Responding to each of your requirements in turn re: Anki (apps.ankiweb.net)
[I want to] create several hundred of my own cards (mostly text, some graphics)
Anki’s import tools are pretty powerful. I used scripting to generate flash cards based on PDF annotations, for instance, generating hundreds over days. I discussed that script on the MPU forum back here.
[I want to] create multiple separate decks
Oh yes. You can have sets of decks, then sets of sets of decks, then special filtered decks that use the cards in other decks. Here’s a screenshot from mine:
[I want to] then be able to select multiple decks to test myself from (as one big, randomized temporary deck).
Yea! See filtered decks and custom study modes.
I’d do all the entry work on the Mac, but want to access cards on iOS.
I love both the macOS and iOS app. The iOS app is paid, like $20. Mac is all free, far as I remember.
Many of the cards will have concepts in them and not simple answers, so I’d ideally like to see a card, tell myself the answer, turn over the card to see the answer, then allow me to click/tap to note if I was correct or not.
This is how Anki works, but it’s a bit more nuanced: Anki’s answering system leverages metacognition—you don’t just say “correct” or “incorrect”, but how difficult it was/how certain you were. The less certain, the more frequently the card will show up again. Memory science!
And as for Anki does anyone know the difference between https://www.ankiapp.com/ and https://apps.ankiweb.net/ ?
Frustratingly, the former is a quasi-scam, just taking advantage of Anki’s popularity to sell a different app. Ankiweb is the real app. The iOS version is:
It looks hideous. It isn’t. The devs just aren’t that stylin’. Here’s my flash cards on AnkiMobile (I created my own theme—it uses CSS):
And desktop:
(Those
Mobile | Desktop links lead me straight to the appropriate page on the appropriate PDF in DEVONthink. I had to include a link for each because of some weird issue where either Anki or DEVONthink added a / to the URL scheme, breaking it on either platform.)
I love Anki. I passed comprehensives because of it.
Then again, I probably would’ve done much better if I hadn’t spent so much time customizing and automating it… 