User Guide

Anki's deck list shows a small AnkiLock bar with how far along you are and how many cards are left.

• Browse remaining opens Anki's browser on exactly the cards that still count towards today's goal.
• The ⚙ button opens AnkiLock's settings.

You can turn the bar off in AnkiLock > AnkiLock Settings… > Progress.

By default AnkiLock sends your progress every time Anki syncs with AnkiWeb, so your phone keeps itself up to date. You can change that in AnkiLock Settings… > Sync:

• Every time Anki syncs — recommended, and what most people want.
• Once, when Anki starts — lighter on your connection, but reviews you do later won't reach your phone until you sync by hand.
• Only when I choose Sync Now — nothing is sent automatically.

To send right now, choose AnkiLock > Sync Now. Its keyboard shortcut is listed beside it in the menu.

Two ways, whichever is closer to hand:

• AnkiLock > Select Decks for the full list.
• The gear icon next to any deck in Anki's deck list, then Count towards AnkiLock.

Your selection lives with your account, so it follows you to a new computer. You can see it — but not change it — on your phone under Settings > Selected Decks.

This one is for people who organize decks in a parent/child structure.

Count due cards in subdecks separately

Anki caps a subdeck's due count at its parent's daily limit. If the parent's limit is 0, its subdecks show 0 due — even when there's real work waiting in them.

Turn this on in AnkiLock Settings… > Sync and AnkiLock ignores the parent's limit, counting what's actually waiting in each subdeck you selected.

Changed which decks count, and your past numbers look wrong? Choose AnkiLock > Re-send Full History. AnkiLock rebuilds the last year from your current deck selection and replaces what's stored for those days.

It reads your whole review log, so give it a minute on a large collection.

Set it in Settings > Daily Goal. Two ways to describe a day's work:

• Fixed Number — a set number of cards, like 100 a day.
• Percentage — a share of what Anki has for you that day. Choose the basis:
  • Due Cards — Anki's Due count: review cards plus learning cards carried over from a previous day. New cards don't count.
  • All Cards — everything Anki shows for the day: New, Learn and Due.

A new goal starts at your next Anki day, not immediately — no raising the bar to dodge it, and no lowering it once the day is hard. Until then you'll see it listed as your Next Goal, with a Keep Current Goal button if you change your mind.

Choose what gets blocked in Settings > Blocked Apps. You can pick individual apps, whole categories, and websites.

Whatever you choose is restricted while the shield is red, and released when you reach your goal.

By default AnkiLock blocks around the clock until you study, which is the version that works. If you'd rather only be blocked at certain times, set the hours and days in Settings > Schedule.

Outside those hours your apps stay open whether or not you've studied — useful if you're regularly away from your computer.

For the times you genuinely need a blocked app. You get three per day, five minutes each.

1. Go to the Dashboard.
2. Press and hold the shield card.
3. Keep holding for five seconds while the bar fills.
4. Confirm, and your apps open for five minutes.

Blocking comes back on its own afterwards. iOS handles the timing, so it can be a moment late.

Pick what AnkiLock is allowed to tell you in Settings > Notifications:

• Daily Reminder — a nudge at a time you choose.
• Goal Reached — the moment you finish.
• Learning Cards Ready — when same-day learning cards come back around.
• Streak Alerts — when a streak is at risk, or resets.
• Badge Alerts — when you unlock something.
• Cheers & Friend Activity — cheers and friend requests.

Keep your progress in front of you without opening the app.

• Cards Remaining — a Lock Screen widget with how many cards are left.
• Activity Graph — your last 30 days, on the Home Screen.
• Study Heatmap — your consistency at a glance.

Touch and hold your Home or Lock Screen, tap +, and search for AnkiLock.

While you're reviewing on your computer, your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island show your progress bar filling up and how long you've been at it. An emergency unlock shows its countdown the same way.

You can turn this off from Anki, in AnkiLock Settings… > Progress.

The watch app shows today's progress, cards remaining, and your streak on your wrist.

Add a complication to your watch face for a glance-and-go version:

• Today's Progress
• Goal Streak
• Anki Streak

AnkiLock tracks two streaks: how many days in a row you've hit your goal, and your Anki streak. Consistency earns badges — Lach is always watching, and there's more to find than the list suggests.

Lost a streak?

If you miss a goal but you did study that day, AnkiLock offers you a chance to reclaim it: hit the card target it shows you, within 48 hours, and your streak survives. Skip a day entirely and it's gone — that part is the point.

Study is better with company.

• Add friends — open the Friends tab, tap Add Friend, and share your friend code or invite link. Send someone else's code to request them; they'll accept from their own Friends tab.
• Leaderboard — see who's reviewed the most, who's hit their goal, and who has the longest streak.
• Cheers — nudge a friend who hasn't finished yet, or celebrate one who has.

AnkiLock's numbers are available to the Shortcuts app, so you can put them wherever you like.

• Ask Siri how you're doing, how many cards are left, or how long your streak is.
• Check whether today's goal is met, and branch on the answer.
• Build automations — a reminder at 9pm if you haven't finished, lights that change when you do, a Focus mode that switches itself on.

AnkiLock is free, and stays that way. If you'd like to chip in, the Tip Jar in Settings unlocks a set of alternate app icons — a small thank you rather than a feature you're missing out on.

You most likely had learning cards still to come. When you've cleared everything available but Anki has same-day learning cards returning later, AnkiLock opens your apps in the meantime and closes them again when those cards are ready. The shield is orange while that's happening.

Finish the learning cards and sync, and you're done for the day.

Progress reaches AnkiLock through the desktop add-on, not from AnkiMobile directly. To make mobile reviews count:

1. Sync AnkiMobile to AnkiWeb.
2. Open Anki on your computer and sync it too.
3. If nothing happens, choose AnkiLock > Sync Now.

Reviewing on your phone alone won't unlock anything.

AnkiLock follows Anki's Next day starts at setting, usually 4 AM. So a 2 AM session still counts for yesterday and keeps your streak alive, and your counter resets when your Anki day actually begins.

You can change the hour in Anki's Preferences on your computer.

Press and hold the shield card on the Dashboard for five seconds to trigger an emergency unlock — five minutes of access, three times a day.

Set a Schedule in Settings. AnkiLock will only block during the hours and days you choose, and your apps stay open the rest of the time without any syncing.

Go to Settings > Daily Goal and pick a fixed number of cards or a percentage.

The change starts at your next Anki day rather than right now, so a goal can't be edited out of the way mid-day. You'll see it as your Next Goal until then, and you can cancel it with Keep Current Goal.

Your history was built from the old selection. Choose AnkiLock > Re-send Full History in Anki to rebuild the past year from the decks you count now.

Lach is AnkiLock's mascot — a clever gray fox who comes along for your study journey. Keep your streak up and you'll see him grow.

Check for updates to both the Anki add-on and the iPhone app first — most problems are a version mismatch. If it's still wrong, email support@ankilock.com and tell us what you saw.