FAQ & Troubleshooting

Find answers to common questions about the app, the naturalization test, and troubleshooting. If your question is not covered here, reach out to support.

General

Which test version should I choose?

Check the date on your Form N-400 receipt notice (Form I-797C):

Filed before October 20, 2025 → 2008 Test (100 questions)
Filed on or after October 20, 2025 → 2025 Test (128 questions)

What is the 65/20 consideration?

If you are 65 or older and have been a permanent resident for 20 or more years on the date you file Form N-400, you qualify for the 65/20 consideration. You study only the 20 designated questions, which are marked with an asterisk. The officer asks 10 of them, and you need 6 correct to pass. You may take the civics test in your own language with an interpreter, and you are exempt from the English reading and writing requirement. Turn it on in Settings → Test Settings → 65/20 Consideration.

Does the app work offline?

Yes. All questions, vocabulary, study modes, and practice tests are built into the app and work without a connection. Speech recognition in Interview Mode and Speech Match may need one. It runs on your device when iOS supports that for your device and language. Otherwise iOS sends the audio to Apple, which needs a connection. Buying or restoring a purchase also needs a connection.

What do I need to run the app?

An iPhone or iPad running iOS 17 or later. The app has VoiceOver labels and announcements, names you can say with Voice Control, text that scales to twice its size and beyond, and fades in place of motion when Reduce Motion is on. See Accessibility.

How many languages are supported?

The app is available in English and in 12 other languages, which are Spanish, Portuguese, French, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Korean, Vietnamese, Arabic, Hindi, Turkish, Russian, and Tagalog. Every civics question, answer and Multiple Choice option is translated, and grading still uses the English answers. Translations are experimental. If a translated question or answer looks wrong, turn on Settings → Study in English Only to see the English wording, and send the problem through Settings → Report Translation Issue. Reading and writing tests are always in English.

Is this app affiliated with USCIS?

No. This app is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). It is an independent study tool. Always verify information with official USCIS resources at uscis.gov.

Test Preparation

How many questions are on the actual civics test?

It depends on which test version you are taking. For the 2008 Test, the USCIS officer asks up to 10 civics questions and you must answer 6 correctly to pass. The officer stops once you answer 6 correctly or miss 5. For the 2025 Test, the officer asks up to 20 questions and you must answer 12 correctly to pass. The officer stops once you answer 12 correctly or miss 9. Under the 65/20 consideration, the officer asks 10 questions from the designated set of 20, and you must answer 6 correctly to pass.

Are the reading and writing tests in English?

Yes, always. The naturalization test requires demonstrating English reading and writing ability. These portions of the app are always in English regardless of your language setting.

How does speech recognition work?

The app uses Apple’s speech recognition to turn your spoken answer into text. Recognition happens on your device when iOS supports it for your device and language. Otherwise iOS sends the audio to Apple for processing under Apple’s privacy policy. The app does not store or upload recordings. The app then compares what you said with every form of the answer USCIS accepts, so optional words, numbers said as words, other tenses and small slips count, while an answer with a different number, direction or name is still wrong. If it marks a right answer wrong, tap Count as Correct. It works best in a quiet room. See How Interview Answers Are Graded and Privacy for details.

Can I practice specific questions I got wrong?

Yes, with Pro. The app keeps a record of every question you miss. With Pro, choose Missed as the question source in Study Mode, a practice civics test, or reading and writing practice to work on only those questions. Without Pro, the option shows a lock.

Why does the app ask me to pick a congressional district?

Because your zip code does not always settle it. Zip codes are mail routes and districts are drawn lines, and the two were never made to agree. About 86 percent of zip codes lie inside a single district, and for those the app names your representative without asking anything. The rest are split between two or more, and no app can tell which side of the line your address is on from five digits. So the app lists the districts your zip code covers, each with the member who holds it, and you pick yours once. Until you pick, any of those names is graded as correct. If you are at home, Use My Current Location in the picker names the district you are in, when your zip code covers it. iOS asks for location permission the first time you tap it, the location is checked on your device and never saved or sent, and nothing changes until you tap Use This District. You can also look yours up at house.gov.

Account & Purchases

How do I restore my purchases?

In Settings, tap Get Pro under Add-ons. If you bought Remove Ads, that row reads Ads Removed instead. Then tap Restore Purchases near the bottom of the Pro screen. This brings back Pro or Remove Ads on any device signed in to the same Apple Account, and it does not charge you again.

Streak repairs work differently. They are used up when you spend them, so a restore does not bring back repairs you have already used. Any you have bought and not spent are still there, and the Get 10 Streak Repairs row in Add-ons shows how many.

What does Pro include?

Pro (2026-2027) is a one-time $4.99 purchase, not a subscription. It removes ads and adds detailed analytics and score breakdowns, extended test history, missed-question review, and the answer on the medium Question of the Day widget. Everyone sees their current study streak. Pro adds your best streak, total study days, streak milestone notifications, the activity grid of the days you studied, and one free streak repair each month.

Your edition covers the Pro features in the app when you buy it, along with improvements to those features. A substantially new feature set added later may be offered as a separate edition. It is not included, and you never need it to keep what you already own. Every civics question and all of the practice modes are free. See Pro on the Add-ons page for details.

I subscribed to Premium. What happens now?

From version 1.1.0 of the app, you keep Pro for good. Monthly and yearly Premium subscriptions are no longer sold and are being retired, so they will stop renewing. Until then they renew as usual, so to avoid another charge you can cancel yours in Settings → Manage Subscription. Once you have 1.1.0, you keep Pro either way.

Which terms apply when I buy?

Two documents, and they do different jobs. Your license to use the app comes from Apple’s standard Licensed Application End User License Agreement. Our Terms of Use are additional terms covering purchases and editions, refunds through Apple, the accuracy of the content, and where your data is stored. Where the two disagree about the license itself, Apple’s agreement is the one that applies. Both are linked in Settings → About.

How does the Question of the Day widget work?

Anyone can add the Question of the Day widget, in small or medium size on the Home Screen or on the Lock Screen. It shows one civics question a day, taken from the first 30 questions of the 2008 test. Tapping it opens that question in Study when your test asks the same question. Otherwise it opens Study. With Pro, the medium widget also shows the answer. Without Pro, it shows Tap to unlock answer in its place.

Two questions depend on where you live. Once you choose a state in Settings → Your Location, the widget can show the senators question and name both of your senators, or, for D.C. or a territory, say that it has no U.S. senators. It shows the representative question once exactly one name applies, which means a zip code inside a single congressional district or a district you picked in the app. While a split zip code is undecided, that question is left out of the day’s rotation, as the senators question is when no state is set.

Can I use the app on multiple devices?

Yes. Pro and Remove Ads are tied to your Apple Account and can be restored on any iPhone or iPad signed in to it. Your study progress, including test history, bookmarks, and streaks, is stored only on the device where you study and does not sync between devices.

Troubleshooting

Speech recognition isn’t working

Open the civics test and choose the Interview tab. If it shows a card with an Enable button, tap it and allow both the microphone and speech recognition.
If the card says they are turned off, Enable opens the app’s page in the iOS Settings app. To get there yourself, open the iOS Settings app, find U.S. Citizenship Test Prep (under Apps on iOS 18 and later) and turn on both Microphone and Speech Recognition. If the Microphone & Speech row in the app’s Settings → Permissions shows Denied, its Settings button opens the same page.
If the card says speech recognition is restricted on this device, Screen Time or device management has turned it off. Use Tap Mode, or type your answers in a saved interview.
If a recording fails, the app says why. In Interview Mode, Recording failed and the reason appear under the microphone. Tap the microphone to try again, or tap Type your answer instead. In the reading test and reading practice, the Recording failed card has Try Again and Next.
Try speaking in a quieter environment
Check your internet connection. When iOS cannot recognize speech on your device, it sends the audio to Apple, which needs a connection.
Restart the app if the issue persists

The app shows the wrong state officials

Go to Settings → Your Location and check Your State, Zip Code and, if it is showing, Your District. Your governor, senators, and state capital come from the state you pick. The representative question comes from your zip code. If that zip code is split between several districts, Settings lists them and you pick yours, so a wrong name there usually means the wrong district is picked. Confirm yours at house.gov. Officials are updated with each app release. For changes since then, see the USCIS Check for Test Updates page.

My study streak was lost

Any day you study in the app counts toward your streak. That includes finishing a civics, reading, or writing test, answering a question in Interview Mode or verbal practice, revealing a flashcard answer, and practicing reading or writing sentences. Opening the app without studying does not count. The streak stays in place until a full calendar day passes with no study. Then it drops to 0 and starts again the next time you study.

If you miss only a day or two, a streak repair can bridge the gap so your streak carries on. Repairs are used from the Progress tab, which offers one once the streak has broken, and only for a gap of one or two days. Pro includes one free repair each calendar month. Anyone can buy a pack of ten for $0.99 at any time from Settings → Add-ons → Get 10 Streak Repairs, and the offer on the Progress tab sells a pack too when you have none left. A repaired day is marked as repaired and never counts as a day you studied. See streak repair.

When you update to version 1.1.0, the app builds your streak from the tests and interviews already saved on your device, so updating does not reset it. With Pro, the Progress tab also keeps your best streak, your total study days and an activity grid of every day you studied.