What you’ll learn
- Split a subject into reviewable topics
- Recall before you reread
- Rate the real difficulty of each session
- Let the next interval adapt to your result
1. Choose a useful review unit
Do not add an entire course as one review item. Create a subject for the course, groups for its major units, and topics small enough to review in one focused sitting. For biology, a topic could be cellular respiration; for law, offer and acceptance; for a language, past-tense verbs.
- Create a subject in the app
- Add a group for the current module
- Add one topic for each concept you need to revisit
2. Study, then retrieve
On review day, close the source and try to reconstruct the idea first. Explain it aloud, answer practice questions, draw the process, or write what you remember. Check your notes only after that attempt. Retrieval practice makes the session diagnostic: it reveals whether the topic really feels Easy, Good, Hard, or Extremely Hard.
3. Log an honest difficulty
Open the topic, add a session, and choose the difficulty that matches your unaided recall. Easy means fluent recall; Good means correct with effort; Hard means important gaps; Extremely Hard means the topic largely failed. The rating is not a grade—it is input for the next review date.
4. Follow the next due date
With Smart Algorithm enabled, the app applies SM-2 to schedule the next review. Strong recall produces a longer interval; difficulty pulls the next review closer. Use the Review screen, notifications, calendar integration, or the widget to see what is due without rebuilding a timetable every day.
Why this works
A major review of distributed practice analyzed 839 assessments across 317 experiments and found that the spacing that supports retention depends on how long the knowledge must last. In practical terms: there is no single perfect interval for every topic, which is why adapting from your own difficulty is useful.
Make a review plan for your own topics
Put the method into practice with our free spaced repetition schedule calculator. Enter your exam date and topics to get a daily review plan you can download to your calendar.
Research behind the method
Spacing and retrieval are well-studied learning principles, but no app or schedule guarantees a particular academic result. Use the research as a foundation, then adapt the workload to your material, deadline, and feedback.
Frequently asked questions
How many topics should I start with?
Start with the material you are actively studying—often 5 to 15 topics. A smaller live system is more useful than importing an entire syllabus and ignoring it.
Do I need flashcards?
No. You can retrieve with practice questions, blank-page recall, teaching aloud, diagrams, or flashcards. The app tracks the topic and schedules its next review.