Anki is a popular flashcard application used by medical students worldwide to help remember all the information that we learn in school. Given that we spend so much time sitting at a computer, it’s important to have ergonomic alternatives that both enhance studying and protect our body. This makes the 8BitDo controller an excellent option. Instead of resting your hands on the keyboard for hours at a time, you can hold a small controller and do Anki anywhere. The 8BitDo is portable, holds charge for hours, and can be used to review Anki cards on both a desktop and an iPad. In this post I’ll show you step-by-step how I set up my 8BitDo controller to complete my Anki reviews for medical school.

Desktop Setup

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I love the 8BitDo controller because I can sit or stand while reviewing my Anki cards. I spend 60-90 minutes every morning doing reviews and this controller allows me to maintain good posture without hurting my neck or wrists.

Connect the 8BitDo controller to your desktop / laptop

  1. With the 8BitDo controller turned off, press and hold ‘start’ and ‘R’ simultaneously. The blue light should start flashing.
  2. Then, press and hold ‘select.’ The blue light should begin flashing more rapidly.
  3. Open bluetooth settings and connect to the ‘8BitDo Zero 2 keyboard’.
  4. Upon successful connection, the blue light on the controller will appear solid blue.

Setup Karabiner-Elements

  1. Open the Karabiner-Elements application. (You can download it here.)
  2. Select Simple Modifications > 8BitDo Zero 2 gamepad
  3. From here, you can customize the output settings for the controller however you’d like.
  • Use Table 1 below to reference how the 8BitDo buttons on the controller correlate to a keyboard key and how I mapped them to Anki.
  • Additionally, I’ve included a screenshot of my settings from Karabiner-Elements in Figure 1, as well as a picture of my 8BitDo controller with my settings scribbled on it in Figure 2, below.
Quick tip: You can turn the 8BitDo controller on and off by pressing and holding down the ‘start’ button only.

K-E Key

8BitDo Button

JFS's Settings

Anki Output

c

Up Arrow

h

Hint reveal

d

Down Arrow

n

Cloze 1-by-1 reveal

e

Left Arrow

page_down

Scroll down

f

Right Arrow

page_up

Scroll up

g

A

2

Hard

h

X

1

Again

i

Y

spacebar

Flip card / Good

j

B

4

Easy

k

L

z

Undo

m

R

hyphen (-)

Bury

n

Select

d

Decks

o

Start

y

Sync

Table 1: Karabiner-Elements Key Mappings with my personal customized settings for Anki.

Figure 1: A screenshot of my settings in Karabiner-Elements version 14.10.0.
Figure 2: I scribbled my personal settings onto my 8BitDo controller so it's easier to see.

iPad Setup

I switched to using the 8BitDo controller from my Nintendo Switch Joy-Con once I learned that the 8BitDo can connect to the iPad. Although it’s markedly less flexible when used on an iPad, it’s still significantly more efficient than tapping the screen with your fingers.

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Using an iPad to review Anki is a good alternative when traveling or while at the gym on the treadmill. You can even use the controller on your iPhone!

Connect the 8BitDo controller to your iPad / iPhone

  1. With the 8BitDo controller turned off, press and hold ‘start’ and ‘A’ simultaneously. The blue light should start flashing.
  2. Then, press and hold ‘select.’ The blue light should begin flashing more rapidly.
  3. Open Settings on your device and select Accessibility > Switch control > Switches > Bluetooth devices and connect to the 8BitDo controller.
Note: You may need to disconnect the 8BitDo controller from your bluetooth settings on your desktop/laptop if you’re within range.

Modify Anki's gamepad settings

  1. Once connected, open Anki on your device and click on the Settings > Review > Gamepads.
  2. Use Table 2 and Figure 3 below to map the 8BitDo controller buttons to your desired Anki outputs.

Anki Gamepad

8BitDo Button

JFS's Settings

A

B

Answer Easy

B

A

Answer Hard

X

Y

Show Answer/Answer Good

Y

X

Answer Again

Left Shoulder

L Button

Undo

Right Shoulder

R Button

Bury Card

Menu

Start

Rebuild

Options

Select

Decks

Table 2: Anki Gamepad Key Mappings with my personal customized settings for the 8BitDo controller.

Figure 3: A screenshot from my iPad of my personal Gamepad settings.

Start reviewing! 🎉

Credit: I wouldn’t be able to curate the information here without the help of others: