SetDown help.

Your first entry

Open Today → Choose exercise. Create an exercise, choose its units and load meaning, then record your first entry with the guided fields. Creating an exercise alone does not count as performing it.

Short commands are optional. The info button in the command box and Settings → Getting started explain supported inputs.

Repeating and correcting

Repeat last adds another entry with the shown values. Adjust & log lets you change them first. Tap a saved set to edit its weight, reps, time, or note.

Done ends logging for that exercise. Its saved entries stay together for the day. Typing a command does not save it; check the preview and submit it to log an entry.

Notes, cardio, and bodyweight

Daily notes save even on days without a workout. Create a time-based exercise to log minutes.

To log bodyweight, use a command such as 179.7 --bw. Add a date to record a different day: 179.5 --bw 20260810. The in-app guide explains units and accepted commands. Check the preview before saving.

Backups and moving phones

Your journal is saved on your device. If iCloud Backup is on and a completed backup includes SetDown, you can restore its saved data from that backup on a new iPhone. Check which apps are backed up, and make sure your backup has completed. Installing the app alone is not the same as restoring a device backup.

You can also keep a separate copy. In Settings, choose Export complete JSON backup. In Files, choose iCloud Drive or another location and save the file. Export a new copy whenever you want an updated backup, especially before replacing a phone, uninstalling the app, or restoring data.

Restore JSON backup imports a SetDown backup. Merge missing records adds records that are not already present; Replace all local data replaces the current records with the backup. Review your choice carefully. Export CSV for a spreadsheet; use JSON to restore your complete journal.

Device backups and exported files are separate from automatic cross-device sync, which SetDown does not provide. Do not delete your original app or backup until you verify the restored records.

Recovering your records from before an import

Before importing notes or restoring a JSON backup, SetDown keeps one local recovery copy of your existing records. When a copy is available, use Settings → Export pre-import backup to save it to Files. You can then review and restore that JSON file if needed.

Only the latest pre-import copy is kept; a later import replaces it. It stays inside the app until you export it, so it is not a substitute for a backup saved outside the app. On its own, this local copy does not protect against losing your phone or uninstalling SetDown. If the recovery copy cannot be saved, the import does not proceed.

Use Settings → Remove pre-import backup to delete this local recovery copy without changing your current journal.

Importing older notes

Settings → Paste Apple Notes text supports the logging syntax shown in the app. It is not a general conversion tool for every notes format. Analyze the text, check the default date, and review accepted and rejected lines before importing.

Importing the same text twice creates duplicate sets in the current version. Keep a JSON backup before importing, and avoid repeating an import you already completed.

What do the body-map colors mean?

They indicate time since a tagged exercise was recorded: 0–2, 3–6, 7–8, and 9+ days. Missing history is shown separately, and numbers accompany the colors. The map’s fullness is another view of that elapsed time. These are not recovery estimates or exercise recommendations.