What's new
Updates and improvements
Everything we've shipped to BoardPal, newest first.
Nov 1 to 7 · 25 new features
7Nov · Sat
Community: ask, share wins and find players
New- New
New Community page: ask, share wins and find players. more ▾less ▴
Community is open, next to Play in the menu. Ask study questions, talk about exam day, share your wins and post Play invites with your party code. Every student can read and tap Helpful; students with full access can post and reply.
- New
Report, mute and block, plus Teaching points from moderators. more ▾less ▴
To keep it a safe study room: links, phone numbers and selling are not allowed, a student's first few posts get a quick check, and you can report, mute or block anyone. Moderators can add a Teaching point under a post when a tip needs correcting.
Play: Rapid Fire Time Attack, one-topic games, friends up top
New- New
Play one topic, not only one NP. more ▾less ▴
Rapid Fire, parties and Challenge can now be one topic, such as Hematologic Disorders or Oncologic Emergencies. Pick the NP, then choose the topic from the list under it.
Represent your school
New- New
Pick your school to see schoolmates and the weekly top schools. more ▾less ▴
Pick your nursing school in Play or Settings to see schoolmates on BoardPal and help your school climb the weekly top schools board. It's optional, and you can hide yourself or leave anytime.
Live Match: read the why, tap Next together
New- New
Live Match: Next together, plus 2 timeouts each. more ▾less ▴
In a Live Match, tap Next when you are ready: once both players tap it, the next question starts. Each player also has 2 timeouts a match; a timeout gives you both 20 more seconds on the answer screen.
Notifications when a friend invites you
New- New
A friend's Play invite can now buzz your phone. more ▾less ▴
When a friend invites you to play live, sends you a challenge or invites you to a party, your phone or laptop can now buzz. At most 6 a day, never between 11 PM and 7 AM, and you can switch them off in Settings under Play invites from friends. While you wait for a friend, you see when the invite reached their phone.
- New
Tell us your exam month in one tap. more ▾less ▴
Home asks free students one quick question: when is your PNLE? Tap February, August, Later or Not sure. It only helps us time our reminders; your exam countdown still comes from your study plan.
Play: live challenges with friends, a tidier card, Play in the tab bar
New- New
Challenge a friend live, or let them play later. more ▾less ▴
Challenge is now live first. Pick a friend who is studying now and wait for them to join; they get a Join button on their Play page and Home, and you play the same 10 questions at the same time. If they are not around, tap "Play now, they play later" and it works like before.
A sound when a mock or timed set runs out
New- New
Mocks and timed sets now ring when time runs out. more ▾less ▴
When a mock exam section reaches its last 10 seconds, or a timed practice set runs out, BoardPal now plays a sound with the Time's up box. It uses the sound and volume you picked in the study Timer, so open the Timer to choose a louder one, or turn it off with "Sound when a mock or timed set runs out". From a student who wanted to hear when time was up.
Play: Pulse grows with you
New- New
Pulse gets new gear as you level up. more ▾less ▴
Pulse gets a new item at every game level from 2 to 10: a clinical ID, a cap band and nursing pin, a penlight, a stethoscope, a watch, scrubs, a patient chart, a gold stethoscope and a second cap band, with gold bands at 15 and Nightingale's lamp at 20.
- New
See Pulse's next item, and his new one when you level up. more ▾less ▴
The Play page shows what Pulse gets next and how much XP is left, and leveling up shows Pulse with his new item. Your level-up and result pictures show him too.
Play: send challenges to friends, see who is studying, Pulse the coach
New- New
Send challenges to friends inside the app. more ▾less ▴
Send a challenge to a friend inside BoardPal: it waits at the top of their Play page and on their Home until they play it. Tap Challenge on a friend's player card, or pick friends after you make one. The link still works for anyone else.
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See which friends are studying now. more ▾less ▴
See when friends and squadmates are studying: a green dot and 'Studying now', or when they were last active. Only friends and squadmates see yours, and you can hide it under Your games on the Play page.
- New
A Play row on Home. more ▾less ▴
Home has a Play row that takes you straight to the games, or into a public party when one is open.
Play: harder Match Up, upbeat music, games in History
New- New
Save game misses to your Vault. more ▾less ▴
Save the questions you miss in games to your Vault: tap Save on any result screen, or switch on auto-save under Your games on the Play page. Games still never change your readiness score.
- New
Games in History, with your strong and weak topics. more ▾less ▴
History now has a Games filter: every game you finish, what you missed with each explanation, and your strongest and weakest Nursing Practice from the last 30 days of games.
Nightly Show: podium, gold medal, weekly champion and Hall of Fame
New- New
A podium for the Nightly Top 3, and a gold medal for the winner. more ▾less ▴
The Nightly Show's Top 3 now stand on a podium on the Play page, and on Home in the evening, until the next show starts. The winner wears a gold medal on their picture everywhere in Play.
- New
Weekly points and a Champion of the week. more ▾less ▴
Nightly places now earn weekly points: 10 for 1st, 6 for 2nd, 4 for 3rd. Follow the race under This week. After Sunday's show, the student with the most points becomes Champion of the week and wears the gold medal for the week.
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The weekly champion wins a 7-day pass for a friend. more ▾less ▴
The Champion of the week wins a 7-day pass to give a friend who hasn't tried full access yet.
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A Hall of Fame of Nightly Show winners. more ▾less ▴
A Hall of Fame on the Play page lists every Nightly Show winner, with their number of wins and best night.
- New
6Nov · Fri
Play: Live Match, public parties, frames and player cards
New- New
Make a party Public so any student can join. more ▾less ▴
When you open a Quiz Show or Code Blue party, you can make it Public. Public parties show under Open parties on the Play page, so any student can join while it waits in the lobby. Private is still the default.
- New
Earn photo frames, and see your friends' player cards. more ▾less ▴
Photo frames: earn rings for your picture (Sage, Gold, Laurel, Night Owl, Heartbeat and On Fire) and pick one under Choose frame. Tap a friend or squadmate on the Play page to see their player card, with their frame, badges and best results.
- New
Nightly Show countdown on Home and an optional 8:45 PM reminder. more ▾less ▴
The Nightly Show now counts down on Home from 6 PM, shows how many are in the lobby, and can remind you at 8:45 PM if you turn on Remind me.
- New
Share your level ups, badges and Top 3 finishes. more ▾less ▴
New pictures to share: your level up, a new badge, a Nightly Show Top 3 finish, and game results that ask your friends if they can beat you. Friends without an account can sign up and go straight to your challenge.
Play: Quick match against a live student, music and quick chat
New- New
Quick match: play another student live, or a recorded round. more ▾less ▴
Quick match replaces Play someone new. Tap Find a player and BoardPal looks for another student searching at the same moment; when it finds one, you both play the same 10 questions live. If nobody turns up within 15 seconds, you can play a real student's recorded round, clearly marked as recorded, or keep waiting. Free accounts get one Quick match a day.
- New
Optional background music in games, off until you turn it on. more ▾less ▴
Games can now play soft background music. It starts off; tap the music note at the top of any game to turn it on. Sound effects keep their own switch.
- New
Quick chat in live games, and a picture of your result to share. more ▾less ▴
In live games, the Chat button sends short ready-made messages, for example Good luck or Well played. Game end screens can make a picture of your result to share, and link to the BoardPal Telegram group.
Play someone new, and friends in Play
New- New
Play someone new: another student's round, any time. more ▾less ▴
Play someone new: answer the same 10 questions another BoardPal student played, any time, without waiting for anyone to be online. After each answer you see how they did. A switch on that screen stops others playing your rounds.
- New
Add people you played with as friends. more ▾less ▴
Add as friend: after a match, a party or a challenge, tap Add. Once they accept, they stay in your list so you can invite them again any time.
Partners can be paid part of a month early
New- New
Partners can be paid part of a month early. more ▾less ▴
When a partner needs their commission before the month closes, we can now send part of it early. The Partner Portal shows what was sent early and what is still to come, and the month-end payout covers only the rest.
Ten flashcard decks read again, seventy-seven cards sharpened
New- New
Eight new flashcards fill gaps the questions test. more ▾less ▴
Eight new cards fill gaps the practice questions test: RA 9288 vs RA 9709 newborn screens, thin liquids after a stroke, the 60-minute arrival-to-infusion stroke standard, subglottic secretion drainage, the urinary antigen test, the nerves of the pupil light reflex, the intrusion cluster of PTSD, and the two conditions for reassigning a public health worker.
Play: study games, solo or with friends
New- New
Play tab: Rapid Fire, Type It and Match Up. more ▾less ▴
A new Play tab under Practice, in beta. Rapid Fire (beat the clock with 3 lives), Type It (type the missing word on a flashcard) and Match Up (pair answers to sentences). Every game ends with what you missed and why. Tap Suggest an idea on the Play page to tell us what to add.
- New
Quiz Show and Code Blue parties, and challenge links. more ▾less ▴
Play with friends: with full access, open a Quiz Show or a Code Blue team round and send the link or 6-letter code, or send a challenge link with 10 questions friends can play any time within 48 hours. Anyone can join a party or a challenge a friend sends, free.
- New
The 9 PM Nightly Show, plus levels and badges. more ▾less ▴
The Nightly Show: everyone plays the same 15 questions at 9 PM Manila time. Games earn XP, levels and badges, and count toward your study streak. They never change your leaderboard score.
Sign in with Google, and a wider page on laptops
New- New
Continue with Google on the sign-up and log-in pages. more ▾less ▴
Sign up or log in with one tap using Continue with Google. Your email and password still work the same.
- New
Laptops: ☰ hides the side menu for a wider page. more ▾less ▴
On laptops, the ☰ button at the top left now hides the side menu so the page gets wider. Tap it again to bring the menu back. BoardPal remembers your choice on that device.
A new, simpler layout
New- New
Laptops: a menu down the left side, every page one click away. more ▾less ▴
On laptops, the menu now runs down the left side, always open, with every page one click away and a Start practicing button on top.
- New
Phones and tablets: five tabs at the bottom. more ▾less ▴
On phones and tablets, five tabs sit at the bottom: Home, Cram Sheets, Practice, Flashcards and Study Plan. Everything else is in the menu at the top left.
- New
Prefer the old layout? It is under Account for a few weeks. more ▾less ▴
Prefer the old layout? Pick Use the old layout under Account in the menu. It stays available for a few weeks while we listen to what you think.
- New
5Nov · Thu
Test-taking tips on practice questions
New- New
Tap Test-taking tip under an explanation to see how to reason your way to the answer. more ▾less ▴
Some practice questions now have a Test-taking tip under the explanation. Tap it to see how to reason your way to the answer, such as how to handle a "needs correcting" question or how to choose which patient to see first. It stays closed until you tap it and appears only where a strategy truly helps, so you will see it on a few questions for now and on more over time.
- New
4Nov · Wed
Make flashcards while you read a cram sheet
New- New
Make flashcards from a cram sheet: highlight a line or crop a picture, and the card links back to its page. more ▾less ▴
In a cram sheet, turn on Select text and highlight a line, then tap Make a flashcard. Tap the word you want to hide and it becomes the blank on the front of your card, or write your own question instead. Picture card turns a table or figure into a card: drag a box around it. Cards go to a deck named after the sheet (you can pick another), and each one links back to the page it came from.
- New
3Nov · Tue
Spaced review in the Vault
New- New
A Spaced review switch in the Vault: missed questions come back a week later until you get them right twice. more ▾less ▴
The Vault has a new Spaced review switch. Turn it on and a question you miss comes back after a week, then leaves the Vault only after you get it right twice, a week apart, so it sticks for exam day. Tapping "I've got this" still clears a question at once. It is off unless you turn it on, and your Vault works as before.
A quick, optional question on Home
New- New
An occasional optional question on Home. Skip it or turn it off with one tap. more ▾less ▴
Once in a while, a short optional question may appear on Home, asking how you first heard about BoardPal or how your review is going. It never shows during practice or mock exams, it stays quiet in the two weeks before your exam, and you can skip it or turn it off with one tap.
- New
1Nov · Sun
The official PNLE TOS, explained topic by topic
New- New
A free page explains PRC's official PNLE TOS, topic by topic. more ▾less ▴
A free page now explains the official PNLE Table of Specifications from PRC: what each of the five subjects covers, how many of its 100 items each topic gets, and how many items test each thinking level. Tap a topic to see what PRC lists under it and where to study it on BoardPal. You can also save a one-page summary to your phone.
- New
Get Byron's free PNLE study tracker, a Google Sheets checklist. more ▾less ▴
Byron's free PNLE study tracker is now on its own page. It is a Google Sheets checklist of every topic in the five subjects, with a countdown to your exam, a practice score log and a list of your weak topics. Tap Get your free copy to save your own; no sign-up needed.
Partners can add a payout QR code
New- New
Partners can upload a payout QR code in the Partner Portal. more ▾less ▴
Partners can now upload their GCash, Maya or bank QR code with their payout details in the Partner Portal. We scan it to send each payout, so it reaches the right account quickly. The portal shows a reminder until a QR is added.
- New