# IFSTA Essentials 8 — user reviews > 9 indexed App Store user reviews of IFSTA Essentials 8 by IFSTA, rated 2.80/5 from 23 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ifsta-essentials-8/id6654913928/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ifsta-essentials-8/id6654913928.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 7 · 4★ 1 · 3★ 3 · 2★ 5 · 1★ 7 ## Most critical reviews (9 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Not great *2026-06-10* Although this technically has everything required to pass your tests, the format and interface of the app leave a lot to be desired. One accidental swipe backwards while taking a practice test and you’ve exited your exam with no way back in or a way to see your scores. This has lead to massive frustration trying to study and make this app unpleasant to say the least. Do better, for $20 this app should be perfect. Don’t recommend. **Developer response:** Hi Disgrunteled Lyft Driver, We appreciate your honest feedback. We are always looking for ways to improve our apps. Stay tuned for future updates. ### 1/5 — Not there yet. *2025-08-16* Practice tests have incorrect answers. After doing some practice tests and getting questions wrong, realized they were correct when reviewing them comparing the book to the tests. Second the audio book has flaws where it will read a section and continuously repeats that section so you have to manually forward yourself through the chapters. I would NOT recommend using the practice tests and if you use the audio book, certain chapters will start repeating. **Developer response:** Hi FDBueller, please contact support@ifsta.org with the issues you are experiencing, we would like to take a closer look. Thanks. ### 2/5 — Audio freezes *2026-06-19* Almost 70% of the time I try to use the audio on any chapters my phone screen freezes and I have to back out of the app and reset it. Just for it to happen again and again. Iv been trying to get th audio to play for over an hour. Fix your app **Developer response:** Hi skri589, please reach out to our support@ifsta.org so we may help you with your issue. Thank you. ### 2/5 — Review on App *2026-04-03* Id recommend spending your money on the audio book. When it comes to the state finial exam, don’t bother buying the practice exam questions. They weren’t helpful at all. Honestly, your best bet is to know the book front to back (it felt like I was taking a promotional exam). Unfortunately none of the questions from that app showed up on the actual exam. ### 2/5 — Practice tests *2025-09-05* Some of the answers in the practice test are wrong. For example, one of the questions asked “what is the primary way to shut off power” I put breaker box and the answer was electric meter! Everyone knows that to shut off power you go to the breaker box in a residence. Another function I noticed is your progress does not save in an exam. I went to go look up a question after getting it wrong in the exam and I had to completely restart. Please review some of the questions and provide a feature that helps you keep your progress in an exam, that would make the app a lot better **Developer response:** Hi Smoke and Flames, thank you for sharing your feedback. Please contact our support team at support@ifsta.org with details of your issue. ### 2/5 — Several issues *2025-08-29* The audio book, flash cards, and practice tests have all been super helpful for studying, however the app has several bugs that my classmates and I have run into. The main one is the audio book will just stop. Then it’s impossible to get it to start playing again. **Developer response:** Hi TannerNeverDies, Thanks for the feedback. We ask that you submit any issues with details and screenshots/screen recordings, if possible, to support@ifsta.org. ### 3/5 — Seems good but can’t buy anything *2026-02-03* I really enjoyed the first chapter of the audiobook and liked using it to read along. However, it won’t let me buy the rest of the chapters. I looked into it, and it seems like I can’t make any purchases at all. **Developer response:** Hi Kaya, we would like to help you with your purchases, could you please send details of your issue to support@ifsta.org? Thanks. ### 3/5 — Please add a login system. *2025-08-31* I purchased the NFSTA 8 Essentials exam prep through this app and it’s been very helpful. However, one big limitation is that it can only be used on the device it was purchased on. For example, I bought it on my home iPad, but I can’t access it on my school iPad due to restrictions. It would make a huge difference if the app included a login or account system so purchases could carry over to any device. This would be a major benefit for firefighters in training who need flexibility to study wherever they are. Please consider adding this feature, it would make the app much more effective and accessible. ### 5/5 — Very helpful *2025-12-07* Works well and has been very helpful in conjunction with my other study and testing material. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-27.*