Flashbulb guide

How do I turn a photo of my notes or textbook into flashcards for free?

Open Flashbulb, tap Make, then Scan pages and photograph the page (several pages at once are fine). The app reads the text on your iPhone, lets you fix anything it misread, then writes cards from your own words. Keep, edit or delete each card, and study a few minutes a day. It's free, with no account and no ads.

Last checked November 3, 2026 by Lyravant.

Step by step

1. Scan. Tap Make › Scan pages. The camera finds the page edges, straightens the photo and takes several pages in a row. You can also pick photos you already took or import a PDF with PDF, slides, photos, or use Paste or type.
2. Check the text. The text is read on your iPhone (Apple's text recognition handles handwriting, columns and tables). Fix any word it misread: cards are only as good as the text.
3. Make cards. The AI card writer turns the text into question-and-answer, term and fill-the-gap cards. Every card keeps the line it came from, so you can see where it came from.
4. Review them. Swipe through: keep, edit, delete, or ask for a different card. Nothing joins your deck until you say so.
5. Study daily. Each day the app picks the cards you're about to forget, plus a few new ones. Add your exam date and it paces the deck to finish two days before.

What's free?

Everything you need to study: unlimited decks and cards, scanning, imports, every study mode, exam dates and reminders. The AI card writer is free for 30 pages in your first month, then 10 a month (a page is each started 3,000 characters of notes, about one typed page). After that, or when you're offline, the app still makes cards on your iPhone from the patterns in your notes: headings, "term: definition" lines, glossaries and key facts. Those cards are simpler and fewer, and you check them on the same review screen. Flashbulb Plus ($2.99 a month, $19.99 a year or $49.99 once) raises the AI pages to 300 a month and unlocks unlimited practice exams.

Tips for better cards

• Photograph one page at a time in good light, flat on the table. Glare and curled pages cause misreads.
• Notes with structure make the best cards: headings, bullet points, "term – definition" lines.
• Fix misread numbers and symbols on the Check the text screen (Δ, ÷, decimals). A card is never better than its source.
• Diagrams? Use Make › A diagram: the app finds the printed labels and hides them one at a time.

Does it work on older iPhones?

Yes, on any iPhone that runs iOS 26. The AI card writer runs on Lyravant's server, so it doesn't need Apple Intelligence or a new phone. Scanning and text recognition happen on the iPhone itself. When the AI card writer is on, shrunk photos of the pages go with the text so symbols, accents and diagrams come out right; they aren't stored.

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