Spaced Repetition Done Right: How QuickCards Uses SM-2 (and Is Ready for FSRS) in 2026
Cramming wastes your time. Spaced repetition shows each flashcard right before you forget it — and the research on it is overwhelming. Here's how QuickCards built a faster, cleaner spaced repetition system than the legacy tools, what's under the hood, and how to use it tomorrow morning.
Why spaced repetition crushes cramming
In 1885 the German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus mapped the now-famous forgetting curve: a steep drop in retention within 24 hours, leveling off into a long-tailed decay. Re-exposing yourself to the material just before you forget it flattens that curve. Each successful review pushes the next one further out — 1 day, then 3, then 7, then two weeks, a month, six months.
The result is roughly 2–3× the long-term retention of cramming, for a fraction of the study time. Med students, language learners, and bar exam takers have used spaced repetition for decades. The science is settled. The only real question is whether your tool gets out of your way.
The SM-2 algorithm, in plain English
SM-2 (SuperMemo 2) is the algorithm Anki and most modern SRS apps are built on. After each review, you grade how well you knew the card. SM-2 adjusts two things:
- Interval — how many days until you see the card again.
- Ease factor — how quickly that interval grows. Easy cards expand faster; cards you keep missing collapse back to almost-immediate review.
In QuickCards, the four grade buttons map to SM-2 like this:
Reset to ~10 min. Lapse counter +1. Ease shrinks.
Shorter interval (~1.2×). Ease shrinks slightly.
On-track interval: 1 day → 6 days → ×ease factor.
Bigger jump (4 → 8 → ×ease×1.3). Ease grows.
That's it. No fiddling with deck options, no "new card limits" buried under three menus. Just press the button that matches how you felt about the card.
Why we built our own (instead of telling you to use Anki)
Anki is powerful. Anki is also famously hostile — clunky UI, ugly defaults, plugin-hell, a $25 iOS app, and a learning curve that makes most students quit before the first review. We wanted something a 16-year-old could enable in two taps and start using during chemistry the same afternoon.
Flip a toggle on any deck. We seed every card automatically.
One /review page pulls due cards from every active deck.
Scheduling math runs on our backend. No "lost progress" bugs.
Space to flip, 1–4 to grade. Fly through reviews on desktop.
Architecture switches algorithms with one flag — FSRS coming for Pro.
"Next review in 3 days" instead of vague streak counters.
FSRS, and what's next
SM-2 is great, but it's 40 years old. FSRS (Free Spaced Repetition Scheduler) uses a modern statistical model trained on hundreds of millions of real reviews. It predicts your individual forgetting curve and schedules accordingly — typically 20–30% fewer reviews for the same retention.
QuickCards' scheduler is built around an algorithm-agnostic interface. Today every card is graded by SM-2; tomorrow Pro members will be able to flip a switch and the same review history powers FSRS. No migration, no re-learning, no Anki addon hell.
How to start (it takes 30 seconds)
- Open any deck — yours or one you imported from the community.
- Click Edit and toggle Spaced repetition on. (You can also flip it on from inside Study Mode.)
- Head to your dashboard — the Daily Review widget shows you exactly how many cards are due.
- Click Start Review. Flip a card, grade it 1–4, repeat. Sessions usually take 5–15 minutes.
Plan limits
- Free: spaced repetition on up to 3 decks (FSRS or SM-2).
- Basic: 10 active SRS decks (SM-2).
- Pro / Lifetime: unlimited SRS decks, FSRS-ready (coming soon), review analytics.
FAQ
No. Spaced repetition is additive — your normal Study Mode, swipe stats, and streaks all keep working.
Anytime. Toggling spaced repetition off keeps your review history; re-enable later and pick up where you left off.
Yes. The Daily Review screen is touch-first with big grade buttons. Keyboard shortcuts kick in on desktop.
Study Mode loops a single deck until you mark every card mastered. Spaced repetition tracks long-term memory across days, weeks, and months — so a card you nailed in October still comes back at the right time in December.
Stop forgetting what you study.
QuickCards' spaced repetition takes 30 seconds to enable and replaces hours of re-reading. Free forever on up to 3 decks.