ORB Participant vs Orah Student App
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ORB Participant
Track your progress for The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award. Log activities, manage your sections, and submit them to your Assessor and Award Leader for completion, all from your mobile device.
- Manage Award progress
- Set up activities
- Create progress logs
- Submit Award sections
- Assessor and Leader approval
Read full descriptionHide full description
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.
Orah Student App
Manage student leave requests, access contact information, and receive important notifications. Requires an existing student account to use.
- Apply for leave requests
- Manage leave requests
- View contact information
- Organize contact information
- Receive notifications
- Mobile access
Read full descriptionHide full description
Say hello to the student app for Orah. This app provides students with the convenience to apply and manage leave requests, view and organise contact information and receive notifications about relevant activity right from their mobile device. To use this app, you must have an existing Orah student account. If you don’t have a student account and your school is a Orah customer, please ask your administrator to send you an email invitation to create your account.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: ORB Participant at 3.1 against Orah Student App's 1.2. ORB Participant also leads on review sentiment (32% vs 13%) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). Orah Student App's advantage is update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (252 vs 66). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
ORB Participant holds the better App Store score, 3.1 against 1.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 66 and 252 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 32% of ORB Participant's written reviews are positive against 13% of Orah Student App's.
ORB Participant ships an update every 4 months, Orah Student App every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ORB Participant | Orah Student App |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.1 (66 ratings) — better | 1.2 (252 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 31.8% of reviews — better | 13.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 66 | 252 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 43 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Foundation | Boardingware |
Customer experience
ORB Participant
Orah Student App
User reviews
ORB Participant
From 66 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 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
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezing
- ⚠️ Hours calculation errors and inaccuracies
- 🔌 Network error messages despite working connection
- ❌ Limited editing capabilities after submission
- 😤 Slow and laggy performance
Orah Student App
From 252 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use interface
- ⏱️ Saves time with pass requests
- 💡 Innovative location tracking concept
Room to improve
- 🔒 Invasive location tracking concerns
- 🐛 Frequent app crashes and freezes
- 😤 Difficult and tedious login process
- ❌ Inconsistent app functionality
- 🎨 Poor UI/UX design and layout
Bugs and requests
ORB Participant
Reported bugs
18 issues- 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
Show 13 moreShow fewer
- 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
Requested features
17 requests- 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
Show 12 moreShow fewer
- 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
Orah Student App
Reported bugs
11 issues- Login loop - returns to login screen after authentication
- App crashes upon launch or login
- Password not recognized despite correct credentials
- Wrong account type error messages
- Next button unresponsive during login
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- Send button unresponsive for password reset
- Random logout issues
- Slow performance and lag
- Keyboard covers message input field
- Inconsistent capitalization throughout app
- Redundant text (PIN number = personal identification number number)
Requested features
8 requests- Simplified login process with fewer clicks
- Parent-friendly web interface with better country/region selection
- Template location auto-fill for saved pass templates
- Keyboard positioning fix for pass note writing
- Single login system across multiple school locations
Show 3 moreShow fewer
- Improved UI/UX design consistency
- Account creation option within mobile app
- Better error messages and troubleshooting guidance
In-app purchases
ORB Participant
No in-app purchases
Orah Student App
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is ORB Participant free?
Is Orah Student App free?
Which has better reviews, ORB Participant or Orah Student App?
Do ORB Participant or Orah Student App have ads?
Which is updated more often, ORB Participant or Orah Student App?
Other comparisons
