Open the Fitness app on any iPhone and you'll see your rings, your Watch workouts and, if you subscribe, a Fitness+ tab full of trainers. What you won't see anywhere in Apple's software is a place to write "squat, 225 x 5 x 3." Apple has never built a strength log. That's the whole reason the third-party category exists.
The Fitness app (free, built in)
Move, Exercise and Stand rings. Every workout your Apple Watch records. Trends, awards, sharing with friends. If you don't have a Watch you can still see steps and manually added workouts. It's the best activity tracker on the platform and it's not trying to be anything else.
Apple Fitness+ ($9.99 a month)
Apple Fitness+
Studio classes in a dozen categories, new ones every week, with your Watch heart rate and rings on screen. Custom Plans stitch classes into a multi-week program. The polish is unmatched. Strength content is dumbbell-only and it does not track sets, reps or loads.
Skip it if you train with a barbell or want a logbook. It's television for exercise, done very well.
Three months usually come free with a new iPhone, Watch or iPad, and it's in the Apple One Premier bundle. If you own a Watch and like classes, it's the best-produced option on any platform. The strength classes are dumbbell-only and there is no set-by-set tracking; you're doing what the trainer does.
What Apple leaves out, and who fills it
Sets, reps, load, rest, progression. Anything a lifter writes in a notebook. Apple gives that data a home in the Health app (a "Strength Training" workout with duration and calories) but no way to record what you lifted. So the workflow most iPhone lifters land on is: a third-party app for the training, Apple Health for the record.
GymAdapt AI: Workout Coach
Tell it your goal, days per week, experience and what equipment you have, and it builds a 6-week block with real video demos for every exercise. Then it watches what you actually log. If you hit 10 reps at 2 reps in reserve, next session's target goes up and it tells you why. If you stall, it steps back before it deloads. Plate calculator, supersets, rest timer, Apple Health sync, and a coach chat that can trim a workout to the time you have.
Skip it if you're on Android, or you want a pure logger with no opinions.
Strong
A notebook, perfected. Two taps per set, no feed, no suggestions, the cleanest CSV export in the business. If your program lives in a spreadsheet or your coach's head, this is the fastest way to record it.
Skip it if you want demos, programming, or any kind of advice. Strong has opinions about nothing.
Hevy
The most usable free tier in the category: unlimited workouts, four routines, three months of charts, no ads. The paid tier is the cheapest around and the lifetime price beats three years of anyone else's annual. Social feed if you like that, ignorable if you don't.
Skip it if you want the app to write your program. Hevy Trainer on Pro helps, but it's a template builder, not a coach.
All three push completed sessions into Apple Health so they count toward your rings and show up in the Fitness app like any other workout. GymAdapt also pulls your body weight and composition back the other way.
Questions people ask
Is there an official Apple workout app?
Yes, two. The Fitness app is free on every iPhone and tracks activity rings and Apple Watch workouts. Apple Fitness+ is a $9.99/mo subscription (inside the Fitness app) with trainer-led video classes.
Does Apple Fitness+ track sets and reps?
No. Fitness+ strength classes are follow-along video with dumbbells. It records the session's duration, heart rate and calories, not sets, reps or weight lifted.
How much is Apple Fitness+?
$9.99 a month or $79.99 a year in the US. New Apple devices usually include three months free, and it's part of Apple One Premier.
Can I use Apple Fitness+ without an Apple Watch?
Yes, on iPhone, iPad and Apple TV. You lose the on-screen heart rate and ring metrics, which are a big part of the experience.
The lifting app that plays nicely with Apple Health.
GymAdapt builds your plan, shows a real video for every exercise, and writes every finished session to Health so your rings close.
Get GymAdapt on the App Store → $7.99 a month or $49.99 a year, with a 7-day free trial. iPhone only.