Terminus

Your flashcards on your Lock Screen.

Paste the list you already have. One card waits each time you pick up your phone, with no app to open. Be ready by test day.

For a citizenship test, a new language, or an exam.

Join Beta
On a computer? Scan with your iPhone camera to join.

Free. For iPhone and iPad with iOS 26 or later. In English only.

How it works

From the list you already have to a card on your Lock Screen, in five steps.

  1. Terminus’s Paste a list screen: biology terms with their meanings, and 42 cards found.

    Paste your list.

    Paste the cards you already have. A Quizlet export works as it is.

  2. A calendar in Terminus with November 12 picked as the test date, 33 days away.

    Set your test date.

    Terminus fits every card’s reviews into the days you have left.

  3. A Lock Screen with a Terminus widget that shows the card mitochondria.

    Glance at a card.

    Each time you pick up your phone, one card waits on your Lock Screen. Answer it in your head.

  4. The same widget after a tap: the answer, make energy for the cell, with the buttons Again and Knew it.

    Tap to check.

    Again brings it back within 10 minutes. Knew it saves it for just before you would forget it.

  5. Terminus’s Sets screen: Biology 101 on the Lock Screen, 72% ready for its test on Thursday, November 12, and three more sets, each with its own test date and readiness.

    Ready by test day.

    Each set shows how ready you are for its test, and Terminus brings back the cards that slip.

Why it works

Terminus is built on two study methods with strong evidence.

  • How useful each study method is
    High
    Practice testingIn TerminusSpaced practiceIn Terminus
    Moderate
    Explaining whySelf-explanationMixing topics
    Low
    SummarizingHighlightingKeyword mnemonicsPicturing the textRereading

    Testing yourself beats rereading.

    A review of 10 study methods rated practice testing and spaced practice the most useful, and rereading among the least. Terminus asks the question first, so you recall the answer before you check it.

    Dunlosky and others, 2013

  • One card, answered “Knew it” each time, with a test in 33 days

    Spaced reviews beat cramming.

    In a study of more than 1,350 people, a longer gap before the review, up to a point, kept facts for longer. Terminus brings each card back just before you would forget it, and fits its reviews into the days before your test.

    Cepeda and others, 2008

Sources
  1. Dunlosky and others, 2013: Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques
  2. Cepeda and others, 2008: Spacing effects in learning

The sources were read on October 11 and 12, 2026.

Who it’s for

  • A citizenship test

    Paste the official US civics questions, or the facts from a handbook such as Life in the UK, and know them by your test date.

    What is the supreme law of the land?The Constitution

  • A new language

    Paste your word list, a word and its meaning on each line, and learn a few cards each time you look.

    la ventanathe window

  • An exam

    Paste the terms from your notes or a Quizlet export, and Terminus fits them into the days before the exam.

    osmosiswater moving through a membrane

No list yet? Ask an AI chat.

Any AI chat can write a list on any topic. Terminus runs no AI: you use the chat you already have.

  1. Copy the prompt, and put your topic in it.
  2. Paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or any AI chat.
  3. Copy the list it writes, and paste it into Terminus.
Make about 40 flashcards on [topic].
Put them in one code block, one card per line, like this:
term - definition
No numbers, no bullets, no bold, no empty lines.
Keep each definition under 15 words.

Questions

Is it free?
Yes. Terminus is free, with no account and no in-app purchases. Make as many sets and cards as you want.
What do I need?
An iPhone or iPad with iOS 26 or later, and TestFlight, Apple’s free app for trying apps before they are in the App Store.
How do I join the beta?
Tap Join Beta on your iPhone or iPad. If you do not have TestFlight yet, Apple’s page links it. Then tap Accept and Install.
Is it in my language?
The app is in English only. Your cards are your own text, so they can be in any language.
Where are my cards kept?
On your devices and in your own iCloud, which we cannot read. A copy goes to our server only if you turn on Connect an AI, which lets your AI assistant add cards for you.
What happens after the beta?
Terminus comes to the App Store. Leave your email below, and we will send one email when it does.

Be one of the first testers. It’s free.

Join Beta
On a computer? Scan with your iPhone camera to join.

Not on your iPhone now? Get one email when Terminus is on the App Store.