give up a bit of efficiency for the total control of learning what I want when I want, which keeps my queue a lot more manageable in the long-term. I’m learning 5-10 new things a day max, and getting a few extra reps in using learning mode works well. I find it to be a great opportunity for me to customize definitions or breakdown characters in a focused way rather than having them suddenly appear randomly while I’m doing daily reviews.
Hope that helps answer your questions. Would love to hear what others think, too!
Thanks to Jahandar for asking the question I had been wondering about. Jake, you laid out the feature differences but did not touch on the question of SRS. However, I seem to recall you or someone on the team saying that the algorithm for SRS is now different on the website and the app, which would imply that someone thought the way in which characters are reviewed could be better and made changes to the app. Since I am a hybrid learner, doing about 80% on the web site and 20% mobile, I wonder if by using both for the same list or section it is making a mess of Skritter’s assessment of which words I need to study. And has anybody tried something close to a controlled experiment to see if one SRS does really result in better retention than another within Skritter?
By the way, I am still using the original Skritter web site “legacy Skritter” to add new vocabulary, as that system works so much better for creating and managing lists.
I used to use the website for those features that still don’t exist on mobile, but never used it for learning as it is dramatically easier, more comfortable, faster and more natural to use my finger or a pen on the mobile app than to use a mouse or touchpad.
I haven’t tried using the website on my phone, but my impression is that it is a bit more awkward and lacks the many features of the mobile app.
That said, I still use legacy website once and a while (from my phone) but only to check the progress graphs, which are so much more detailed and helpful, and to check my settings if needed (rarely.)
I never use it to add words.
For that, I use the mobile legacy Skritter. This is because, as far as I know, it is still not possible to add new words to Skritter’s database from the new Skritter (I could be wrong; haven’t checked in a while.)
Since I add a few words not in Skritter’s database at least a few times a week, using legacy mobile is the best and most convenient method.
So the routine is: do my daily reading, go to legacy mobile to input the new words, including into the database, then sync, turn it off and open up new Skritter for the actual review.
I’m very curious: why do you prefer the website?
The main reason of why I use the web version are these:
1.I cannot use the add characters when adding new words.I can easily memorize chinese words if I learn the meaning of the individual characters too.It is very efficient
2.Words are seen bigger in web version when reviewing items.In mobile words are smaller during reviewing.Seeing words in bigger form facilitate memorizing for me.
Re: adding characters when adding new words, I use that also. It is slower in some ways for learning but so much more thorough in the medium and long terms.
If you have this setting on the website, it will work on the mobile app! Mine does.
It is only that it doesn’t exist on the mobile settings options. Not sure why. However if you turn it on on the website, it will work on mobile.
We don’t have it in the mobile settings right now because the characters aren’t actually associated with decks. So, while you can turn on the characters, they don’t actually show up inside decks as something you can learn or test from. So, we need to figure out a better way to integrate this feature and this data into the mobile apps before we unlock it on the new clients.
Jake,
Is my recollection correct that Skritter mobile app and Skritter on the web will deliver a different SRS experience? (different algorithm)? And if so, will I get a really sub optimal result if I keep switching back and forth between them for the same list?
@podster sorry for the lack of reply before! The most notable differences between the web and mobile apps are
Due cards loads everything due per day in the morning
Cards get scheduled out 1-year max
Michael did a full write-up on the SRS goodies here if you wanna check it out.
I don’t think you’re going to get sub-optimal results if you jump back and forth and are staying consistent with the SRS. I do tend to notice a few high review days when I study, but I also made a huge effort to clear a 4000 card queue over the course of a few weeks back in 2018 and those things all tend to be due around the same time.
Personally, I enjoy the new SRS updates and having daily due cards vs. an endless cycle of cards becoming due as the day goes on. I’ve never felt stressed about the queue building up, and I’m able to clear down to 0 daily without too much stress.