Settings

Overview

A separate per-deck settings tab on each deck lets you override your global study defaults for a single deck.

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Getting There

Click your avatar in the top-right corner and select "Settings" from the dropdown menu. Once you're on the Settings page, tabs along the top let you switch between Account, Study, Preferences, Data & Storage, API Keys, and Subscription.

For the per-deck settings on a single deck, open the deck from your library and click its Settings tab.

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Account

The Account tab is the default settings page. It's split into two sections: Profile and Account.

Profile

Username

Your username is your unique identity on the platform. It appears on your profile, in leaderboards, and in forum posts.

• Must be 3 to 15 characters long
• Only letters, numbers, and underscores are allowed
• Case-insensitive (so "MyName" and "myname" are considered the same)
• You can only change your username once every 30 days. After a change, the remaining cooldown days are displayed.

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Location

Set your country or region. This is optional, and you can show or hide it on your public profile using the "Show location on profile" toggle.

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Profile Photo

Upload a profile photo that appears on your profile, in leaderboards, and next to your forum posts. Accepted formats are JPEG, PNG, and WebP, up to 5MB. Click "Change" to replace your current photo or "Remove" to delete it.

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Account

Email

This displays your current email address and verification status. If your email is unverified, you can click "Resend verification email". To change your email, click "Change email". Changing your email takes two clicks across two inboxes so that it can be verified you control both addresses:

1. A confirmation link is sent to your current address. Clicking it acknowledges the request.
2. After that first click, a verification link is sent to the new address. Your email on file only updates once you click that second link.

Password

If you signed up with email and password, you can change your password here. Click "Change Password" to open a dialog, then enter your current password and your new password twice to confirm.

Password requirements:

• At least 8 characters
• At least one uppercase letter
• At least one lowercase letter
• At least one number
• At least one special character

Changing your password automatically signs out all your other active sessions, but you will stay signed in on the device where you made the change. You'll receive a confirmation email with the time and (approximate) IP address of the change, so you'll notice if someone else changed it.

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If you signed up with Google and don't have a password set, you'll see a "Set Password" option instead. Setting a password lets you log in with either Google or email and password.

Connected Accounts

The Connected Accounts section lists your linked sign-in methods, shows whether you have a password set, and displays the email associated with each connected provider. You can link or unlink your Google account here.

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Active Sessions

The Active Sessions section lists every device and browser where you're currently signed in. Each entry shows the browser and operating system (like "Chrome on macOS"), a device icon, and when it was last active. Your current session is labeled.

Click "Revoke" on any session to sign out that device, or "Revoke all other sessions" to sign out everywhere except your current device. You can't revoke your current session from this page; use "Sign Out" from the user menu instead.

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Delete Account

Account deletion is permanent. It removes your private data but keeps your public contributions around in an anonymized form so other users' progress and conversations aren't lost. Specifically:

• Anonymizes your profile. Your username, photo, and location are cleared. Wherever your name still appears, it's replaced with "Deleted User" with no username or photo.
• Deletes your private data: study sessions, conversations, preferences, and API keys.
• Preserves any public decks other users have saved. These become orphaned decks so existing learners don't lose their progress. Your creator info on those decks is anonymized (your name shows as "Deleted User" rather than your original username).
• Leaves your forum topics and posts in place so threads stay readable for others, but they're reattributed to the anonymized user. Your forum likes are deleted.
• Cancels any active subscription.

You'll need to type your username to confirm. This cannot be undone.

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Study

The Study tab controls your default study session behavior across all decks. These are your global defaults. Individual decks can override any of these settings (see Per-Deck Settings below).

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Learn Mode

Learn Mode has three settings:

• Cards per session: how many new cards to study.
• Cards per batch: how many new cards are introduced before testing begins. Smaller batches mean more frequent testing. Pick "All (no batching)" to introduce every card first, then test at the end.
• Test types: any combination of Multiple Choice, Typing, and Listening. At least one is required.

Review & Practice

Review and Practice share two settings, applied to both scheduled Review sessions and on-demand Practice sessions:

• Cards per session: how many cards to review per session.
• Test types: same options as Learn Mode.

Difficult Mode

Difficult Mode has three settings:

• Cards per session: how many difficult cards to study.
• Cards per batch: how many cards to relearn before testing. Pick "All (no batching)" to include every selected card at once.
• Test types: same options as Learn Mode.

Speed Mode

Speed Mode has two settings:

• Time limit: the countdown per question in seconds.
• Lives: how many wrong answers end the session.

Grading

Controls how your answers get rated, which the FSRS algorithm uses to determine when you'll see each card again in review. Two options:

• Auto: the app rates your answer for you based on correctness and response time. Faster correct answers receive higher ratings, slower ones lower.
• Self-Grade: a rating bar appears after each correct answer with four options (Again, Hard, Good, Easy) so you rate yourself. Gives you direct control over how soon a card comes back.

For the full breakdown of what ratings mean and how they affect scheduling, see Studying > Grading.

Accent / Diacritic Handling

Controls how accent marks and special characters are treated in typing tests:

• Accept without accents (warn): the default. Accepts answers with or without diacritics, but shows a warning when they're missing.
• Require exact accents: requires diacritics for a correct answer.
• Ignore accents entirely: strips diacritics before comparing answers.

Auto-Play Audio

Controls whether audio plays automatically on cards that have audio attached. Cards without audio aren't affected.

• On: audio plays as soon as the card appears.
• Off: click the speaker icon next to the card text to play manually. In listening tests, pressing A also plays or replays the audio.

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Per-Deck Settings

Each deck has its own settings tab where you can override the global study defaults above. Changes here only apply to that deck, and follow this inheritance model: per-deck setting > your global defaults > system defaults. If you don't set a value for the deck, your global default is used; if you haven't changed your global default, the system default is used.

Accessing Per-Deck Settings

1. Open any deck from your library.
2. Click the Settings tab in the deck overview.
3. Adjust any setting. Changes save automatically.

Tip: When any setting in a section is overridden, a "Reset" link appears next to that section's heading. Clicking it reverts every override in the section back to your global defaults at once.

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Card Display

• Test direction: pick whether the front is the question and the back is the answer (Front to Back), or the reverse (Back to Front). This flips which side you see first during study sessions.
• Card text size: sets the font size (Normal or Large) for the front and back of cards independently.
• Visible fields: toggle which custom fields appear during study sessions. Fields on the primary display tier are always visible on cards; secondary-tier fields are hidden behind a collapsible toggle. You can also hide specific fields entirely from study view, and they'll still appear in the deck editor.

Daily Goal

Set a daily study goal for this deck. You pick one of two modes:

• Combined goal: a single target for total cards studied per day (learn plus review together).
• Split goal: separate targets for new cards and review cards per day. Both must be met for the goal to count as complete.

The two modes are mutually exclusive, so selecting one clears the other. Daily goal progress appears on the dashboard, both in the Deck Goals card and in the detail modal that opens when you click "View All".

Study Mode Overrides

You can override the following settings and have them apply for this deck only. Each has the same options as the corresponding global setting in the Study tab:

• Learn Mode: cards per session, cards per batch, test types (Multiple Choice, Typing, Listening)
• Review & Practice: cards per session, test types
• Difficult Mode: cards per session, cards per batch, test types
• Speed Mode: time limit per question, number of lives

Other Overrides

Three additional settings can be overridden per deck:

• Grading: Auto or Self-Grade for this deck.
• Accent / Diacritic Handling: Accept without accents (warn), Require exact accents, or Ignore accents entirely.
• Auto-Play Audio: whether audio plays automatically when a card is shown during study.

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Preferences

The Preferences tab controls how the app looks and when you receive notifications.

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Display & Accessibility

Four controls that apply instantly and persist across sessions:

• Theme: Light, Dark, or System. System follows your device's current theme, so the app matches when your OS switches modes (for example, at sunset).
• Font Size: Small, Default, Large, or Extra Large. Sets the base size for all text in the app: cards, menus, dialogs, study sessions, everything.
• Reduced Motion: minimizes animations and transitions. Page transitions, card flips, and other decorative motion are removed, but loading spinners keep spinning so you can still see when work is in progress. Useful if you're sensitive to motion or find animations distracting.
• Color Blind Mode: shifts green-family colors to blue so red/green color blindness (deuteranopia or protanopia) doesn't hide success, learn, or difficult indicators. Red stays red, since red/blue is distinguishable across the common color-blindness types.

Notification Preferences

Control which types of notifications you receive. Each category can be toggled on or off independently:

Note: Moderation notifications (when your public content is flagged, held, or removed) are always on and cannot be disabled. See Moderation notifications for details.

For more about notification types and how to manage them, see Notifications.

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Data & Storage

The Data & Storage tab shows your storage usage and provides data export options.

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Storage Usage

The Storage Usage section shows everything you've uploaded to the app: profile photos, deck and group cover images, card images, and card audio. Totals are split into two categories (Images and Audio) with file count and total size for each, alongside a progress bar showing usage against your plan's storage limit.

Warning indicators appear as you approach the limit:

• At 80% full, the bar turns amber with "Running low on storage."
• At 95% full, the bar turns red with "Storage almost full."
• At 100% full, the bar stays red with "Storage full. Delete files to free space." Any new upload that would push you over the limit is rejected.

If you anticipate needing more space, email support@mydialect.app to request a limit increase.

Export Data

Two rows on the page, each with an "Export" button. Export remains available even if your subscription has expired, so you always have access to your content.

• "All Account Data": downloads everything on your account (profile, decks, progress, and settings) as a single JSON file.
• "Decks Only": opens a modal where you select specific decks and choose a format. Options are CSV (comma-separated values, compatible with spreadsheets), JSON (structured data), or APKG (Anki package format, compatible with the Anki flashcard app).

Note: APKG exports include card content and deck structure but not your study progress. All cards come through as "new" in Anki after import, so whichever scheduler you're using there (SM-2 or FSRS) starts them fresh.

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API Keys

The API Keys tab lets you connect your own AI provider accounts for the Chat feature. This is called "Bring Your Own Key" (BYOK). For why you'd want to, which models unlock, and how BYOK changes the Chat experience, see Chat > Bring Your Own Key.

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Supported Providers

You can add keys for any or all of these providers: OpenAI (GPT models), Anthropic (Claude models), and Google (Gemini models).

What Is an API Key?

An API key is a long secret string your AI provider gives you; think of it as a password that tells the provider "requests coming in from this app are authorized to use my account." When Dialect uses your key, any cost is billed to your account with the provider.

To get a key, sign in to the provider's site and look for an "API keys" section in your account settings (Google labels it "Get API key" instead):

• OpenAI: https://platform.openai.com
• Anthropic: https://console.anthropic.com
• Google (Gemini): https://aistudio.google.com

You'll usually need to add a payment method and, depending on the provider, purchase credits or set a spending limit before a new key can make requests.

Adding a Key

1. Obtain an API key from the provider (see above).
2. On the API Keys page, click "Add [Provider] API Key" on the row for your provider (for example, "Add OpenAI API Key"). A dialog opens.
3. Paste your key into the "API Key" field. Optionally click "Test Connection" to verify it works without saving.
4. Click "Save Key". The key is validated against the provider before saving; if it's invalid, the dialog shows the error and nothing is stored.

Once saved, the key stays encrypted at rest and is only decrypted when making AI requests on your behalf. Keys are never displayed again, never logged, and never stored in readable form. The provider's row switches from "Inactive" to "Connected" and shows when the key was last validated.

Removing a Key

Click "Remove Key" on a connected provider's row. This deletes the stored key and reverts you to the free models and daily message limit for that provider.

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Subscription

The Subscription tab shows your current plan status and lets you manage your billing.

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Subscription Status

Your subscription can be in one of six states. Each one affects your access and shows up in two places: in the top bar across every page of the app (where the indicator, if any, links to the Subscription settings page), and on the Subscription settings page itself.

• Free Trial: Full access. The top bar shows "X days left"; the Subscription settings page shows "Trial". When the trial ends, your subscription becomes Inactive unless you've subscribed.
• Active (Monthly / Annual Plan): Full access. Nothing shows in the top bar; the Subscription settings page shows "Active".
• Past Due: Full access. The top bar shows "Payment issue"; the Subscription settings page shows "Past Due". Stripe is retrying the payment, so update your payment method via the Billing Portal before retries are exhausted.
• Unpaid: Read-only access. The top bar shows "Payment failed"; the Subscription settings page shows "Unpaid". Retries have been exhausted; update your payment method via the Billing Portal to restore access.
• Canceled: Full access until the end of your current billing period, then becomes Inactive. Nothing shows in the top bar; the Subscription settings page shows your plan name (Monthly Plan or Annual Plan) with "Canceled" alongside.
• Inactive: Read-only access. Nothing shows in the top bar; the Subscription settings page shows "Inactive". This is where you land after a canceled subscription's billing period ends, or after a trial ends without a subscription.

Subscribing

If you don't have an active subscription, a "Choose a Plan" card appears with two options side by side: Monthly and Annual. Each card lists what's included and has its own checkout button, "Subscribe Monthly" or "Subscribe Annually", that redirects you to a secure Stripe checkout page.

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Managing Your Subscription

If you have an active, past-due, or unpaid subscription, the status card includes an "Open Billing Portal" button that takes you to Stripe's billing portal. From there you can update your payment method, view invoices, and cancel your subscription. Users who've never subscribed (still on trial or fully inactive) don't see this button.

Your email in Stripe stays in sync with Dialect automatically: when you change your email in Settings > Account, the update propagates to your Stripe receipts and billing records. The billing portal intentionally does not let you edit your email directly; if you need to change it, use Settings > Account so the change goes through the two-step confirmation flow.

You'll get an email for key subscription events:

• Subscription confirmed when your subscription first becomes active, with your next billing date.
• Payment failed if Stripe can't charge your card, with the amount we tried to charge and the date we'll retry. Update your payment method before the retries run out to avoid losing access.
• Subscription canceled when you cancel, confirming the date your access ends.
• Renewal reminder for annual plans only, 7 days before each yearly renewal, so you aren't surprised by the charge. You don't need to do anything; the renewal is automatic. You can cancel or change plans anytime from this page, and if no reminder arrives, it means no upcoming renewal (either you're on monthly, or you've already scheduled a cancel).

You will not get an email on each successful payment (that would be too noisy).

What Happens When Access is Reduced

If your subscription expires or becomes unpaid, you enter read-only mode. Here's what you can still do and what requires a subscription:

The subscription prompt appears when you attempt a blocked action (for example, clicking "Study" on a deck). It doesn't interrupt you automatically while browsing.

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Tips & Troubleshooting

My study sessions don't use my settings? Check if the deck has per-deck overrides. Open the deck, go to the Settings tab, and look for sections with a "Reset" link next to the heading. Clicking Reset on a section reverts every override in it back to your global defaults.

I changed my settings but they didn't take effect? Settings apply when a new session is created. If you changed settings and then resumed an in-progress session from the dashboard, the resumed session still uses the settings from when it was originally started. To use your new settings, end the active session first, then start a new one.

Can't change my username? Usernames can only be changed once every 30 days. The remaining cooldown is shown below the username field.

Signed up with Google and can't log in with email? Go to Settings > Account > Password and set a password. This enables email and password login alongside Google.

My subscription shows "Past Due" (or I see a "Payment issue" badge)? A payment failed but is being retried. You still have full access. Open the Billing Portal from the Subscription settings page to update your payment method before retries are exhausted; otherwise, your status becomes Unpaid and access drops to read-only.

I canceled my subscription but still have access? Expected. You keep full access until the end of your current billing period. After that, your subscription becomes Inactive and access becomes read-only.

My access is suddenly read-only? Either your subscription is Unpaid (payment retries exhausted) or it's Inactive (trial ended, or no active subscription). Open the Subscription settings page to see which, then open the Billing Portal to update your payment method or subscribe again.

API key was rejected when saving? Keys are validated against the provider the moment you save them. The most common reason for rejection (assuming the key was copied correctly from the provider without extra whitespace or characters) is that the provider account has no payment method on file, or a spending limit hasn't been configured yet. Sign in to the provider's console, add billing, then try saving the key again.

Related

• Studying covers how study sessions work and what settings affect them.
• Decks covers deck management, including the per-deck settings tab.
• Notifications covers notification types and the preferences that control them.
• Chat covers how API keys unlock additional AI models and remove daily limits.