1.99 EUR, Italy Paid Education chart #3: What a firefighting exam quiz app can tell you

Quiz Antincendio Livello 3 is an Italian-language quiz app that helps people prepare for the Level 3 firefighter certification exam run by the fire service. It costs 1.99 EUR, one-time purchase. It has stayed near the top of Italy's Paid Education chart, but three months after launch it has only 5 ratings, which suggests a few sales a day. This piece covers why it got there, how thin that chart is, who has already followed, and whether this template is still worth building.

A group post that hopes it "isn't an imposition"

On Sep 18 at noon in 2026, an account called FitnessDiary.it posted in the Facebook group "OPERATORI ANTINCENDIO - SALUTE E SICUREZZA" (a group for fire safety workers). The first line read:

Ciao ragazzi, spero non sia un problema condividere qui una piccola app che ho sviluppato. (Hi everyone, I hope it's not a problem sharing a small app I developed here.)

The post said he had put 345 official questions published by the fire service into an app that works offline, with mock exams, topic-by-topic practice, and built-in study materials. It linked the iPhone and Android versions, plus 30 Android redemption codes, each usable once. The post got 7 reactions in total.

This is the only public promotion I could find.

What it is

Under Italian ministerial decree D.M. 2021 of 2/9/2021, high-risk (Level 3) premises, such as large office buildings with over a thousand people, big hospitals and universities, must have a fire safety officer. Candidates complete a 16-hour course and then must pass a certification exam at the provincial fire command (VVF): a written test drawing 15 questions at random from a bank of 345, passing with 10 correct within 30 minutes, followed by an oral exam and practical test. The question bank and 114-page study material are published by the fire service at vigilfuoco.it as PDFs, free to download.

This app turns those two PDFs into something usable (App Store Italy storefront page, 11-06):

• Mock exams follow the real exam rules: 15 questions, 30 minutes, 10 correct to pass, with a visible timer;
• 345 questions per block, split into 10-question chunks by topic. Scores are saved for each block, and the next session picks up where you left off;
• The most worth copying: every question shows the module, section and page number in the study material that covers that topic, and tapping it opens the material to that exact page. The store page says: "Sbagli una domanda sugli estintori? Un tocco e sei sulla pagina che spiega gli estintori" (Got a fire extinguisher question wrong? One tap takes you to the page that explains fire extinguishers);
• The study material is built in, works offline, and supports pinch-to-zoom. No sign-up, no ads, no data collection.

The store page also includes a long section stating that it is "unofficial and not affiliated with the fire service," and links to the original sources of both PDFs. Since the content is public material and the sources are clearly credited, the copyright and review risk is lower.

The developer is listed as Floridos Marpepa, who on Google Play goes by Flo Apps. His other app is Gate Counter: Capienza Live, used to count attendance and manage capacity at events. Both are in the venue safety space, which suggests someone from the industry making them on the side (inference).

How big is it really?

Launched in Aug 5. By Nov 6 it had 5 ratings in total, all 5 stars. From Oct 28 to Nov 5 the count stalled at 4. The Oct 19 1.0.3 update added a "rate us" prompt after finishing a set, and by Nov 6 it had gained 1 more.

The rankings look good (App Store Italy):

It fell from #2 to #48 within two days and then bounced back to #3, which means the rank is held up by a few sales a day, not steady volume. The chart itself is also thin: in Nov 6, Italy Paid Education #2, PANTHEON, had only 3 ratings, and #4, StudyWrist, had none. At that bar, my estimate is about 2–10 sales a day, or a few dozen to a hundred-plus euros a month (estimate).

The Android version is also 1.99 EUR, with only "10+" downloads on Google Play.

Why this one climbed

Three things came together.

The demand is created by regulation and exam deadlines. People taking the exam search for questions on their own, so no education marketing is needed.

No one else on iPhone. Searching "quiz antincendio livello 3 345 domande" turns up free websites first: esameantincendio.it, vabsinnai.it, rispostamultipla.it, plus question-bank pages that training schools use as lead magnets. Apps exist, but only on Android: mobilesafeapps' Esame antincendio has over 10k downloads and 49 reviews, and quizantincendio.it's Android app has over 1000 downloads. Before this one, there was no App Store app dedicated to Level 3 fire exam quizzes. An iPhone user searching the store could find only this app, so paying 1.99 EUR was an easy choice.

It really is better than the free websites. One review says "ben fatta semplice da utilizzare" (well made, easy to use), and another specifically praises the study material ("Le dispense..."). Tapping a question jumps to the matching page of the material, something neither the websites nor the PDFs offer.

But the ranking mainly comes from the second point. Study-material linking determines whether users pay and leave good reviews; how many people show up at all still depends on how many people are taking the exam.

Others have already followed

In Oct 27, Antincendio Pronto – livello 3 (developer Mustafa utku BAYIK) appeared on the App Store, targeting exactly the two weak spots here: it is free to download with a one-time in-app unlock, so people who won't pay can still install it first, and its question bank covers 3 levels plus 2, with explanations for each question and an exam countdown. As of Nov 6 it still had 0 ratings and was not charting.

The original developer has only made the 3 level so far. As far as I can see, only this copycat is making iOS quiz apps for the 2 level (2-FOR), and I haven't seen anyone making one for the 1 level on the App Store.

This chart isn't just this one app.

In Italy's paid Education chart, the top 15 are mostly one template: Quiz Venatorio (hunting licence, 5 ratings), Quiz Droni A2 (drones, 2), Quiz PPL(A) (private pilot, 17), plus skydiving, ADR dangerous-goods transport, and Milan taxi licence. Developer mattia guatta alone built several of them. All are legally required exams, all have public official question banks, all sell as a one-time purchase for €1–2, and all are Italian-only.

So what's actually worth learning is the template, not this one app.

If it were you

C. Building a three-tier version of this doesn't pay: the market brings in a few hundred euros a month, and copycats have already taken the 2-tier and free-trial slots. The template is the part worth taking.

Who it suits: a solo builder who can write iOS, whose native or working language is a small one; who can read their country's regulations and find the official public question banks and handbooks; and who is willing to build a set of small apps earning tens to hundreds of euros a month, adding up through volume.

Who it doesn't suit: anyone hoping one app will support them; anyone who only speaks English and wants US driver's licence or CDL-type exams (that market is crowded, with subscription-based big players); anyone unwilling to check questions one by one against the official handbook.

How to build it: Find exams that are legally required + have official question banks public + nobody has built an App Store app for yet. Go country by country: fire safety, first aid, forklift, hazmat transport, hunting license, boat license, drone pilot, security guard certification. Build each as a one-time purchase app. Match the questions to the official study guide page by page, bundle the guide offline, and make mock exams follow the real exam rules. Label the store page clearly as unofficial and link the official source. One exam's 1/2/3 levels can be several question sets in one app. Offer a few free questions first, then unlock, rather than charging upfront like this one does.

How to get users: name the app with the exact terms candidates search for ("Quiz Antincendio Livello 3" is itself a search term). Stuff the description with regulation numbers, since candidates probably search by those numbers and course codes (inference). For cold start, follow its playbook: post in the industry's Facebook groups and offer codes, and reach trainers at training centres. A single training class has dozens of people, so landing one centre brings a batch of users (inference). The small-language paid Education chart is thin: a few sales a day can put you in the top five, and charting itself brings exposure.

Deadline: there's no hard window. Each revision of the question bank (this one was published in 2024) forces the early movers to update, and every new bank is a reshuffle. For exams where someone is already active, if you haven't launched within a month, don't bother.

Signs you misread it: (1) your first three apps still aren't in the top 20 of the local paid Education chart 60 days after launch, which means those exams have too few candidates, or free web question banks already cover the need; (2) a free-plus-unlock version like Antincendio Pronto overtakes the one-time-purchase version within 3 months, meaning the pay-first approach doesn't hold on this chart and everything should go free first; (3) the fire service itself releases an official practice app, which closes the slot for this type of exam.