Why a $14.99-once iOS-native flashcard app, what it stands for, and who built it.
Discito started from a simple observation: the best spaced-repetition algorithm in the world (FSRS-6, open-source, maintained by an active research community) is locked inside an app whose entire UX paradigm is from 2008. We thought iOS users deserved better.
Spaced repetition is the closest thing we have to a "cheat code" for long-term memorization. The FSRS-6 algorithm — developed openly by the Open Spaced Repetition research project — is a measurable improvement over the old SuperMemo-2 algorithm that dominated flashcard apps for decades. It's free, open-source, and battle-tested.
But on iPhone, getting modern spaced repetition has typically meant choosing between two unsatisfying paths: install something with 2008-era mobile UX (no widgets, unreliable iCloud sync, no Live Activity, no on-device AI), or sign up for a subscription web app whose data lives on someone else's server. Neither one is what iOS users have come to expect from a premium native app in 2026.
So we built the third option. Native iOS from day one. No web account, no signup, no password. Your data lives in your iCloud. No subscription — one payment, lifetime, Family Sharing included. On-device AI for the things AI does well (drafting cards from PDFs and lectures, generating image-occlusion hints, building smart quiz distractors) because Apple Intelligence makes that finally possible without sending your study material to a server.
Discito has no signup, no password, no web account, no email collection. Your identity lives in iCloud, where it already was. We have no user database to lose.
$14.99 once. Lifetime. Family Sharing included. Spaced-repetition users stay loyal to their apps for years — there's no honest case for a recurring fee.
Discito has no backend. Your cards, reviews, and stats live in your iCloud private database. There's nothing for us to be breached on, nothing for us to charge you to host, nothing to shut down if the company goes away.
Every AI feature uses Apple's Foundation Models framework on-device. Your source text, lecture audio, and image prompts never leave your phone. We will never add a "cloud AI" toggle that sends your data to OpenAI.
Discito reads and writes .apkg files bit-exact. You can export your full library at any time and move to any other FSRS app. We're not in the lock-in business.
Discito's v1 was built in roughly 16 weeks of solo work between January and May 2026. The week-by-week plan was public from the start: schema design (weeks 1–3), FSRS-6 implementation bit-exact with the py-fsrs reference (weeks 3–4), .apkg import-and-export round-trip (weeks 5–7), iCloud sync and the modernized SwiftUI layer (weeks 7–9), card authoring across three templates (week 10), settings + per-deck overrides + Pro paywall foundation (week 11), reminders and deck sharing (week 12), widgets and Live Activity and Dynamic Island (week 13), pre-TestFlight polish (week 14), the first signed TestFlight build (week 15), the first-impression-excellence pass (week 16).
Then came the differentiator plans: day-1 feature credibility (Plan 19: audio, LaTeX, Markdown, tag/search, image occlusion authoring, notification micro-reviews, streak + dashboard + weekly report), the AI feature pass (Plan 20: on-device card generation, lecture audio capture, AI image generation, smart MCQ distractors), and the premium-UI theming pass (Plan 21: navy + gold brand identity, Liquid Glass placement, 5 reading themes).
Every plan was reviewed at the end by an automated code-review pass. Every UI surface has accessibility identifiers, XCUITests, baseline screenshots, and Dynamic Type AX5 layout coverage. The app ships with ~1,700+ unit tests across FSRSKit, DiscitoCore, DiscitoIntents, and DiscitoUI, plus 150+ XCUITests at the app layer. Solo, but not sloppy.
Discito stands on the work of an open-source spaced-repetition research community. Without them, no FSRS-6, no .apkg format, no Discito. Specifically:
.apkg import pipeline.These credits also live in-app under Settings → About → Acknowledgements + Credits & Licenses, and in the App Store listing.
It's Latin — second-person singular present active imperative of discere, "to learn." Literally, "Learn!"
We wanted a name that wasn't generic ("Flashcard"), wasn't borrowed from another app's brand, and wasn't a forced portmanteau ("Memorizr"). Latin verbs are uncopyrightable. The USPTO Class 9 mark cleared. The .app domain was available. It felt right.
Discito is built by Chris Hinckley — indie iOS developer, solo proprietor. Previous work includes OnDeckDJ and other indie projects. Currently based in the US.
For editorial coverage or interview requests, email [email protected]. For user support, [email protected] is the right address.
"The right architecture for a spaced-repetition app is one well-built iOS app, no servers, no accounts, no subscription. The rest is execution."
Free Lite tier, full FSRS-6, no signup. Pro is $14.99 once if you want the differentiators.