App Recap: Decibel, Liftin' Workout Tracker, Taskheat and Major App Updates

In this week's App Recap, we've highlighted utilities app "Decibel," health and fitness app "Liftin' Workout Tracker," and productivity app "Taskheat" as three apps that are worth checking out. We've also compiled a list of apps that received major updates this week.

App Recap Decibel Liftin Taskheat e1597021194174

Apps to Check Out

  • Decibel: dB Sound Level Meter (iOS, Subscription) - Coupled with a simplistic and easy-to-navigate interface, Decibel features several unique features that make it a great way to monitor audio levels. Users have the ability to save and share noise measurements with location data and access a hearing test, noise dosimeter, spectrogram, and more. The app's hearing test, which is conducted using an audiogram, informs users about the condition of their hearing. Decibel is free to download and offers access to basic features like the dB meter, noise dosimeter, audio spectrum analyzer, and hearing testing. Users can access Decibel's full capabilities through either a subscription priced at $7.99 per month and $29.99 per year or a one-time purchase of $49.99.
  • Liftin' Workout Tracker (iOS, Subscription) - Liftin', an app that lets users easily track workouts, features graphs and statistics that make it easy to visualize progress. Data from the app can be backed up to iCloud and shared with the iPhone's native Health app. Liftin' is free to download, but users are only able to track five workouts per month. To track an unlimited number of workouts, users can subscribe to Liftin' Unlimited, which is priced at $4.99 for the first year and then $14.99 per year thereafter. Due to the ongoing global health crisis, the app's developer is offering a free one year trial to new users for the rest of this month.
  • Taskheat (iOS & Mac, One-Time Purchase) - Taskheat lets users visually manage tasks through a convenient flowchart or list. In addition to the ability to view tasks in an organized manner, users can color code tasks for use cases such as item groupings or priority level labels. The app will also conveniently send notifications when tasks are due in the near future. Taskheat is free to download, but a one-time purchase of $9.99 is required to access the app after the 14 day trial period. Taskheat takes advantage of Apple's universal purchases feature, so buying the app once will allow users to access it across all supported devices.

App Updates

  • ActivityTracker Pedometer - ActivityTracker, an app that tracks steps, active calories, distance, and more, received an update this week with several new features. In addition to a fresh user interface, the app now has a Trends view that displays averages. The new Details view shows activity statistics over certain time periods. The update also introduces a new Today widget, a new Main and Settings view, an updated Apple Watch app, and more.
  • Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides - Google this week announced several new features coming to its slew of productivity apps. Google will be bringing Smart Compose, a feature that helps users write documents faster and reduce the chance of spelling and grammatical errors, to mobile in the coming months. Additionally, Google is improving the user interface for comments and action items in the apps. All three apps will also be gaining a Dark Mode variant on iOS in the coming months.
  • WhatsApp - WhatsApp this week announced it will be rolling out a new way for users to fact-check forwarded messages for misinformation. Messages that have been forwarded through a chain of five or more people will display a magnifying glass button alongside them in the chat thread, and tapping on the bottom will prompt users to select if they'd like to search the web to try and find a news result or other sources of information to support the received content.

Are you using a great new app we've missed? Let us know in the comments and we'll check it out for next week's App Recap. Are you a developer of a unique app you'd like us to consider? Send us a message through our tip line at the top of the page and we'll check it out.

Popular Stories

Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature 1

Apple to Make More Foldable iPhones Than Expected

Tuesday December 9, 2025 9:59 am PST by
Apple has ordered 22 million OLED panels from Samsung Display for the first foldable iPhone, signaling a significantly larger production target than the display industry had previously anticipated, ET News reports. In the now-seemingly deleted report, ET News claimed that Samsung plans to mass-produce 11 million inward-folding OLED displays for Apple next year, as well as 11 million...
iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Google maps feaure

Google Maps Quietly Added This Long-Overdue Feature for Drivers

Wednesday December 10, 2025 2:52 am PST by
Google Maps on iOS quietly gained a new feature recently that automatically recognizes where you've parked your vehicle and saves the location for you. Announced on LinkedIn by Rio Akasaka, Google Maps' senior product manager, the new feature auto-detects your parked location even if you don't use the parking pin function, saves it for up to 48 hours, and then automatically removes it once...
iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island

iPhone 18 Pro Leak Adds New Evidence for Under-Display Face ID

Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker. According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds Second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found. Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
Johny Srouji

Apple's Chipmaking Chief Johny Srouji Responds to Report About Him Potentially Leaving

Monday December 8, 2025 9:23 am PST by
Apple's chipmaking chief Johny Srouji has reportedly indicated that he plans to continue working for the company for the foreseeable future. "I love my team, and I love my job at Apple, and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon," said Srouji, in a memo obtained by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Here is Srouji's full memo, as shared by Bloomberg:I know you've been reading all kind of rumors and...
google pixel 10

Switching Between iPhone and Android Will Get Easier With New Apple and Google Collaboration

Monday December 8, 2025 11:10 am PST by
Apple and Google are teaming up to make it easier for users to switch between iPhone and Android smartphones, according to 9to5Google. There is a new Android Canary build available today that simplifies data transfer between two smartphones, and Apple is going to implement the functionality in an upcoming iOS 26 beta. Apple already has a Move to iOS app for transferring data from an Android...
Apple Fitness Plus expansion hero

Apple Fitness+ Coming to 28 New Regions With Digital Voice Dubbing

Monday December 8, 2025 6:19 am PST by
Apple today announced that Fitness+ is expanding to 28 new markets on December 15 in the service's largest international rollout since launch, accompanied by new language dubbing and a K-Pop music genre. Apple Fitness+ will become available in Chile, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, and additional regions on December 15, with Japan scheduled to follow early next year....
ipad blue prime day

iPad 12 Rumored to Get iPhone 17's A19 Chip, Breaking Apple Tradition

Wednesday December 10, 2025 12:22 pm PST by
The next-generation low-cost iPad will use Apple's A19 chip, according to a report from Macworld. Macworld claims to have seen an "internal Apple code document" with information about the 2026 iPad lineup. Prior documentation discovered by MacRumors suggested that the iPad 12 would be equipped with an A18 chip, not an A19 chip. The A19 chip was just released this year in the iPhone 17, and...

Top Rated Comments

CarlJ Avatar
70 months ago

Apps to Check Out

* Decibel: dB Sound Level Meter ('https://apps.apple.com/app/id1227650795') (iOS, Free) - [...]
* Liftin' Workout Tracker ('https://apps.apple.com/us/app/liftin/id1445041669') (iOS, Free) - [...]
* Taskheat ('https://apps.apple.com/us/app/taskheat-visual-to-do-list/id1431995750#?platform=iphone') (iOS & Mac ('https://apps.apple.com/us/app/taskheat-visual-to-do-list/id1431995750'), Free) - [...]

I understand that these show up as “Free” in the App Store, and yet I think MacRumors would be doing better by its readers if you got in the habit of saying “Free to download”, in that initial text, given that some of these have outright purchase prices as high as $50. I know that the details of their cost is given in the ensuing explanations. But that “Free” at the start sets a false expectation.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
joelisfar Avatar
70 months ago

I'm really sick of subscription apps (Liftin' Workout Tracker ('https://apps.apple.com/us/app/liftin/id1445041669')). If an app keeps getting better, more people will buy it. For a $15 subscription fee per year, it should do more than just recommend heavier weights as their point of difference!
I definitely understand subscription fatigue but if you haven’t checked out Liftin’ (and you’re looking for a weightlifting app) I’d highly recommend giving it a try. I found it a couple of months ago and have really enjoyed it. It’s the most “Apple-y” app I’ve found, and I don’t just mean in the workout space. The Apple Watch integration is *very* nice.

Instead of going with the $15/yr option I went ahead and bought the $50 lifetime subscription. It’s not the most affordable but cheaper than anything else I bought for my home gym. And it was made by an independent developer so I wanted to support his work.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Murkrage Avatar
70 months ago
I understand the subscription fatigue, but the subscription model is great for both developers and consumers alike. It allows developers to continually update software with a constant cash flow and users to get new updates for as long as they are subscribed. Some companies even go with yearly subscriptions where you'll get updates for that year and can then continue using the product, just not get the latest updates.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Murkrage Avatar
70 months ago

No.
Let me ask you this then, when buying software, any type of software, how long after buying it do you expect to get updates for it?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Bandaman Avatar
70 months ago

I'm really sick of subscription apps (Liftin' Workout Tracker ('https://apps.apple.com/us/app/liftin/id1445041669')). If an app keeps getting better, more people will buy it. For a $15 subscription fee per year, it should do more than just recommend heavier weights as their point of difference!
Yeah, that business model is hot garbage.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
spinedoc77 Avatar
70 months ago

I'm really sick of subscription apps (Liftin' Workout Tracker ('https://apps.apple.com/us/app/liftin/id1445041669')). If an app keeps getting better, more people will buy it. For a $15 subscription fee per year, it should do more than just recommend heavier weights as their point of difference!
Check out HeavySet, no sub and it's really great for tracking workouts although it's more geared towards weight lifting. If an app has a sub I say no thanks and just move along.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)