Lucas P.
The platform simply does not work…
The platform simply does not work properly as a spaced review tool. What I realize is that it seems to be based much more on the note that the user assigns to the card than, in fact, on the evolution of the forgetting curve of that content. This generates a completely inappropriate situation for those who use the platform for the purpose of long-term review. For example: if I answer a card and assign a high grade, indicating that at that moment I knew the content very well, this card can simply disappear for months. The problem is that knowing a content very well today does not mean that I will continue to know this content in weeks or months. That's exactly where the logic of spaced revision should come in: even if I hit a card and assigned a high grade, the system should estimate, based on my revision history and the interval since the last exposure, when that content will probably begin to be forgotten and bring it again before this memory loss happens significantly. What currently happens, however, is that a card that received a high evaluation can go months and months without appearing again. When this happens, the platform ceases to fulfill precisely the most important function of a spaced review system: anticipating forgetfulness and scheduling the review at the right time. This hurts my study a lot. I may have learned certain content very well, given a high grade to the card and, precisely for that reason, stay a huge period without reviewing it. When it finally appears again, so much time has passed that the content may have been partially or completely forgotten. In my view, this makes the review experience extremely bad and inefficient. The platform ends up transforming the subjective evaluation I give to the card into a factor that excessively determines when I will see it again, instead of properly using the evolution of my memory and the real need for review of that content. And this is particularly problematic because the proposal of a platform of this type is precisely to offer an intelligent review based on the forgetting curve. If, in practice, cards evaluated with high grades simply disappear for months, the tool is not fulfilling what I would expect from a spaced review system. Honestly, I consider this a very serious failure of the platform. The review experience ends up being so bad that, for me, it even contradicts the very proposal to offer an intelligent spaced review solution. The disclosure of the platform now transmits an expectation of a system that follows the curve of oblivion, while, in practice, the behavior I am observing is much closer to a programming based on the grade assigned to the card. I need this to be analyzed technically, because it's not a matter of personal preference or that I just don't like the way the cards appear. It is an issue directly related to the effectiveness of the review method. If a content that received a high grade can go months without being reviewed, while the memory of that content naturally deteriorates during this period, the system is not properly fulfilling the spaced review function.
Response from Brainscape - Smarter FlashcardsOct 6, 2026
Hi Lucas, I just replied to your other review but replying again here. I understand that you think that a "5" should still repeat sooner than just a few months. That actually used to be how our algorithm worked. Then we got equally angry complaints from users who, say, were studying thousands of Brainscape Spanish cards, quickly "flying through" the first few hundred beginner cards (remembering the words from their high school Spanish), rating everything a 5 before the cards started getting difficult. These users were furious when Brainscape would repeat easy words (5s) like "hola", complaining that Brainscape "wastes your time with what you already know". It's hard to make a single algorithm that works for everyone's goals and styles. For this reason, our upcoming mobile app update (coming in the next week or two) will contain a huge new feature set that allows you to *customize* your algorithm based on your personal learning timeline. We have been discussing and planning this change for *years* and really hope that it addresses your concerns. Keep an eye out for the next update! And please feel free to ask our support team to connect with me (Andrew) personally if you ever want to discuss your feedback on that new feature with Brainscape's founder.



