How Cardvoo's Flashcards, Learn and Test modes differ, when to use each, and how difficulty, picture options, focus mode and saved defaults fit in.
Cardvoo gives you several ways to study the same deck, and they are deliberately different. Using the right one at the right moment saves time and gets better results. This guide explains what each mode is for, what changes inside it and how a few shared settings, such as difficulty and focus mode, work across them.
The short version is that Flashcards keep your memory schedule honest, Learn teaches you the material through a varied loop with instant feedback, and Test measures what you know without telling you as you go. Each plays a different role in a good study week.
Flashcards are the core of spaced repetition. A card shows its front, you recall the answer, flip it and rate how it went with Again, Hard, Good or Easy. Cardvoo's FSRS scheduler uses that rating to decide when the card returns. This is the mode that keeps your long-term memory in shape, so it is the one to do every day on the cards that are due.
Flashcards are unlimited on every plan and never use up daily runs. A rating takes effect immediately and your progress is saved in the background, so the next card appears without a pause.
Learn is for getting to know material, particularly new cards. It is a loop in which you are taught and given feedback straight away, with no score hanging over you. A new card can begin with a flashcard-style introduction, so you see the answer before you are asked for it. After that Learn climbs a ladder: multiple choice first, then typed answers as the card becomes familiar.
To keep things varied, Learn can also use true or false questions, matching boards of four to six pairs and fill-in-the-blank cards. Each format is a switch in setup, so you can turn off any you do not enjoy. The questions adapt: cards you miss come back, and cards you answer well move on. Multiple-choice options are drawn from the same deck, so wrong answers look like real alternatives.
Because Learn is about teaching, mistakes are not penalised. A miss shows you the right answer, and the card returns. Questions are prepared a few steps ahead and your answers are saved in the background, so there is no waiting between questions.
Test is for measuring. You choose how many questions, from a short quiz to the whole deck, and optionally a time limit. While you answer, nothing tells you whether you are right. You can flag questions to return to, move back and forward and use a review screen with a question map before you submit. Only on the results screen do the answers appear, along with your score and time.
This is how a real exam behaves, and it is why Test is the best place to find out what you actually know. If a written answer was marked wrong but was really correct, you can mark it correct on the results. The Test Loop builds on this: it takes a test, helps you repair weak topics and retests only those.
On Standard and Pro, Learn and Test let you choose how close the wrong options are to the right one. Easy keeps the wrong options clearly different, Hard uses options that look similar, and Adaptive starts easy and moves with your recent results. Difficulty changes how a question is presented only; it never changes your ratings or your review schedule.
If a deck has enough cards with pictures on the definition side, multiple-choice questions can show pictures as the options, which suits subjects like anatomy, geography and art. Wrong pictures come from other cards in the same deck, so the alternatives are plausible.
Focus mode makes a study screen full screen and free of distraction. It hides the header, sidebar, footer, bottom navigation and ads, dims the background and gives the content more room. You turn it on from the button in the top bar or with the F key, and Escape leaves it. On desktop and Android it uses the browser's real full-screen mode. On iPhone Safari it uses a full-screen layout and suggests installing Cardvoo to your home screen for the full effect.
Focus mode is remembered, so if you like it, your next session starts that way.
Settings has a Study page where you choose your defaults for difficulty, Learn formats and focus mode. They are saved to your account, so they follow you from your laptop to your phone. You can still change any of them for a single session on the setup screen.
A reasonable weekly pattern is Flashcards daily for due cards, Learn when you add new material, and Test once or twice a week and before exams. Add a game when you want a break that still counts as practice.
Which mode should a beginner start with? Begin with Learn on new cards, since it introduces material gently, then use Flashcards each day on what is due. Take a Test once you have studied a deck for a few days, to see where you really are.
Do games count as studying? They count as practice on the cards they use, so they feed your schedule, but they are best as a supplement to the daily review. They are a good way to vary a routine and to revisit weak cards.
Will difficulty settings change my schedule? No. Difficulty only changes how the wrong answer options look. Your ratings and the intervals between reviews are unaffected.
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