One app for studying and everything around it
An exam in five weeks is a deck to review. It is also three problem sets, a reading list, and a morning you are trying to hold together. Most people run that across a flashcard app, a to-do app and a habit tracker, and spend real attention keeping the three of them in sync.
The short version
Nearer treats revision, coursework and routines as the same kind of object, a list of cards you work through one at a time. The flashcards get real spaced repetition, the assignment list can reach empty, and the routine comes back on its own. All of it sits behind one login and one subscription.
Three apps is a tax you pay in attention
The cost of splitting this up is rarely the subscriptions. It is that each app wants its own check-in and each one shows you a different slice of the same week, so you are the thing holding them together. Open the deck and the essay is invisible. Open the task list and the revision is invisible. Whichever you pick, something you were supposed to do today is somewhere you are not looking.
Putting them in one place removes the reconciling rather than the work. Finish today’s cards and the next thing you meant to do is already in front of you, with no app to switch to and no second list to consult.
What each part actually does
The revision
Flashcards, scheduled for you
Turn a list into a review session with one toggle. Nearer schedules the cards with FSRS, the same algorithm modern Anki uses, and never shows you the machinery. You press Again or Got it, and it works out when the card comes back.
The coursework
Assignments as a list that ends
Essays, problem sets, reading. One card each, one on screen at a time, and the next arrives when you check the last one off. Because tasks and habits are separate list types here, this list can actually reach empty.
The rest of it
A routine that resets without you
The study block you are trying to hold, the gym, the weekly review. A routine is a list that comes back unchecked on the schedule you pick, so you build it once rather than rewriting it every Sunday.
What it does not do
- · No shared or downloadable decks, and no importing one. You write your own cards.
- · No cloze deletions or image occlusion, so diagram-heavy subjects are better served elsewhere.
- · No timetable, no calendar, and no class scheduling.
- · No reminders. You open Nearer when you sit down to work.
- · No group study, sharing or collaboration of any kind.
If you need a timetable or a shared deck, a dedicated study suite will suit you better. Nearer is for the part after planning, when you sit down and work through what you already decided.
Try Nearer free for 7 daysNo credit card required. See pricing.
Common questions
- Is there one app that does both flashcards and a to-do list?
- Few do both properly. Most flashcard apps stop at flashcards and most task apps have no notion of studying. Nearer runs tasks, resetting routines and spaced-repetition flashcards as three types of the same thing, a list of cards you work through one at a time.
- Why not just use Anki and a separate to-do app?
- Plenty of people do, and if flashcards are all you need, Anki is the stronger flashcard tool. The case for one app is the switching. Three apps means three check-ins, three places to fall behind, and the review session competing with everything else for the same attention.
- Does it schedule revision properly, or is it just a card flipper?
- Properly. Reviews run on FSRS, so cards return at intervals based on how well you actually recalled them rather than on a fixed rota. There is nothing to configure and no ease or interval numbers on screen.
- Can I keep coursework and revision in separate lists?
- Yes, and you should. Each list has its own type and its own settings, so an assignment list behaves like a task list and a deck behaves like a review session. You move between them from the same place.
- Is there a student discount or a free plan?
- No free tier and no student pricing at the moment. Every account gets a 7-day trial of the whole app with no card, then $49.99 per year, or $5.99 per month, which covers all three list types rather than charging separately.