TLDR:
First group of testers are getting access to pre-beta very soon, likely this week
If you’d like to be part of 2.0 pre-beta testing, please let me know.
Speed improvements added
Chirp3HD TTS added
Model Selection added
Voting Section added
Basic Heatmap added
Academic Subjects have undergone some more validation (and will continue to do so)
Save To Database feature is very close
I’m in need of some more language teachers. See bottom for more.
v1 Pre-Beta Testing
I’ve been in touch with 10 of you who will be first testers of pre-beta. Exciting times. Over a year of work.
Now, due to the amount of signups and emails I get enquiring about release, I am going to stagger the releases slightly. I don’t like putting timeframes on these as a rushed product is generally a bad one, but it’s looking like early December time for when full beta will be out for everyone. Of course, if you cannot wait this long and are desperate to try, do get in touch (if this is you, sharing this page or the app is very much appreciated). Of course, expect bugs if you are trying during pre-beta.
Yes, pre-beta will be free for full access.
Full beta will have a free tier*, but the initial pricing of $3p/m will likely be in place by then. This will increase over time, with early members maintain their pricing.
*Free tier = full access to A0 (see below for the new design) and 5 free flashcard generations per day using Flash-Lite only.
Speed Improvements
Certain actions on the site used to take a second or two, but we’ve managed to get those cut down quite a bit without increasing how ‘heavy’ the app is to run. As each version of pre-beta is released and feedback comes in, these actions should become even faster as we work out where bottlenecks are and optimise further etc. You might even notice the landing page loading much faster now. Again though, it’s just me and a developer, not Microsoft.
Chrip3HD TTS
A very popular use-case of Shaeda will be for language learning. More specifically, for improving listening comprehension. A lot of work has been going into this. Put simply, Google’s Chirp3HD is the best TTS out there. You can have a listen to various languages here (note: this link loads incredibly slowly and depending on your device and internet, may not load at all). Some languages are not supported, and for these a fallback to Microsoft’s Azure TTS will be added.
An important note here is that you may experience a delay of 1-2 seconds the first time you see a brand new card after generating. If it is a card you find valuable and you want to save (which should be almost all of your cards), once you save it to your database and login to review each day etc, it will be near-instant on playback. The majority of user’s time on Shaeda will likely be spent reviewing already-seen cards. I’ve touched on this before already but this is by design and is another intentional feature not a bug: A common complaint against non-self-made flashcards online is that they have a lower retention (users forget them easier). However, this is a function of 2 things:
1. How those cards were added to the users database (all at once without ever seeing), and
2. Having no control over what is on the card (it could be a single word, it could be a complex question, it could by a short sentence, it could be completely irrelevant to your interests etc).
In Shaeda, it is of course different:1. You will see each card at least once if you want to add it to your database. This serves as a ‘primer’ for when you then revisit it in Review, meaning it has not spawned out of nowhere, and
2. You have complete control over what you see. If you’re learning, say, Thai, and want to focus on learning Muay Thai related words, with Shaeda you can. If you then feel confident on your progress of single words and want to try on current-tense Muay Thai-related short sentences, you can. You have control. You can listen to whichever voice you want. You can turn the speed right down. You can even add 'Background Gym sounds’ to improve real-world listening ability. Once you’ve became comfortable with listening, you can click ‘Flip’ and now you can practice speaking those very same cards. With other options online, you click ~‘Download’ and you’re left studying whatever is on the deck. It’s very hard to modify, add new, add related, flip etc.
If any of this isn’t clear, feel free to get in touch. Essentially, a lot of thinking and work has gone into common areas of ‘flashcard friction’. The result is that Shaeda will make for far more productive and enjoyable studying. No more “Oh no, this annoying card again…”.
Model Selection + Further Testing
The above (Chirp3HD) will not be relevant if you are not planning on using Shaeda for language learning (but you should, it’s great), but the ability to select which model you want to use most certainly is. I’ve provided some guidance on the app for which model you might want to use (of course you can switch back and forth).
Very generally speaking, if you’re planning on using Shaeda for very difficult content (I.e., areas such as: MS level content in Quantum Computing; C2+ long-sentence “Political Negotiations” in Mandarin/Japanese; Subjects that are not officially listed as validated etc), then you may want to consider using a ‘Smarter-But-Slower’ model.
Again, for the vast majority this is likely not necessary. A lot of testing has gone into Shaeda. Google’s Gemini models along with the behind-the-scenes work has made Shaeda great - testers’ words not mine.
I’m sometimes asked what kind of testing the languages/subjects go through. As an example, Physics has already been validated by a professor and a current PhD student from Japan approaching the end of his degree. Once Google release Gemini 3, which is anytime in November or December, this will be yet another upgrade on the model’s ability and again Shaeda will undergo even more validation for even higher levels of study. If you have concerns over LLM-generated content, you can relax when using Shaeda.
In cases where the topic or language has not been validated as much, a message will be shown to advise you on how you should use.
For all languages validated, the model used was Flash-Lite and all native-testers and teachers have responded that it is incredibly accurate at ~99-100% even for advanced content (I’ve paid for human-made content that wasn’t even that accurate at 10x the cost). I cannot speak for other apps as I’m not sure what validation they have undergone nor what models they are using.
Voting Feature
I’ve added an option for users to vote for which features you would like to see added first. It’s not an exhaustive list, so the option is there to email in if you would prefer something that is currently not added.
However, given that it is still another 1-2 months until full beta, I’ll provide a poll below if anyone would like to start voting now.
Basic Heatmap
It works. It’s not the most glamorous currently, and I had to simplify it a lot to focus on higher priority work, but it’s there.
I Need Teachers
If anyone knows of teachers who are familiar with flashcards and are able to use Google Docs for the following languages or subjects, please email me at shaedacode at gmail dot com
That’s everything, I think.
I’m sorry that the last update was so long ago. Hopefully you haven’t forgotten about the app. As you can see, work has very much not stopped.
Thank you all very much.
If you’re reading this and are excited for Shaeda to help you with your studying, please do consider sharing with others you know who may be interested in the app. Only around 60% of people who have signed up are actually receiving these updates in their email. We’re nearly at 300 signups. I was expecting maybe 20 when I first created the Waiting List, of which I would be have been one. I don’t plan on spending money on advertising, I’d rather invest into building and improving the app further, so any sharing with others that may find value as well is hugely valuable and goes directly to making Shaeda even better. I see a few have already done this, so thank you very much.
Thank you all so much for your interest and emails.
I really do hope you all love Shaeda when it’s ready, and I’m very confident the app will change how studying is done.