Home Builder Pocket Reference vs eCode Search
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
eCode Search
Access municipal codes from over 3500 local governments directly on your mobile device. This app offers quick search functionality for fast and accurate results, making it easy to find the information you need.
- Access to over 3500 municipal codes
- Convenient mobile access
- Quick code location
- Easy search capability
- Fast and accurate results
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Over 3500 local governments have trusted General Code with the online hosting and maintenance of their municipal codes on our eCode360® platform. The eCode Search™ App is designed to provide simple and convenient mobile access to these codes. The app allows you to quickly locate any of the Codes on eCode360 and provides easy search capability, giving you fast and accurate results. If you are unable to locate your code in the eCode Search App, contact your local government representative and ask them to consider having the code hosted on eCode360 with General Code. For tips on using the eCode Search App, go to our online help page at https://ecode360.com/help/search#searchapp. For more details or questions, contact the General Code client services team at 800.836.8834. Terms of Use: http://ecode360.com/docs/TOS.html Privacy Policy: https://www.iccsafe.org/about/icc-online-privacy-policy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: eCode Search at Free against Home Builder Pocket Reference's $2.99. eCode Search also leads on ratings volume (691 vs 103). Home Builder Pocket Reference's advantage is review sentiment (78% vs 36%) and iOS requirement (9.3 vs 13.4). On rating, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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
eCode Search is free to download; Home Builder Pocket Reference costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Home Builder Pocket Reference against 4.7 for eCode Search. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: eCode Search has 691 ratings behind it against 103, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 78% of Home Builder Pocket Reference's written reviews are positive against 36% of eCode Search's.
Home Builder Pocket Reference ships an update every 5 months, eCode Search every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and July 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Home Builder Pocket Reference | eCode Search |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.7 (103 ratings) — better | 4.7 (691 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 78.3% of reviews — better | 35.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 103 | 691 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 4 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.3 — better | 13.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 220 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Calculated Industries | General Code, LLC |
Customer experience
Home Builder Pocket Reference
eCode Search
Bugs and requests
Home Builder Pocket Reference
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
eCode Search
Reported bugs
6 issues- Network error alerts blocking search functionality
- Statute content disappearing after display
- Keyboard closing unexpectedly
- Text and sentences being cut off by screen boundaries
- App unable to recognize valid zip codes and city names
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Search function completely non-functional
Requested features
4 requests- Improved search algorithm for exact term matching
- Better screen fitting and text display optimization
- Persistent keyboard functionality
- Expanded geographic coverage for more areas
In-app purchases
Home Builder Pocket Reference
No in-app purchases
eCode Search
No in-app purchases
