# USCIS vs BoardMate

The clearest difference is update cadence: BoardMate at every 4 days against USCIS's every 2 months. BoardMate also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

USCIS ships an update every 2 months, BoardMate every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | USCIS | BoardMate |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.0 (303 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/uscis-civics-test-study-tools/id1216824613/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **303** | — |
| Positive reviews | 55.3% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Every 4 days** |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Size | 24 MB | 96 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | **13.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | [USCIS Department of Homeland Security](https://appshunter.io/developer/1056677191) | [Balaji Venkatachalam](https://appshunter.io/developer/1880330569) |

## What reviewers say

### USCIS

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/uscis-civics-test-study-tools/id1216824613)

Prepare for the U.S. naturalization civics test with official study tools. Practice tests, a question challenge game, and audio support in English and Spanish are available. Access all 100 official questions and answers to help you pass the oral exam.

**Highlights:** Official 100 civics questions and answers, Practice civics tests, Question Challenge game, English and Spanish audio, Full app translation to Spanish

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Easy to navigate and use
- 📚 Comprehensive question bank with all 100 questions available
- 🎯 Effective study tool for passing the civics test
- 🔊 Audio feature to hear questions read aloud
- 🎮 Question Challenge mode for interactive practice

**What reviewers complain about**

- ⚠️ Severely outdated content and answers
- 🚨 Contains incorrect information about current officials
- ❌ Not updated to reflect 128-question test format (as of Oct 2025)
- 🐛 Multiple-choice answers marked wrong when only selecting correct subset
- 🔊 Audio/speaker function not working for many users

**Reported bugs**

- Speaker/audio function not working despite volume being on
- Question Challenge resets when selecting one correct answer instead of all correct answers
- Incorrect answers marked as correct (e.g., Republican party for Biden)
- Wrong official information (e.g., Mike Pence still listed as current VP, Paul Ryan as Speaker)
- Multiple-choice questions with 'All of the above' when question specifies 'name 2'

**Requested features**

- Update app to include all 128 questions from new test format (effective Oct 2025)
- Add state selection to include state-specific questions and local representatives
- Include free-response/typing option to match actual test format
- Add ability to filter and focus on incorrect answers
- Implement difficulty levels for wrong answer options


### BoardMate

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/boardmate-learn-games/id6770317389)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is USCIS free?

USCIS is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is BoardMate free?

BoardMate is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Do USCIS or BoardMate have ads?

Neither USCIS nor BoardMate shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, USCIS or BoardMate?

USCIS ships an update every 2 months, and BoardMate every 4 days. Most recently, USCIS was updated on October 24, 2026 and BoardMate on October 14, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*