Workout apps with a rest timer, and how good each one is

The short answer

Ranked on the rest timer alone, not on the app as a whole.

• Hevy: the best timer for most people. It starts when you tick a set, each exercise gets its own rest from 5 seconds to 5 minutes, and it shows on the Lock Screen as a Live Activity with +15, -15 and skip. It notifies you at zero, with a sound you can set.
• Strong: a close second. The default rest is 2:00 and starts on its own, and each exercise can have one rest for warm-up sets and another for working sets. Timers also run on its Apple Watch app.
• HeavySet: the most detailed. Preset rest times per exercise, quick modifiers, a tempo metronome and a notification when a timer ends. It has not been updated since 20 August 2025.
• JEFIT: flexible. A rest timer, stopwatch or countdown per exercise, rest set per individual set, and the rest timer on your Lock Screen.
• SayLift: basic. One default rest, an override per exercise, +15, -15 and skip, and a vibration at zero. Nothing shows on the Lock Screen and nothing makes a sound. People pick SayLift for voice logging, and the timer is a convenience on top.

What makes a rest timer good

A timer you have to start by hand gets forgotten by the third exercise. The features below are the ones that decide whether you actually rest the time you meant to.

• It starts when you finish a set. Tick the set and the countdown begins. No extra tap.
• Each exercise has its own rest. Three minutes after heavy squats and one minute after curls is normal. One global number means changing it all session.
• You can adjust it without leaving the set. A +15 or -15 button, and a skip, for the days a set felt harder or easier than planned.
• It reaches you when the phone is locked. A sound, a notification or a Lock Screen countdown. A timer you can only see with the app open is easy to miss while you load plates or talk to someone.
• It stays out of the way. A timer that fires before the second drop of a drop set is worse than no timer.

Rest timers compared

#1 Hevy: the timer that follows you out of the app

Hevy's timer starts when you mark a set complete, using the rest you set for that exercise. Any value from five seconds to five minutes works, and you can change it in a saved routine or mid-workout. A default rest in Settings applies to every new exercise you add.

What puts it first is the Lock Screen. Hevy's Live Activity shows the rest countdown on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, with buttons to add or remove 15 seconds or skip, so you can lock the phone between sets and still see the time. At zero Hevy notifies you, and the timer sound has its own volume setting: off, low, normal or high.

One small detail shows care: the automatic timer does not start if the next set is marked as a drop set.

Hevy's App Store page lists the rest timer among its general features. Its Pro list (unlimited routines, custom exercises, graph history and measurements) does not mention it. Pro is $2.99 a month, $23.99 a year or $74.99 once.

The honest limits. The longest rest you can set is five minutes, which is short for some heavy powerlifting work. Hevy's own pages also do not describe a separate rest for warm-up sets, which Strong has.

#2 Strong: separate rest for warm-ups

Strong's store page describes a built-in Auto Countdown Timer for rest breaks. Its help center gives the details: the default is 2:00, it starts as soon as a set is completed, and it sits in the top left corner of the workout screen. Tap it to go full screen, where you can change the time or skip.

Each exercise can have its own rest from its More menu, and Strong lets you set one duration for warm-up sets and another for working sets. That is useful if you take short rests between warm-ups and long ones between heavy sets. The timer sound effect can be changed in Settings, and Strong's help center says timers are also available on its Apple Watch app.

PRO is $4.99 a month, $29.99 a year or $99.99 once. The free version saves unlimited workouts and caps custom routines at 3.

The honest limits. Strong's own pages do not mention a Lock Screen Live Activity or a notification at zero, so we do not claim either. If you rely on the phone being locked, test that before you commit.

#3 HeavySet: the most detailed, and not updated in a year

HeavySet's store page lists preset rest timers per exercise inside your routines, a rest timer with presets and quick modifiers during the workout, a tempo timer metronome, and local notifications when timers end. If you train with prescribed tempos, the metronome is something none of the other apps here list.

It is free to download. Improvised workouts are unlimited, and the paid upgrade lifts a limit on how many times you can run your own saved routines.

The honest limits. The current version, 2025.1, was released on 20 August 2025 and nothing has shipped since. The timer still works, but it is the one app here you are betting on without recent updates. More on that in our HeavySet alternative page.

#4 JEFIT: a timer, a stopwatch or a countdown

JEFIT's store page says you can set a custom rest timer, stopwatch or countdown for any exercise, and that your set count and rest timer show on the Lock Screen. A JEFIT product update from May 2025 added rest time for each individual set, so a heavy top set can get a longer rest than the back-off sets after it.

JEFIT is free with ads and limits. Elite is $12.99 a month or $69.99 a year.

The honest limits. JEFIT's own pages do not say whether the timer starts on its own, how you adjust it mid-rest, or what alert you get at zero. We have left those cells as "Not stated" rather than guess.

SayLift: a basic timer on a voice-first app

SayLift is our app. It added a rest timer in version 4.3, on 18 September 2026, and the timer is simple.

It runs while you log a workout by hand. Tick a set and a countdown starts. The default is 90 seconds, and you can pick anything from 30 seconds to 4 minutes. Each exercise card can override the default. During the rest you get -15, +15 and Skip. At zero the phone vibrates. You can switch the timer off in Settings.

That is all of it. The vibration is the only signal: there is no sound, notification or Lock Screen countdown. You also will not find presets, a separate warm-up rest or a metronome. And it only runs when you log by hand, because a voice-logged workout is recorded after the session is over.

The reason to pick SayLift is the voice logging. You finish training, hold a button and say the session, for example "bench three sets of eight at 135, then rows, ten, ten and eight at 60," and an AI model writes down every exercise, set, rep and weight on a review screen before it saves. None of the other apps here do that. A coach then picks the weight for your next session from what you logged.

Worth knowing before you pay. SayLift costs $49.99 a year, $7.99 a month or $3.99 a week after a 3-day free trial, and there is no free tier. It is iPhone only, supersets are not grouped, and it has no App Store ratings yet. If a strong rest timer is what you are shopping for, Hevy, Strong or HeavySet will serve you better.

How long should you rest between sets?

A timer only helps if the number in it makes sense. A common starting point:

• Heavy compound lifts (squat, bench, deadlift, rows) at low reps: 2 to 3 minutes, sometimes more.
• Moderate-rep work for muscle growth: about 90 seconds to 2 minutes.
• Isolation exercises (curls, raises, pushdowns): about 60 to 90 seconds.
• Warm-up sets: short, often under a minute. They are there to prepare you, not tire you.

How to pick

• You want the timer on your Lock Screen with a notification: Hevy.
• You want different rest for warm-ups and working sets, or timers on your Apple Watch: Strong.
• You train to a tempo and want a metronome: HeavySet, accepting it has not been updated since August 2025.
• You want a stopwatch or rest set per individual set: JEFIT.
• You want to stop typing sets and can live with a basic timer: SayLift, $49.99 a year after a 3-day trial.