Notability Flashcards: Why Most Students Are Switching to Smarter Study Apps for Faster Results – Discover the Powerful Upgrade That Helps You Actually Remember Stuff

Notability Flashcards Are… Fine. But You Can Do Way Better.

So you’re using Notability and wondering:

“Can I just make flashcards in here instead of using a separate app?”

Short answer: you can fake flashcards in Notability.

But if you’re serious about actually remembering what you study, you’re 100% leaving progress on the table.

That’s where Flashrecall comes in – a flashcard app built specifically for learning fast and remembering long-term:

👉 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flashrecall-study-flashcards/id6746757085

Let’s break down:

• What Notability is good at
• Why it’s not great for flashcards
• How Flashrecall fixes those problems
• How to move from “notes you never reread” → “flashcards that stick in your brain”

Notability vs Flashcards: Different Tools, Different Jobs

Notability is awesome for:

• Taking handwritten notes
• Annotating PDFs
• Recording lectures
• Organizing class materials

But here’s the catch: notes don’t equal learning.

Most people take beautiful notes… and never look at them again. Or they reread them passively and feel productive, but don’t actually remember anything on exam day.

Flashcards, on the other hand, are built around:

• Active recall – forcing your brain to pull the answer out of memory
• Spaced repetition – showing you cards right before you’re about to forget

That’s exactly what Flashrecall is designed for. It’s not a note-taking app pretending to be a study tool — it is the study tool.

Can You Make Flashcards in Notability?

Kind of. But it’s clunky.

To “simulate” flashcards in Notability, you’d have to:

• Make a page with Q&A pairs
• Cover answers with boxes or shapes
• Scroll up and down constantly
• Manually decide what to review and when

No tracking. No spaced repetition. No reminders. No stats.

Basically, you’re fighting the app to do something it wasn’t built for.

If you’re already doing this, you’re working way harder than you need to.

Why Flashrecall Beats Notability for Flashcards

Here’s where Flashrecall just blows “Notability flashcards” out of the water.

👉 App link again so you don’t scroll back up:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flashrecall-study-flashcards/id6746757085

1. It Actually Does Spaced Repetition for You

With Notability, you:

• Have to remember to review
• Have no idea what to focus on
• End up rereading everything or cramming randomly

With Flashrecall:

• Spaced repetition is built in
• It automatically schedules reviews for you
• You get study reminders so you don’t forget to open the app
• Cards you struggle with appear more often, easy ones less often

You just open the app and it tells you:

“Here’s what you should review today.”

No planning, no spreadsheets, no guilt.

2. It Turns Your Existing Notes Into Flashcards in Seconds

This is the fun part if you’re already using Notability.

Instead of manually rewriting everything, Flashrecall lets you:

• Take a screenshot of your Notability notes → turn it into flashcards
• Import text, PDFs, or images and generate cards from them
• Paste YouTube links and make cards from the content
• Type a prompt (like “make flashcards about the Krebs cycle”) and let Flashrecall generate them

You can, of course, also make flashcards manually if you want full control.

So your workflow can look like this:

1. Take notes in Notability during class

2. After class, screenshot key pages or export PDFs

3. Drop them into Flashrecall

4. Instantly turn that content into flashcards you’ll actually review

You keep Notability for note-taking.

You use Flashrecall for learning.

Best of both worlds.

3. Built-In Active Recall Instead of Passive Rereading

In Notability, you’re mostly:

• Scrolling
• Highlighting
• Rereading

It feels like studying, but your brain is mostly cruising.

In Flashrecall, the default is active recall:

• You see the question / prompt
• You try to answer from memory
• Then you reveal the back and rate how hard it was

That rating feeds into the spaced repetition engine so your schedule adapts to you.

Your brain has to work a bit harder — and that’s exactly why you remember more.

4. It Works for Literally Anything You’re Studying

Flashrecall isn’t just for vocab or simple Q&A. It’s flexible enough for:

• Languages – vocab, phrases, grammar patterns
• Exams – SAT, MCAT, USMLE, bar exam, board exams
• School & university – history dates, formulas, definitions, theories
• Medicine – drugs, mechanisms, conditions, diagnostic criteria
• Business – frameworks, sales scripts, interview prep, pitch talking points

If you can write it down, screenshot it, say it, or find it in a PDF/YouTube video…

you can turn it into flashcards in Flashrecall.

5. You Can Even Chat With Your Flashcards

This is something Notability just can’t do.

In Flashrecall, if you’re stuck on a concept or a card feels confusing, you can:

• Chat with the flashcard
• Ask, “Explain this in simpler words”
• Or “Give me another example of this concept”
• Or “How does this relate to X from earlier?”

It’s like having a mini tutor living inside your study deck.

6. Works Offline, Fast, and Feels Modern

Some quick quality-of-life wins:

• Works offline – perfect for planes, trains, libraries with bad Wi-Fi
• Fast and modern UI – doesn’t feel clunky or 10 years old
• Free to start – you can try it without committing to anything
• Works on iPhone and iPad – perfect if you already use Notability on iPad

Notability is great at what it does, but it’s not optimized for daily, fast, targeted review like this.

How to Use Notability + Flashrecall Together (Best Workflow)

You don’t have to choose one or the other. The smartest move is to combine them.

Here’s a simple workflow:

Step 1: Take Notes in Notability

During class or while watching lectures:

• Handwrite or type your notes
• Highlight key definitions, formulas, dates, concepts
• Mark important sections with a star or color you’ll recognize later

Notability is perfect here. Use it for what it’s good at.

Step 2: After Class, Turn the Important Stuff Into Flashcards

Within 24 hours (so your brain still remembers):

1. Open your Notability notes

2. Screenshot or export the important pages / slides / summaries

3. Open Flashrecall:

👉 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flashrecall-study-flashcards/id6746757085

4. Import those screenshots, PDFs, or text

5. Let Flashrecall help you generate cards, or quickly create them manually

Examples of good flashcards:

• Front: “What is the definition of opportunity cost?”

Back: “The value of the next best alternative forgone when making a choice.”

• Front: “Spanish – to be (temporary)”

Back: “estar”

• Front: “What are the 4 stages of the cell cycle?”

Back: “G1, S, G2, M”

Step 3: Let Spaced Repetition Do the Heavy Lifting

Now you just:

• Open Flashrecall daily or a few times a week
• Do your due cards (the ones the app schedules for you)
• Rate how hard each card was

The app:

• Figures out when to show each card again
• Sends study reminders so you don’t forget
• Keeps your memory sharp without endless cramming

You don’t need to manually decide what to review. The algorithm does it.

Why Not Just Stick to Notability?

If your goal is:

• Just having neat notes
• Or barely scraping by on tests

Then sure, you can stay in Notability only.

But if your goal is:

• Top grades
• Actually remembering things long-term
• Making the most of your study time
• Reducing exam stress and last-minute panic

Then you need a tool designed for memory, not just note storage.

That’s what Flashrecall is.

Realistic Use Cases Where Flashrecall Wins

A few quick scenarios:

Language Learner

• You write phrases and grammar notes in Notability
• End up never revising them properly
• With Flashrecall, you turn vocab lists, dialogues, and verb tables into flashcards
• Spaced repetition keeps the words fresh so you actually speak them

Med Student

• You have mountains of PDF slides in Notability
• You screenshot drug tables, pathways, and high-yield charts
• Import to Flashrecall → now they’re cards you see over and over
• Way better than scrolling through 200-slide decks the night before an exam

Busy Professional

• You take meeting notes in Notability
• But forget key frameworks or talking points
• With Flashrecall, you make cards for sales scripts, objections, interview answers
• Review on your phone in 5–10 minute chunks between meetings

So… Should You Ditch Notability?

No. Keep Notability for what it’s great at: capturing information.

Use Flashrecall for what it’s great at: remembering information.

If you’re currently trying to hack together “Notability flashcards,” you’re doing extra work for worse results. Let a proper flashcard app handle the heavy lifting.

You can grab Flashrecall here (free to start):

👉 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flashrecall-study-flashcards/id6746757085

Set it up once, connect it to your existing notes, and let your future self enjoy the “wow I actually remember this” feeling on exam day.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the fastest way to create flashcards?

Manually typing cards works but takes time. Many students now use AI generators that turn notes into flashcards instantly. Flashrecall does this automatically from text, images, or PDFs.

Is there a free flashcard app?

Yes. Flashrecall is free and lets you create flashcards from images, text, prompts, audio, PDFs, and YouTube videos.

How do I start spaced repetition?

You can manually schedule your reviews, but most people use apps that automate this. Flashrecall uses built-in spaced repetition so you review cards at the perfect time.

What is active recall and how does it work?

Active recall is the process of actively retrieving information from memory rather than passively reviewing it. Flashrecall forces proper active recall by making you think before revealing answers, then uses spaced repetition to optimize your review schedule.

How can I study more effectively for this test?

Effective exam prep combines active recall, spaced repetition, and regular practice. Flashrecall helps by automatically generating flashcards from your study materials and using spaced repetition to ensure you remember everything when exam day arrives.

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