Comparison

2017 Master Electrician Ref. vs Mettle Inspect

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

Head to head
About

2017 Master Electrician Ref.

This digital handbook provides electricians and related professionals with essential electrical formulas, diagrams, and reference tables. It offers calculations, a dictionary of terms, and detailed information on wiring, motors, transformers, and more, all accessible on a mobile device.

Highlights
  • Electrical formulas and calculations
  • Wiring diagrams for various systems
  • Motor and transformer specifications
  • Conductor and ampacity tables
  • Dictionary of electrician terms
  • NEMA standards and diagrams
  • Math and conversion tools
Features
Read full description

Master Electrician Reference (or MER for short) 2017 is your electronic pocket electrician reference guide. MER is for electrical designers, engineers, installers, contractors, facility managers, inspectors, exam candidates, apprentices, electricians, journeymen, architects, and technicians. MER is for people doing residential, industrial, and commercial work. Simply, if you are a Master Sparky or work with electricity in any way, this reference guide is for you! Have you ever lost pages or had damaged pages in your pocket electricians reference? The solution is here: Use MER to keep the most important information easily accessible on your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. MER will even do calculations for you; something your old pocket reference book can't do. MER is divided into the following sections: * Simple Circuits - Ohm's law, series and parallel circuits, capacitance, inductance, impedance, and reactance. * Distributed Systems - Distribution wiring diagrams for 120, 208, 277, and 480 volts, color codes, breaker sizes, light switches and bells diagrams. * Electrical Formulas - Formulas for kVA, kW, and HP. * Color Codes - Color codes for capacitors and resistors. * Motors and Wiring - Standard motor and motor starter sizes, tables of full-load currents, locked-rotor information, overload units, OCPD, nameplate information, synchronous motor speeds, three-phase STAR and DELTA diagrams, three-wire start-stop diagram, motor frame dimensions, and motor enclosure types. * Transformers - KVA ratings for single- and three-phase current, transformer formulas. * Conductor Properties - Conductor tables, AWG and metric wire sizes, twist-on pressure connectors, and wire combinations. * Ampacities - Ampacities in raceway, cable, earth, and free air, and derating tables. * Conduit Fill table * Grounding Sizes - Equipment grounding conductor (EGC) and grounding electrode conductor (GEC). * Metal Boxes - Images and sizes of metal boxes, junction / device boxes, junction / pull boxes. * Voltage Drop calculations * Dictionary of electrician terms * Insulation Charts - Table of cable and wire types * Electrical Symbols * NEMA - Plugs and wiring diagrams, enclosure types, standard underground boxes, standard fuse and breaker sizes, standard pull box / junction sizes, standard gutter and wire-ways, standard switchboards, standard busway, standard busbar ampacity, standard panelboard sizes, and standard disconnect sizes. * Math and Conversions - Formulas for algebra, geometry, fractions, temperature conversion, trig tables, unit conversions, metric prefixes, and conversions between inches and millimeters. * Conduit Bending - Includes the guide "The Master Bender Way" on how to bend conduit. See the Master Bender app or MasterBender.com website for more information. * Conduit Weights * Copper Wire Cost * Hole Saw Sizes * Material Raceway Support * Lighting - Fluorescent, high-intensity discharge, incandescent, LED, and low-pressure sodium. * Standard Tool List * Torque - Lugs, bolts, and screws, tightening torque. * Dry, Damp, and Wet Locations * Hazardous Locations * Wiring Methods * Safety - Lock-out / tag-out (LOTO), and a safety manual and first aid. Most pages contain a general scientific calculator. It is expression based: Just enter an expression and evaluate it. It understands trig and power functions, can convert between radians and degrees, and has built-in basic constants like pi and e. MER includes key NEC tables from the National Electrical Code (NEC) 2017. We also have MER apps available for NEC 2011 and NEC 2014 code years. Visit our website at MasterSparky.com for more information.

About

Mettle Inspect

This platform enables inspection organizations and their teams to manage and capture on-site inspection information. It allows for project management, detailed field inspections, and secure data synchronization with an organization's workspace. Capture visual evidence, record observations, and collaborate with team members, even with limited connectivity.

Highlights
  • Project management
  • Field inspections
  • Picture documentation with annotations
  • Offline workflows
  • Team collaboration
  • Secure data synchronization
Read full description

Mettle Inspect is a field inspection platform for inspection organizations and their teams. This app is the field companion to the Mettle Inspect web platform, used by authorized team members to capture inspection information on site. Access requires an organization workspace. You can create a free account in this app to start a business workspace and begin an inspection, or sign in if your organization already invited you. Mettle Inspect is sold to organizations for authorized employees and contractors — not as a personal, individual, or family subscription. FEATURES • Project management Create and organize inspection projects with project details and inspection information. • Field inspections Create and complete inspections with organized observations and inspection details. • Picture documentation Capture inspection pictures, add annotations, and attach visual evidence directly to observations. • Offline workflows Continue working in areas with limited connectivity. Save inspection data offline and sync updates when back online. • Team collaboration Work with project teams using role-based access for owners, managers, and inspectors. • Inspection documentation Record observations, priorities, deadlines, recommendations, and inspection information in one place. • Secure synchronization Keep inspection data synchronized with your organization’s workspace. Mettle Inspect connects field capture, team review, and inspection reporting in one workflow, so organizations can document site conditions without duplicate data entry. New organizations can create a free account in this app. Billing and organization administration stay on the Mettle Inspect website. If your team already uses Mettle Inspect, sign in with the account your organization administrator provided, or accept their invite.

Screenshots

2017 Master Electrician Ref.4 screens
Mettle Inspect4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Mettle Inspect at Free against 2017 Master Electrician Ref.'s $9.99. Mettle Inspect also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 67%) and update cadence (weekly vs every 5 months). 2017 Master Electrician Ref.'s advantage is ratings volume (1.3K vs 2) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.4). On 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

Mettle Inspect is free to download; 2017 Master Electrician Ref. costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Mettle Inspect holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: 2017 Master Electrician Ref. has 1.3K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of 2017 Master Electrician Ref.'s written reviews are positive against 100% of Mettle Inspect's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

2017 Master Electrician Ref. ships an update every 5 months, Mettle Inspect weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
2017 Master Electrician Ref. versus Mettle Inspect: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameter2017 Master Electrician Ref.Mettle Inspect
Price$9.99Free — better
Rating4.7 (1.3K ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.3K — better2
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size46 MB57 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperPawEng, LLCKUVO LABS, LLC

Customer experience

2017 Master Electrician Ref.

All ratings1,255 ratings
Positive92.7%
Neutral3.4%
Negative3.9%
Written reviews24 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

Mettle Inspect

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

2017 Master Electrician Ref.

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Conduit fill information missing for certain types
  • Login screen freezes
  • Compatibility issues with older devices

Requested features

3 requests
  • Update to latest NEC code
  • Add calculation tools for conduit fill and voltage drop
  • Improve user interface and navigation

Mettle Inspect

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

2017 Master Electrician Ref.

No in-app purchases

None

Mettle Inspect

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is 2017 Master Electrician Ref. free?
2017 Master Electrician Ref. costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Mettle Inspect free?
Mettle Inspect is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, 2017 Master Electrician Ref. or Mettle Inspect?
Mettle Inspect is rated higher. 2017 Master Electrician Ref. averages 4.7 out of 5 from 1.3K ratings, while Mettle Inspect averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do 2017 Master Electrician Ref. or Mettle Inspect have ads?
Neither 2017 Master Electrician Ref. nor Mettle Inspect shows ads.
Which is updated more often, 2017 Master Electrician Ref. or Mettle Inspect?
2017 Master Electrician Ref. ships an update every 5 months, and Mettle Inspect weekly. Most recently, 2017 Master Electrician Ref. was updated on October 24, 2026 and Mettle Inspect on October 10, 2026.

Other comparisons