Quiz Modes

The mode switch on the Quiz screen changes the experience for all quiz types.

Training

Training is for learning at your own pace. A wrong answer does not cost a life, and you can keep practicing. Most Training quizzes are endless: the app keeps presenting birds using the quiz's selection rules and learning system. The score is not the focus.

In Training, you can press and hold an answer after a question is answered to read a Wikipedia summary when available.

Challenge

Challenge is a scored game with three lives. A wrong answer costs a life, the challenge ends when you run out. Correct answers add points. Scoring depends on the quiz: finite quizzes award one point for each correct answer, while the endless General Quiz normally awards more points when its answer choices are taxonomically close. See Learning and scoring for the full rules.

Challenge quizzes have a saved best score and completion status. Some challenges use a finite set of birds, while the General Quiz challenge continues until you lose. The quiz descriptions and How birds are selected explain the contents of each type.

Expert mode

Expert mode is a separate switch in the quiz options, alongside the difficulty selector. Instead of four answer buttons, it gives you a list to search and choose from, containing all the birds eligible for the current quiz. It changes how you answer, not which birds the quiz includes, use the difficulty setting to change how similar the usual multiple-choice alternatives are. In Challenge, Expert mode makes each correct answer worth one point as there is no distractors to confuse you.

Answering in either mode

In Training, you can retry after a wrong answer. In Challenge, the first answer decides whether the question is correct, so choose carefully. With Expert mode on, select your answer from the searchable bird list instead of the four choices. Once a question is answered, the next question starts automatically or waits for you, according to Next question in Settings.

The top of the quiz shows your current score and best score. Remaining lives are shown in Challenge.

Learning progress

Answers also update your learning progress, regardless of whether you play Training or Challenge. You can see each species' learning status in My Lists. Training uses a Leitner spaced-repetition system to decide which birds to show next. These are related but separate systems, Learning and scoring explains them.