Home Builder Pocket Reference vs Electrician Handbook
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Home Builder Pocket Reference
Access essential home construction information with over 1,500 illustrations and 100 guides for energy-efficient building. Includes 30 calculators for understanding and applying construction principles, covering topics from concrete to finishing.
- 1,500+ illustrations
- 100 energy-efficient building guides
- 30 construction calculators
- Woodworking tools and materials
- Concrete and masonry guides
- Estimating and scheduling tools
- Bonus project management sections
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Home Builder Pocket Reference puts home construction information you need to know at your finger tips. The app includes over 1,500 illustrations, 100 guides to building energy efficient buildings and 30 calculators to help you understand and apply the information. The topics covered include construction administration and safety; drawings and specifications; woodworking tools, materials and methods of woodworking; leveling and grading; concrete; placing concrete; masonry; and planning, estimating and scheduling; floor and wall construction; roof framing; exterior and interior finishing; plastering, stuccoing, and ceramic tile; and paints and preservatives. In addition, there are now four free bonus sections: * Project Dates & Times * Project Estimator * Sensor Angle * Unit Conversions
Electrician Handbook
This app provides electricians, students, and installers with essential electrical theory, interactive diagrams, and practical calculators. It includes a community forum for users to share knowledge and seek advice, all accessible offline without ads or subscriptions.
- Electrical theory topics
- Interactive circuit diagrams
- Calculators and formulas
- Community forum
- Offline access
- No ads or subscriptions
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Electrician’s Handbook — an app for electricians, students, and installers. Theory, diagrams, and calculators in one place. Works offline. No ads. No subscriptions. — Theory A variety of topics in electrical engineering: from basic concepts to grounding and lighting diagrams. Some topics include exercises with answers for self-check. — Diagrams Interactive electrical diagrams. You can interact with elements to better understand how they work. — Calculators A section with calculators, formulas, and useful reference tables. — Community A section where users can ask questions, share experience, and get advice from other members. — Contents of the "Theory" section: Basic concepts • Voltage, current, resistance, power • Ohm’s Law, Kirchhoff’s rules • Parallel and series connections • Short circuits, safety precautions • Electrical engineering terms Electromechanical converters • Transformer, generator, electric motor • Connecting a three-phase motor using a capacitor Protection and automation devices • Circuit breaker, RCD, RCBO • Voltage monitoring relay, contactor, fuses • Surge protection devices Cables and wires • Wire connection methods • Selecting cross-section by current and power • Color coding • Electrical panel Power stations and substations • Nuclear, thermal, solar, hydro, wind, and geothermal power stations Measuring instruments • Voltmeter, ammeter, ohmmeter, multimeter • Clamp meter • Electricity meter Grounding • Types of grounding systems • Equipotential bonding system Lighting • Incandescent, LED, and other types of lamps • Lamp holders, bases, lumens, lux • Color temperature • LED strip Work execution • Socket repair • Installation of flush-mounted and surface-mounted sockets • Switch installation Additional information • Power supply categories • Surge overvoltages • IP protection rating • Electrician’s tools • Types of outlets and plugs, voltages in different countries • Joule’s Law, Coulomb’s Law • Right-hand and left-hand rules — Contents of the "Diagrams" section: • Switch (1 and 2 gang) • Three-gang switch • Two-way switch • Two-way switch with intermediate switch • Outlets and switch in one block • Lighting with dimmer • Motion sensor lighting • Relay with light sensor • Lighting with impulse relay • Fluorescent lamp wiring • Socket wiring diagrams • Magnetic starter for motor • Star and delta motor connection — Contents of the "Calculators" section: • Basic formula calculator • Electricity cost calculator • SI unit system and metric prefixes • Diameter ↔ cross-section table • AWG to mm and mm to AWG conversion • Electronic component symbols
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Electrician Handbook at Free against Home Builder Pocket Reference's $2.99. Electrician Handbook also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 5 months) and ratings volume (1K vs 102). Home Builder Pocket Reference's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and chart position (#200 vs unranked). On rating, review sentiment, ads and monetization model 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
Electrician Handbook is free to download; Home Builder Pocket Reference costs $2.99 up front. Electrician Handbook sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Home Builder Pocket Reference asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Home Builder Pocket Reference against 4.8 for Electrician Handbook. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Electrician Handbook has 1K ratings behind it against 102, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 78% and 79% positive.
Home Builder Pocket Reference ships an update every 5 months, Electrician Handbook every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on October 30, 2026.
| Parameter | Home Builder Pocket Reference | Electrician Handbook |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.7 (102 ratings) | 4.8 (1K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 78.3% of reviews | 78.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 102 | 1K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #200 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 9.3 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 220 MB | 61 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Calculated Industries | Sergey Vavaev |
Customer experience
Home Builder Pocket Reference
Electrician Handbook
Bugs and requests
Home Builder Pocket Reference
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Electrician Handbook
Reported bugs
3 issues- App not launching on certain devices
- Calculation errors in some modules
- Inconsistent UI behavior across platforms
Requested features
4 requests- More practical examples and tutorials
- Ability to save and export diagrams
- Inclusion of industry standards and regulations
- Integration of testing and simulation tools
In-app purchases
Home Builder Pocket Reference
No in-app purchases
Electrician Handbook
- Remove ads from application$2.99
- Unlock all features in app$6.99





