Enki: Learn Coding/Programming Ratings and Reviews

Good Learning

It isn’t the most beginner friendly application, but it is still okay. It is really good for people who already know a language.

At the bottom of most lessons there are sources to learn more about a topic. The application does a quick overview of each thing, and the sources help people learn more—especially when they have a hard time understanding it.

If you look in the reviews, you can see responses from the developers. That shows that the developers are active and do the work to help you.

In the comments section within their application, developers and users (some experienced) do respond to questions, so if you don’t understand something, you can just ask about it.

Even if the application doesn’t always give the best exemption of f things, it still gives very useful information that is hard to find elsewhere when you don’t really know what you are working on.

Some people have given some silly negative reviews, like “it is only learning and everything else must be paid for.” The truth is, the application was made for learning. It doesn’t matter if they want to include extra that must be paid for. The main application is free, that should be good enough. Furthermore, the developers need to make money (especially considering that the apple software for programming applications is $90 a year).

Great AI Use case and implementation

Enki’s AI assistant is an incredible addition to this already useful app. It really does function as a personalized mentor and tutor with full awareness of the current lesson and great answers.

You can ask Enki’s AI to expand on a lesson, explain it in detail, provide specific examples in a particular use case, or springboard off something that caught your interest in the lesson to answer an entirely different programming question.

This is a must-have app for programmers who are serious about continual professional development.

Developer Response ,

Thank you, Joseph!

Just began using the app, and have some thoughts!

Overall, I like the app so far because of how readily available you can ask questions with the AI mentor. It really makes you feel you have a real mentor guiding you, which is nice. Once thing I do not like as much, however, is just how busy the screen is. I just began java and I am a very easily distracted reader so it is a bit difficult to concentrate on what i am reading with all the buttons on the screen. The progress bar on top when you scroll down is a little distracting too. Maybe some of the buttons could be accessed by pressing just one button first, so that the screen has less things on it? Also the number of views at the top seems unnecessary. But with all that said, I like this app much more than other coding apps because of how in depth it is. So, I like it more than I dislike all the busy stuff on the screen. I’m excited to learn more about Java!

Developer Response ,

Thank you for your review, we appreciate the feedback. Happy Java ☕ learning! :)

While not perfect, best app for learning programming I've used so far

Overall, a very helpful supplement to learning how to program; it provides challenges that force you to think without withholding information altogether that you need to successfully complete an exercise. It avoids being too easy (some apps feel too much like handholding). The best learning is done when you have the tools you need, but you actually have to think and reference your knowledge. The AI also offers helpful advice and feedback.

That said, occasionally, lessons can be confusing or poorly explained, though this is a minority; most lessons are fine. I noticed this issue mostly in the "coding intro" portion around the "functions" lesson, in which we are taught a very specific chain of steps to run a function... and then it turns out the all-caps terms prior to the actual commands in the function aren't actually used.

Maybe that's just me being dense, but it was not intuitive to me. Again, though, the vast majority of lessons through this app have been good and hit the right balance, difficulty-wise.

I recommend using this as a supplement while also learning on your own via books and an IDE on desktop or laptop computer.

Lacks Polish, Rough Edges

Enki is a perfectly adequate platform for learning programming and other related skills. Be aware that the exercises are more about reading and less about hands-on practical application. I personally don’t think it yields greater results than reading and working through exercises in a well written book on a specific language.

The support is non-existent. I could never get the login to the website to work and it is a different authentication mechanism than the mobile app. Bottom line for me, not worth the price for what it really provides, but others might get more benefit. It does have a built-in AI tutor which is better than expected.

Your session has ended

With this latest version when I launch the app it says that my session has ended and that I’ve been logged out. And there’s nothing else I can do; there is nowhere on the screen that I can touch or pinch or swipe to get off of this error message. I have an iPhone SE third edition, which means the screen is slightly smaller than the current trend to have larger iPhone screens. Unfortunately it seems more and more app developers are overlooking that slight difference in screen size and are putting crucial buttons just outside the reach of an iPhone SE screen. I have tried force quitting the app and relaunching, but I still end up on the same error message that says my session has ended and then I am logged out.

Developer Response ,

Hi Arduous, we're very sorry to hear this. Please could you email me at tom@enki.com with a screen recording showing this issue?

If you could also confirm your iOS version and app version we'll look at this right away for you.

Update: Just checking you saw our response here. Would love to hear from you so we can get this resolved!

The best app to maintain and review skills

I have tried lots of coding apps to keep my skills up while I ride the bus or do other things. This has a fantastic free tier that lets you do all (I think?) the lessons. There aren’t constant ads. I will say that while there are a ton of topics, none seem to be super advanced. The breadth is huge though. I really hope they keep adding new material. I can definitely see the value in the paid tier as well, but as a student it’s just not something I can afford.

Developer Response ,

So great to get your feedback, Nwpulverized!

Very simple to understand and learn at your pace

No need to rush learning something new but if needed you can learn as fast or as slow as you want and the rest is up to you. Taking notes helps for memory retention so just copy and paste the summaries of each lesson to review or refresh on something you may have forgiven or missed. I’ll be sure to update the system to access the playground to further my knowledge but for now the basic free program will work.

Feel literally affectionate toward this app

It was go back to school or this. I can’t even list how many ways superior this is to school. The ai responses when you get stuck are amazing, you learn at your own pace, the app is just snarky enough to feel like a personality… great investment in self. By the time I decide if I need to go back to school I’ll already know python, sql, and probably a load more. Can’t wait to find out what else this app can teach me. I love ai enhanced learning. Kudos to the developers.

Developer Response ,

Thank you so much, Pantshaspantson!

Information, great paced which you decide.

Highly recommended due to wide variety of different information available. Forgiving when wrong but not discouraging. Many useful topics that will be key in this field in the future as well as many others. Certified. As well as an overall fantastic app. 10/10. My only wish is that more apps and courses took a page from Enki to see how it works when you get it right.

Developer Response ,

Thanks for using Enki, glad to hear you'd recommend.