# ORB Participant

> Mobile tool for Duke of Edinburgh's Award participants to manage progress and submit logs. (iPhone/iPad app by The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Foundation.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/orb-participant/id1215719234 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Foundation](https://appshunter.io/developer/1215719233)
- Category: Education, Entertainment
- Price: Free
- Rating: 3.10/5 from 67 App Store ratings · 106 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 12.0 · 43 MB
- Languages: American English, Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Dutch, Finnish, Canadian French, German (Germany), Hebrew, Hindi and 16 more
- Released: 2017-05-16
- Data updated: 2026-09-01
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/orb-participant/id1215719234/reviews.md

## What is ORB Participant?

This application was developed by The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Foundation as a simple and fast tool to assist Award participants in completing their Award, anytime anywhere.
 
The participant is able to manage their Award progress using the App. They can set up activities, create logs for their progress and also send their Award sections to their Assessor and Award Leader for completion.
 
Your Award must be using the latest version of the Online Record Book system (sometimes known as "ORB Next Generation") and have a valid participant login to the system in order to be able to use this App.

## Key features

- Manage Award progress
- Set up activities
- Create progress logs
- Submit Award sections
- Assessor and Leader approval

## What do users think of ORB Participant?

Overall sentiment: mixed

**Pros**

- 👍 Easy to use interface for logging hours
- 🚀 Convenient mobile access for on-the-go logging
- ✅ Reliable for basic activity tracking
- 📱 Simple and straightforward design
- ⭐ Helpful for Duke of Edinburgh participants
- 🎯 Effective for tracking progress

**Cons**

- 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezing
- ⚠️ Hours calculation errors and inaccuracies
- 🔌 Network error messages despite working connection
- ❌ Limited editing capabilities after submission
- 😤 Slow and laggy performance
- 🚫 Missing UK/Great Britain country option
- 📧 Email delivery issues for approvals
- 🔒 Login authentication problems
- 💔 Data loss and synchronization failures
- 🖼️ Photo/media upload issues on mobile
- 📝 Spelling and grammar errors in app
- ⏱️ Hour logging only records 1 hour regardless of actual duration
- 🔄 Cannot resend approval requests
- 🎯 Progress bar not updating correctly
- 🚨 Approval notifications get stuck

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Hours not accumulating correctly - logs multiple hours as single hour
- Progress bar not increasing when adding logs
- Network error messages appearing despite valid connection
- App crashes when entering journey observations
- App crashes when editing and resubmitting assessments
- Login logout issues preventing re-access
- Payment details field not accepting input during registration
- Award leader change not persisting after switching schools
- Confirmation buttons not scaling properly on mobile screens
- Photo/link attachment not saving on iPhone
- Copy-paste functionality only adding partial text
- Long text input being deleted when submitting
- Cannot delete additional activities even without logs
- Approval emails not being received by assessors
- Assessments getting stuck in 'waiting for approval' state
- App not loading after login despite successful authentication
- Persistent notification bubble that won't disappear
- Inconsistent hour calculations across activities

**Most requested features**

- Ability to edit activities and submissions after approval
- Resend assessment/approval functionality
- Message/comment system between users and leaders
- View approved evidence and journey details after submission
- Edit activity names if misspelled
- Support for 5-minute time intervals instead of 15-minute
- Delete authorized awards option
- Change major activity selection
- Upload photos from files instead of gallery only
- Edit overview and plan sections of adventurous journey
- Clearer information about hour reset timing
- Include Duke of Ed information within the app
- Support for sub-submissions in log details
- Resend assessment button on mobile app (exists on website)
- Larger description text box with line break support
- Countdown percentage for remaining award completion
- Remove persistent notification badges

## Recent user reviews (10 of 106)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/orb-participant/id1215719234/reviews.md

### 2/5 — Some very annoying bugs

*2026-06-09*

It works ok except for 2 things which force me to use it on desktop instead:
- sometimes (especially if I've uploaded a lot of photos) it doesn't save the log when I click "save", which is very annoying if I just wrote a whole paragraph and have to write it again.
- the description section of the logs is way to small. It should be a paragraph text entry like it is on desktop, not a single line. (Edit: looks like someone already asked for this 7 years ago so ig not getting changed soon).

If those are fixed it would make it so much better and actually make it useful on mobile.

### 2/5 — Slow

*2026-04-26*

Just a laggy, frustrating experience

### 3/5 — Why aren’t my hours increasing?

*2026-04-14*

The bar isn’t increasing even though the number of hours I’ve registered even exceeds the goal?

### 4/5 — Great app!

*2026-03-24, version 2.4.2*

The app works 99% of the time. Love the ease and convenience of logging it as an award participant. Sometimes the site does crash but will quickly recover.

### 5/5 — Duke of ed

*2026-02-22*

This app is really good and makes it really easy to log your hours and things that you are doing!!

### 2/5 — Ok

*2025-12-05*

If I wasn’t getting anything out of this I would have been mad because this app is horrible it always kicks me out and is just stubborn also it on,h records one hour even if I do 2 hours a day it records one.I asked my teacher about it and she says that’s how the app works.Its also hard to use.I just finished my bronze so I hope it’s better for silver.

### 1/5 — Terrible

*2025-07-20, version 2.4.1*

Terrible app holy so frustrating to use

### 4/5 — Not bad

*2025-07-03*

Overallpretty good and very convenient  just lacks a few of the options you would have if you were to use a pc like editting  acitivy description and stuff but honeslty youll be fine its so good to have it on the go also easier to upload media

### 5/5 — Rigid

*2025-05-05*

Despite the occasional error, the app is really stable to use. This is also a simple app on the surface, probably part of why.

### 3/5 — Transferring schools

*2025-04-20*

When I moved schools I was half way through my Bronze DOE. So I had to change my award leader to my new school, I tried to switch it multiple times but it didn’t change, it stayed the same as my old schools award leader.

## Frequently asked questions about ORB Participant

### What does the ORB Participant app do?

The ORB Participant app is a tool designed to help participants of The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award manage their progress. It allows users to set up activities, create logs for their progress, and submit these sections to their Assessor and Award Leader for completion.

### What are the key features of the ORB Participant app?

Key features include the ability to manage your Award progress, set up new activities, create detailed logs of your progress for each section, and easily send these sections to your Assessor and Award Leader for approval.

### Is the ORB Participant app free to use?

Yes, the application is free to download and use. There are no in-app purchases or advertisements mentioned.

### What do I need to use the ORB Participant app?

To use the app, your Award must be registered with the latest version of the Online Record Book system (ORB Next Generation). You will also need a valid participant login for this system.

### Who is this app intended for?

This app is specifically for individuals who are participating in The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award. It's designed to make tracking and submitting their award progress more efficient and accessible.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 2.4.4 — 2026-07-01

Bug fixes and enhancements

### 2.4.2 — 2025-08-19

translations update

### 2.4.1 — 2025-05-20

support for new features

### 2.4.0 — 2025-03-08

bugfixes, support for new features

### 2.3.7 — 2024-04-16

new languages, password validations added, small fixes

## Apps similar to ORB Participant

| App | Rating | Price | Category |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Reach Student Life Management](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/reach-student-life-management/id1556310982) | 1.4 (257) | Free | Education |
| [ClassCharts Students](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/classcharts-students/id1018656220) | 2.3 (19) | Free | Education |
| [Toddle Student](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/toddle-student/id1473393667) | 2.9 (150) | Free | Education |
| [SchoolsBuddy 2.0](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/schoolsbuddy-20/id1514252180) | 1.0 (2) | Free | Education |
| [Orah Student App](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/orah-student-app/id1383553237) | 1.2 (225) | Free | Education |
| [ManageBac](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/managebac/id1437382327) | 4.0 (114) | Free | Education |

## More apps by The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Foundation

- [ORB Leader](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/orb-leader/id1215719412)

All apps by The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Foundation: https://appshunter.io/developer/1215719233

---

*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-01.*