I built a Uganda driving test app that remembers what you get wrong

This year i finally decided to get my driving permit. And the first surprise was the theory test. Everyone talks about the practical, the hill start, the reverse, but the paper comes first, and a lot of people trip on it long before they ever touch a steering wheel.

Here is the thing almost nobody tells you. Most people do not fail the theory test because it is hard. They fail because they underestimate it. You assume it is common sense, you grab the Highway Code the night before, you skim the road signs, and you walk in the next morning sure you will be fine. Then you meet a question about who has the right of way at a specific junction, or a sign you glanced at once and never again, and it is just gone. The effort was real. The method was the problem.

And it is not getting easier. Uganda has been moving the testing to a more computerised setup to cut out the old shortcuts, so "knowing a guy" is not a study plan anymore. You actually have to know the code.

So i started studying it properly, and as a developer i could not help noticing how badly the usual way of studying fits how memory works. There is a well studied idea in learning science, sometimes called the testing effect or spaced repetition, and it is almost boringly simple: you remember what you are made to recall again, and you remember it best when you are pulled back to it right as you are about to forget. Especially the things you got wrong. Cramming does the exact opposite. It shows you everything once and trusts you to hold it, which your brain politely refuses to do.

So i built an app around that one idea. It is called Uganda Driving Permit Practice.

Most driving apps, ngl, are just a long list of questions. You answer them, you get a score, you move on. Mine pays attention instead. When you miss a question, it does not just move on. It remembers, and it brings that question back later, and it keeps bringing it back until you actually get it right. The things you find hard slowly become the things you know cold. That is the whole trick, and it is the part i am most proud of.

The rest is what you would want: real exam style questions across every topic, from speed limits and road signs to right of way and boda boda rules, timed mock exams that feel like the real test so the real day is not a shock, and a short explanation behind every answer so you understand the road, not just the letter you are supposed to pick. It works fully offline too, because not everyone has data to burn while revising on a taxi.

And here is the part that matters more than passing. If the code actually sticks, you use the road a little more safely, whether you end up behind a wheel or on a boda. Passing the theory test is a checkpoint. Knowing the rules well enough that they show up when you need them, that is the real goal.

I am building this while learning the code myself, which means i keep catching the rough edges as a real user, not just as the developer. It is live now, and i am still shaping it.

If you or someone you know is getting ready to drive, have a look, and please tell me what is missing. Just start with a few questions a day. You might be surprised how much of it stays.

Thank you for reading. Tschüss 🤓