Comparison

Basic Bins vs CHESS/BLOCK

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Basic Bins

Easily catalog your storage items by photographing them. The app automatically names items and allows you to add notes and counts. Print QR code labels for your bins to quickly scan and view contents without opening them.

Highlights
  • Photograph items for automatic naming
  • Add notes and counts to items
  • Printable QR code labels for bins
  • Searchable inventory via iPhone search
  • Track items checked out by users
  • Organize by location, box, and item
Features
Read full description

You are standing in the storage unit with the door up, looking at forty identical boxes, and the thing you drove here for is in one of them. Basic Bins is the inventory you will actually keep. Photograph what goes in the box and it names itself. Print a label, scan it months later, and see everything inside without lifting the lid. PHOTOGRAPH IT, DON'T TYPE IT The reason inventory apps get abandoned is the typing. Point the camera at something and Basic Bins names it for you. Snap the drill, the Christmas lights, the box of cables, and keep moving. Corrections are one tap if it guesses wrong. Retake a photo any time, or add one to something you typed in a hurry. Add a note or a count to anything: six folding chairs, the drill that is missing its charger. Search reads both, and when nothing matches exactly it shows the closest thing rather than saying it found nothing. Your things turn up in iPhone search too. Pull down on the home screen, type what you are after, and the result says which box it is in. Tap it and Basic Bins opens there. Only your own inventory is listed, so a shared library stays private. Add what something would cost to replace, on the few things where it matters. The printable inventory totals the ones that do, box by box and location by location, and says how many it counted. Pick the currency once and every value uses it. A QR LABEL FOR EVERY BIN Print a label, stick it on the box, and the box is now searchable. Scan it with your phone and the whole contents list comes up. No opening, no digging, no lifting a tote down to find out it is the wrong one. Labels print from your own printer on plain paper or sticker sheets. Nothing to buy. BUILT THE WAY STORAGE ACTUALLY WORKS Locations hold boxes. Boxes hold items. Some things are not in a box at all, and that is fine: the bike, the ladder, the floor lamp all live loose in the location. Each location is a full-width photo of the place, so you know the unit by its orange doors before you read the name. Every box gets an icon you can change from its menu. Move a box to another location when the garage becomes the basement. Everything inside goes too. Drag boxes and items into whatever order you actually walk the room in. The printable list follows it. Take something out and check it out in the app, and it shows as out with your name on it. Inside the box, the item says who has it and for how long, right under its name. Put it back and it clears. The Out screen lists everything that has left, longest gone first. This is the part that stops the "I thought you had it" conversation. MOVING DAY Start a move and give each box the room it is going to, printed on its label. Mark boxes packed, loaded and arrived, or scan the labels to do it, and see what is still missing. SHARE IT WITH THE PEOPLE YOU LIVE WITH Storage is rarely one person's problem. Invite someone and you both see the same bins, both add to them, and both know what left. Whoever you invite joins free, and their own inventory stays private. WHAT'S FREE AND WHAT'S PREMIUM Free: one location, fifty items, and the full experience of both. QR labels, camera naming, and item values are included. It is a real inventory, not a demo. Premium, as many locations and items as you have, household sharing, and starting a move. Everything you cataloged on the free plan stays yours, and stays readable, if you ever stop. Every color scheme is free on both, the light default and the dark Ink included. IT IS YOUR INVENTORY, NOT OURS No account to create. Your locations, boxes, items, and photos sync across your own devices through iCloud, and they live in your iCloud, not on our servers. Export a backup any time and keep it wherever you like. Export a printable inventory or a spreadsheet for insurance, a move, or an estate, totals and your own notes included. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://basicapps.tech/privacy

About

CHESS/BLOCK

Features
Read full description

Block distracting apps. Earn screen time through chess. CHESS/BLOCK turns a scrolling break into puzzles and guided lessons matched to your level. Choose distracting apps to pause, complete chess puzzles or guided lessons, and earn time back for the apps you selected. HOW IT WORKS • Choose the apps you want to pause. • Start from your current chess level. • Solve a puzzle or complete a beginner lesson. • Earn a personalized amount of screen time for each solved puzzle. • Keep practicing to build your streak. CHESS PRACTICE FOR YOUR LEVEL Never played before? Learn how every piece moves through guided lessons before you see a rated puzzle. Already play? Set your approximate rating and training focus for puzzles matched to you. Add your Chess.com username to turn eligible mistakes from recent public games into private practice puzzles. Optional Lichess connection can use your rating to personalize difficulty and sync eligible puzzle results. Manual rating and focus controls are always available. SCREEN TIME ON YOUR TERMS CHESS/BLOCK uses Apple’s Screen Time controls to pause only the apps you select. Your earned time, app choices, and chess progress stay under your control. You can change your schedule, restore purchases, or stop blocking from the app. No ads. No CHESS/BLOCK account required. CHESS/BLOCK requires an active subscription to start new puzzle-powered focus sessions. App selection, purchase restoration, stopping, and emergency recovery remain available without an active subscription. Subscription terms and current eligibility are shown before purchase. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Basic Bins4 screens
CHESS/BLOCK4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Basic Bins at daily against CHESS/BLOCK's every 5 weeks. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Basic Bins sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $59.99 per year and CHESS/BLOCK sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Basic Bins ships an update daily, CHESS/BLOCK every 5 weeks. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Basic Bins versus CHESS/BLOCK: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBasic BinsCHESS/BLOCK
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyDaily — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB43 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSean TrapaniAnkur Gupta LLC

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Basic Bins

Subscriptions1
  • Premium$59.991 Year
3 purchases

CHESS/BLOCK

Subscriptions3
  • CHESS/BLOCK Weekly7 Days trial$4.997 Days
  • CHESS/BLOCK Annual7 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Annual Launch Offer1 Year trial$29.991 Year

Questions

Is Basic Bins free?
Basic Bins is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is CHESS/BLOCK free?
CHESS/BLOCK is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Basic Bins or CHESS/BLOCK have ads?
Neither Basic Bins nor CHESS/BLOCK shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Basic Bins or CHESS/BLOCK?
Basic Bins ships an update daily, and CHESS/BLOCK every 5 weeks. Most recently, Basic Bins was updated on October 31, 2026 and CHESS/BLOCK on October 31, 2026.

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