I have a friend in the US with family connections

It is my understanding that the new law does not apply here because the idea is that you. are asking for recognition of citizenship.  However, for a spouse it does apply since they are applying for citizenship which is different than recognition.  The test has been simplified from the regular B1 test.  

You say "with family connections". It depends on what you mean by this. If they are applying for citizenship jure sanguinis then a language test is not necessary. Otherwise I think a test may be necessary.