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Open the Assignments tab and tap Select Calendars in the empty state, or go to Settings › Calendar. You'll be prompted to grant calendar access on first launch. Calendar access is read-only — SignPrep never writes to your calendars. You can change which calendars are synced at any time.

Check three things:

• Calendar permission is granted (Settings app › Privacy & Security › Calendars › SignPrep).
• At least one calendar is selected in SignPrep's Settings › Calendar.
• The event falls inside your sync range (Settings › Calendar › Sync Range — 7, 14, or 30 days).

If you use an event title filter (Settings › Event Filter), make sure the rule matches your events. Pull down on the Assignments list to force a fresh sync.

Yes. Tap the + button on the Assignments tab to create a manual assignment. Set the title, domain, start and end times (snapped to 5-minute increments), and location. Manual assignments are kept separate from calendar-imported events — they're never removed by a calendar re-sync. You can edit or delete them from the assignment detail screen.

Preparation is the single home for deeper assignment preparation, new in v1.5.2. Tap Prepare for this Assignment in Assignment Detail to open it. It brings together your checklist, research and reviewed web search, key terms, notes, resources, and the context you provide for Apple Intelligence — with the assignment title, date, domain, and checklist progress summarised at the top.

The full checklist editor now lives in the Preparation workspace, so there is exactly one place to manage it — Assignment Detail shows your progress at a glance on the Prepare for this Assignment row, labelled Checklist, Research, Notes and more. Add, complete, delete, and reorder items in Preparation, with templates and AI suggestions available when you want them.

Calendar Notes optionally bring the notes from your calendar events into Preparation as read-only context. The feature is off by default — enable Use Calendar Notes for Preparation in Settings, and control inclusion per assignment (inherit the global setting, include, or exclude). Imported notes are shown separately from your own notes, never edit your calendar, and never appear in widgets, notifications, Live Activities, Apple Watch surfaces, Spotlight, Siri, exports, logs, or analytics. When permitted, they may be included in an Apple Intelligence request processed on your device or through Private Cloud Compute. SignPrep cannot remotely access the request or result.

Completed assignments keep their preparation in read-only form — checklist state, notes, research, context, and any saved Briefing stay reviewable for reflection and professional learning. Marking an assignment incomplete restores editing where appropriate.

Ongoing Assignment is the live-session page for an assignment that is currently active or about to be used during work. It keeps the assignment countdown, timing controls, active interpreter, and assignment progress together in one focused view.

Live Session appears in Assignment Detail when an assignment is starting within the next hour or is ongoing. Before that, the detail view stays focused on preparation. If an assignment has no end time, a bounded one-hour fallback keeps the session available for a sensible window.

When SignPrep is connected to an active assignment, the page is shown as Ongoing Assignment. When you open the same live-session tools without an assignment attached, it is shown as Swap Timer. Internally, both use the same live-session experience.

Ambient Mode is a set-it-down full-screen view for live sessions. Rest the phone nearby and read the swap timer at a glance — large text stays legible from a distance, and the colours pulse when it is time to swap, so you never reach for the screen mid-assignment. It shows large timing information, A/B interpreter roles, and assignment progress, with controls kept intentionally minimal.

Swap Timer is best when you want structured intervals, such as swapping every 15 or 20 minutes. It predicts the next swap and cycles through Running, Swap Soon, and Swap Now states.

Swap Clock is best when swaps need to follow the real clock or happen flexibly. It shows the current time, the elapsed time since the last swap, and clock-based segments for Interpreter A and Interpreter B.

No. Only one timing mode can run at a time. Starting one mode stops the other so the active interpreter state stays clear across the app, Watch, widgets, and Live Activities.

Open any assignment and use the Briefing card in Assignment Detail to generate a short, privacy-preserving AI Briefing — a quick orientation to the subject with terms worth reviewing. Apple Foundation Models may process the request on your device or, for more advanced processing, through Private Cloud Compute. It works for any upcoming or ongoing assignment, and you can regenerate it for a fresh take. Briefings are saved per-assignment, persist across app updates, cold launches, and calendar re-syncs, and completed assignments keep their saved Briefing as read-only preparation history. If Apple Intelligence is off, the card stays visible and explains that AI must be enabled in Settings.

Open Preparation and use the Research section to generate suggested topics, terms to review, and preparation points — then add useful findings straight to your notes. Reviewed web search builds a general query on your device, checks it for likely identifying details, and lets you review and edit it before anything is searched; a query that still appears to contain protected information is blocked. It is a starting point for your own prep, not a verified glossary — always confirm terminology against trusted sources.

SignPrep uses Apple’s general-purpose Foundation Models through Apple Intelligence. Processing may happen on your device or, for more advanced requests, through Private Cloud Compute. These models are good at organising and summarising the information you provide, but they are not medical, legal, or specialist knowledge bases and can be incomplete or wrong. Treat Briefings, suggested topics, and terms as prompts for your own preparation, always verify them against trusted sources and your own glossary, and never rely on them as a final reference.

SignPrep uses Apple Foundation Models. AI requests may run on your device or, for more advanced processing, through Apple’s Private Cloud Compute. Apple states that no one else can access your data, not even Apple. Its published PCC design requires personal data to be used only to fulfil your request and to become inaccessible after the response is returned. SignPrep operates no AI servers and cannot remotely access your requests or results. Reviewed web search is separate: only the query you review and approve is opened with your search provider. Learn more at Apple Privacy and in Apple’s Private Cloud Compute Security Guide.

Settings › Apple Intelligence › master toggle. When off, research prompts, DC-S suggestions, glossary definition lookups, the Self-Care For You card, monthly insights, and domain auto-detection are hidden, and the Briefing card stays in place but explains that AI must be enabled in Settings. SignPrep will never silently run AI while the toggle is off.

CPD stands for Continuing Professional Development — the ongoing learning interpreters log to keep their certification current. In the US this is usually counted as CEUs (Continuing Education Units), for example through RID. SignPrep gives you a full log inside the Reflection tab: log hours by activity type, export your record as PDF or CSV, and get reminded when your renewal deadline is close. Defaults adapt to your sign language:

• ASL (RID): 20 hours annual
• BSL (NRCPD): 24 hours annual
• Auslan (NAATI): 40 hours triennial
• Others: 20 hours annual

Yes. Settings › CPD Tracking › master toggle. When off, the CPD tab row, dashboard card, every Log CPD button, both iOS and watchOS CPD widgets, the Log CPD Siri shortcut, and the Control Centre control all disappear.

Save a reflection for the assignment, and the post-save screen offers a one-tap Log CPD button that preloads the assignment's duration. You can also log from:

• The CPD tab's + button
• The Log CPD Home Screen widget
• The Log CPD Control Centre control
• Siri: “Log CPD in SignPrep”

Reflection tab › CPD list › Export. Choose PDF (polished, ready for submission to your certifying body) or CSV (for your own tracker). Date-range filtering lets you export a single renewal period. Within 30 days of your renewal deadline, a reminder pill appears on the dashboard and the CPD widget.

Yes, in two ways:

• Single reflection — open any reflection and tap Export as PDF to share via AirDrop, email, or Files.
• Bulk export — from the Reflection tab, tap Export to get a CSV or PDF of every reflection, with date-range filtering.

If you flag a reflection for mentor discussion, SignPrep will suggest exporting it as a PDF for the conversation.

No. You can write a standalone reflection at any time. When the reflection isn't linked to an assignment, an Assignment Type dropdown appears, defaulting to the domain you've set in Settings. When it is linked, the domain is pulled from the assignment automatically.

To make load levels legible at a glance — green for Low, orange for Medium, red for High — across Physical Fatigue, Emotional Load, and Cognitive Load. At accessibility text sizes, the row becomes a menu picker so labels always fit.

Glossary tab › + button. Grant camera and microphone access the first time. Record a short video, then fill in the label, description, word type, domain, and sign language. AI can suggest definitions and related words based on the label you enter. Tap Save to add the entry.

Yes. Open any glossary entry and tap Share in the toolbar. SignPrep generates a visual card with the label, domain, and description that you can send via Messages, Mail, AirDrop, or any other share destination.

Settings › Export Glossary packages every entry (and its video, with audio stripped) into a single .signprep file that you can AirDrop, email, or save to iCloud Drive. Import Glossary accepts .signprep and .zip files and skips duplicates automatically. Ideal for moving between devices or sharing a starter set with colleagues.

SignPrep works for interpreters of any sign language. During onboarding you can choose your preferred language, with automatic detection based on your region and an “Other” free-text option. Your selection drives which regional links appear (like the SgSL Sign Bank), the default CPD body (RID, NRCPD, or NAATI), and whether CPD tracking is on by default. Change it any time in Settings.

Long-press your Home Screen or Lock Screen, tap +, and search for SignPrep. You'll find:

• Upcoming Assignments (small, medium, large) — greeting, countdown, and the next assignments
• CPD Progress (small, medium) — renewal ring with countdown
• New Sign, Reflect, Log CPD quick-action widgets (small)
• Lock Screen gauges for the next assignment and CPD renewal

All widgets respect your CPD master toggle — when CPD is off, the CPD widgets disappear.

When an assignment is within 15 minutes of starting — or is ongoing — SignPrep posts a Live Activity to your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island. It shows the title, domain, location, a progress ring, and an hours-and-minutes countdown. When the assignment ends, the timer becomes a checkmark and a Log Reflection button appears. You can turn Live Activities off in Settings.

Yes. Pull down from the top-right to open Control Centre, tap +, and search for SignPrep. Four controls are available: New Sign, Log Reflection, Next Assignment, and Log CPD (hidden when CPD is off).

SignPrep ships ten featured Siri Shortcuts. A few examples:

• “What's my next assignment?”
• “What's my day like in SignPrep?”
• “Start a swap timer”
• “What's my swap timer status?”
• “Log a reflection in SignPrep”
• “Log CPD in SignPrep”
• “Add a new sign”
• “Sync my calendar in SignPrep”

Every shortcut also appears in the Shortcuts app for custom automations.

Yes. View upcoming assignments, start and control the swap timer, and see your CPD renewal progress from your wrist. Manual assignments, edits, and deletions push to the watch instantly, so it's always in sync with your iPhone. Complications are available for corner, circular, rectangular, and inline slots. A dedicated Swap Timer Smart Stack card appears 15 minutes before an assignment through 30 minutes after it ends.

Every reflection, glossary entry, CPD entry, mood log, Briefing, preparation checklist, note, imported Calendar Note, and preference is stored on your device. SignPrep does not operate a cloud account, remote database, analytics service, or AI server. When an AI feature uses Private Cloud Compute, selected request data is processed by Apple under its PCC privacy protections; SignPrep cannot remotely access it.

Privacy Preview is an in-app summary that explains how your current choices affect notifications, Live Activities, Apple Intelligence input, reflection exports, and Spotlight & Siri — so you can see what is shared where before you rely on it. It sits alongside the other layers you control: title controls, optional App Lock, protected app-switcher presentation, Minimise Sensitive Details, export modes, backup exclusion, and the Security Activity Log.

App Lock is optional and separate from your device passcode. You set a SignPrep-owned four-digit PIN, and on supported hardware you can enable Face ID or Touch ID with the PIN as fallback. Auto-Lock can be set to Immediately, After 1 minute, or After 5 minutes, evaluated after leaving or backgrounding the app. When locked, SignPrep shows SignPrep is Locked and asks you to Enter your PIN to unlock. Five consecutive incorrect attempts start a 30-second cooldown that doubles up to 15 minutes and survives a force-quit. Turning App Lock off requires the current PIN, and a configured App Lock starts locked after a cold launch.

A lightweight, on-device record of app opens, locks, successful and failed unlock attempts, and non-sensitive security-setting changes. The interface shows up to the newest 50 entries while local storage retains up to 200, and Clear Log permanently removes the stored activity from your device. It contains no assignment content, is never transmitted to SignPrep, and is not an immutable or remote audit trail.

An opt-in setting, off by default, that attempts to exclude supported SignPrep data — the assignment data store, AI-output cache and recovery copies, and known glossary media — from iCloud and Finder/iTunes backups. New glossary media is marked after it is written, and known files are checked again at launch. The trade-off: data excluded from backups will not be restored to a new device from that backup. If a file cannot be marked successfully, SignPrep shows Backup Exclusion Incomplete and retries on a later launch.

SignPrep is a personal preparation tool for interpreters. It is not a covered entity or a business associate, and it does not require any protected health information (PHI) to function. AI preparation uses Apple Foundation Models and may run on your device or through Private Cloud Compute; SignPrep operates no AI servers and cannot remotely access those requests or results. We recommend keeping patient or client details out of your calendars and out of the app; SignPrep works from the job type, not patient data. Note that consumer Apple or Google calendars are not HIPAA-compliant unless they are part of a specially configured healthcare workplace account. This is general information, not legal advice.

If you have iCloud Backup or a Finder/iTunes backup enabled, SignPrep's on-device data can be included in your own encrypted device backup — the same as any other app. SignPrep does not operate the backup service or have access to that backup; it stays within your Apple account. If you prefer to keep sensitive assignment details out of any backup, keep patient or client identifiers out of the app and your calendar in the first place — or use the opt-in Exclude Data from iCloud Backups setting described above.

Most core features work offline. On-device Apple Foundation Models can work without a connection, but advanced AI processing through Private Cloud Compute requires a network connection. Reviewed web search and Open in Maps also require a connection.

Settings › Reset lets you reset calendar sync, clear the mood log, or re-run onboarding. Since everything is stored on-device, deleting the SignPrep app from your home screen also permanently removes all data.

No. SignPrep preserves your assignments (manual and imported), glossary entries, reflections, CPD records, AI briefings, research summaries, and settings across every app update. Calendar re-syncs also preserve all user data on each assignment — only the calendar metadata refreshes.

Your Apple Watch stays in sync with your iPhone automatically — assignments and the swap timer mirror across both devices in real time. iPhone and iPad each keep their own on-device data, because SignPrep never uses a cloud account to sync. To move your glossary or a starter set between an iPhone and iPad, use Settings › Export Glossary on one device and Import on the other.

Because SignPrep app data is stored on-device with no SignPrep cloud account, the surest way to carry backed-up data across is an encrypted iPhone backup. When you restore your new iPhone from an iCloud or Finder/iTunes backup of your old one, SignPrep and its included data can come across with it; anything excluded with Exclude Data from iCloud Backups will not be restored from that backup. You can also export your glossary as a .signprep file and your reflections and CPD as PDF or CSV beforehand as an extra safeguard. Installing SignPrep fresh on a new phone starts with an empty library.

SignPrep is compatible with all iPhone models running iOS 26 or later, iPad models running iPadOS 26 or later, and Apple Watch models running watchOS 26 or later. For a full list of supported devices, please visit Apple's support pages:

• Supported iPhone models
• Supported iPad models
• Supported Apple Watch models

Apple Intelligence features require a supported device (such as iPhone 15 Pro or later, or iPads with M-series chips). On unsupported devices, AI sections are hidden and the rest of the app works normally.

Not at the moment. SignPrep is built natively for Apple platforms and integrates with Apple Intelligence, including on-device Foundation Models and Private Cloud Compute on supported releases. There is no Android, web, or desktop version planned right now.