Search the App Store for a gym tracker and nearly every result says the same thing: Free. That is the download price, not the price. Working out what an app actually costs takes about thirty seconds once you know where to look.
How to check before you install
- On the App Store listing, scroll to In-App Purchases. It lists every item and its price. A list of yearly and monthly items means a subscription.
- Look at the item names. Wording like Pro, Plus or Premium next to a yearly price is a tier, and the free version will be missing something.
- A single item with no time period in the name is a one-time unlock.
- Read the developer's own description. Apps that are bought once tend to say so plainly, because it is the thing they are competing on.
Free download does not mean free
It is worth being clear that subscriptions are not a scam. An app with accounts, cloud sync, a social feed, a plan generator or a content library has real costs every single month, and a one-time purchase cannot fund that indefinitely. If you use those things, renting is the honest model and usually the better deal.
The mismatch happens when you pay monthly for infrastructure you never touch. If you open the app, log five exercises and close it, you are funding a feed you have never read.
What a one-time purchase can realistically include
An app sold once has to be cheap to run, which shapes what it can offer. In practice that means:
- On-device data. No account and no server, so nothing costs money while you sleep.
- Apple Health rather than a private cloud. Sync happens through Apple's infrastructure, not the developer's.
- No content library. Video demonstrations and coaching content need producing and hosting, which is a recurring cost.
- No social features. A feed is a server, moderation and support forever.
If a one-time app claims all of the above anyway, be a little suspicious about how long it will last.
Questions worth asking
What happens when the developer stops? An app with no server keeps working, because nothing has to stay switched on. A cloud app stops when the cloud does. This is a real argument for on-device data that has nothing to do with privacy.
Are updates included? A one-time purchase should mean future versions too. Ask before you buy; some apps charge again for major versions.
Can you get your data out? If the answer is no, the price is not the only thing tying you in. Look for CSV or JSON export.
Where TabSet lands
TabSet is free for 14 days with nothing held back, then a single purchase that covers iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, including every future update. There is no account and no server, your training stays on the device and goes to Apple Health with your permission, and you can export it as CSV or JSON whenever you like.
The trade is the one described above: no programme generator, no coaching, no nutrition and no social feed. It counts your sets, times your rest and remembers what you lifted. If that is the whole job, it is the whole app.
Questions
How do I tell if an App Store app has a subscription?
Open its App Store listing and look at the In-App Purchases section. It lists every item with its price. Anything described as yearly or monthly is a subscription; a single item with no time period is a one-time unlock.
Is a one-time purchase always better value?
No. If you use cloud sync, coaching content or a social feed, those cost the developer money every month and a subscription pays for them fairly. It is only poor value when you are funding features you never open.
Does a one-time app stop working if the developer disappears?
An app that keeps your data on the device and needs no server keeps working, because nothing has to stay switched on for it. An app built around a cloud account stops when that account service does.
Does TabSet charge again for major updates?
No. The single purchase includes every future update. There is no higher tier and no version you have to buy again.
Try it
Free for 14 days.
Then 9.99 once, in your local currency. No subscription, no tier, and every future update included.
- Apple Watch, iPhone and iPad
- Tap the ring to log a set, rest starts itself
- Your training stays on your device