The ecosystem is currently such that it seems hard to enshittify it. They say they have no intention of doing that and I believe it, but their vision of a healthy and good product might involve a fair price (for rich countries at least) whereas it was always free so far
Time will tell; it sounds like there's currently no plans either way, but it's also simply open enough that users can always just install the open source software and share decks with each other by whatever file transfer/sharing means. Everything that's already there won't simply go away. I'm going to keep using AnkiDroid and building the language deck I am working on
I also can’t imagine making cards on a phone, given how much switching between apps/windows is involved and how poor mobile platforms are at multitasking. It’s difficult to envision it being anything but maddening.
Where are you getting the stats that drive this claim? How are you measuring usage on platforms that don't necessarily collect usage metrics, e.g. desktop versions?
1. Anki isn't your everyday application with your everyday audience.
2. The number of people willing to splash $25 on an iOS flashcard app without first having tried it for free elsewhere, is incredibly small.