ORB Participant vs WVSS
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
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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.
WVSS
This official school app provides students, parents, and staff with timely updates on school events, closures, and important news. Access calendars, resources, and contact information for the school and its online presence.
- Subscribe to teacher and school updates
- Up-to-date event calendars
- Push notifications for news and closures
- Access school resources and contact info
- Share school events
- Export events to personal calendar
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This is the official West Vancouver Secondary School mobile app. NOTE: This app is only useful for students, parents, and staff at this school. Subscribe to updates from your teachers and the school, and always have up-to-date event calendars and other information at hand. Other benefits: * Push notifications will keep you updated about school closures and other important news. * You’ll always have your school calendars and resources on hand and up-to-date. * Conveniently e-mail, phone, or navigate to the school, or reach the website, social media, and other online resources. * Spread the word about school events! To do so, tap on the event on the Calendar screen, then tap the Share icon. * Want school events in your regular Calendar app? Go to the Calendar screen, tap the Export icon (top right), and follow the instructions. Visit wvss.appazur.com to learn more. This is a new product designed for your school. If you have suggestions or problems, we welcome you to contact us using the Feedback feature on the Help screen. Thank you. Terms and Conditions: wvss.appazur.com/help/terms West Vancouver Secondary School 1750 Mathers Avenue West Vancouver, BC V7V 2G7
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: ORB Participant at 3.1 against WVSS's 2.0. ORB Participant also leads on ratings volume (66 vs 3) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.1). WVSS's advantage is review sentiment (46% vs 32%) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 4 months). 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 2.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ORB Participant has 66 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 32% of ORB Participant's written reviews are positive against 46% of WVSS's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
ORB Participant ships an update every 4 months, WVSS every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ORB Participant | WVSS |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.1 (66 ratings) — better | 2.0 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 31.8% of reviews | 46.2% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 66 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 43 MB | 46 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Foundation | Board of School Trustees of School District No.45 |
Customer experience
ORB Participant
WVSS
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
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- 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
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- 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
WVSS
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
ORB Participant
No in-app purchases
WVSS
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is ORB Participant free?
Is WVSS free?
Which has better reviews, ORB Participant or WVSS?
Do ORB Participant or WVSS have ads?
Which is updated more often, ORB Participant or WVSS?
Other comparisons
