Ugly's (By JBLearning)

Review by eFreeware

The most distinctive thing about Ugly's Electrical References is that it is not a free utility with a calculator bolted on. It is a paid Android app that packages a reference book, a set of electrical calculators and a library of conduit bending videos into one download, and it updates that package to follow the National Electrical Code. The current version tracks the 2026 NEC and the 2026 edition of the Ugly's Electrical References book, so the tables and formulas you look up are meant to match the code cycle you are working under.

That combination points to a specific audience. The developer lists electricians, students, engineers, contractors, maintenance workers and military personnel, and the mix makes sense: anyone who needs ampacity figures, wiring configurations or a quick voltage drop answer without paging through a printed book. If your work involves electrical installations, troubleshooting or study for a code exam, this is built for you. If you only occasionally need one formula, the price and the scope may be more than your situation calls for.

It has been on Google Play since May 2017, with a 4.3 average across 1,041 ratings and more than 10,000 installs. Those numbers suggest a settled, working app rather than a new experiment, and the August 2026 update points to ongoing maintenance of the reading experience.

Code tables that follow the 2026 cycle

The feature the developer leads with is the code reference itself. For anyone who has had to relearn a table after a code cycle, that framing is the selling point: instead of a static PDF, the reference is refreshed alongside the edition it is based on.

The 2026 edition also expands coverage in several areas. Full-load currents for three-phase transformers get more room, as do maximum conductor counts for the larger trade sizes of electrical metallic tubing. Equipment grounding conductors and general lighting loads for non-dwelling occupancies are covered in more depth, and there is an overview of important NEC changes from 2020, 2023 and 2026. That last item is useful if you skipped a cycle or want to see how a requirement evolved rather than only what it says now.

The reference material is not limited to code tables. Reference material also covers NEMA wiring layouts, transformer and control diagrams, conversion charts and blueprint symbols. Interactive tables can be zoomed in for detail, and high-definition images are included for the diagrams and figures where a small screen would otherwise be a problem. Pinch and zoom is supported throughout, which matters when you are reading a dense table on a phone.

Calculators for the questions that come up on site

The calculator set is broad and clearly aimed at field work. Ohm's law, voltage drop, ampacity and conduit fill are the core four, and there are tools to find amps, watts, horsepower and KVA, plus inductance, impedance and reactance. Three-phase AC motor data covers starter, breaker, heater, wire and conduit size, and separate calculators handle motors and transformers, locked-rotor current, and power factor correction.

Two tools stand out for anyone who bends conduit regularly. The offset bending calculator handles the math for an offset, and the app includes video tutorials of conduit bending for the technique itself. Pairing a calculator with a demonstration is a sensible arrangement: you get the number and a visual reminder of how the bend is made.

Beyond the electrical-specific tools, the app includes conversions for area, length, temperature, time, volume and weight. Those are the kind of small utilities that save a trip to a separate app or a mental arithmetic mistake. Search helps you find a screen quickly, and you can bookmark the screens you use most so they are not buried in the navigation.

Safety material and the ebook

Electrical safety gets its own space, with definitions, approach boundaries, procedures, PPE guidance and first aid steps. That is reference material rather than a training course, but it is the sort of content you want available when a job raises a question about boundaries or protective equipment. Having it in the same app as the calculators means one less place to look.

The app also carries a built-in ebook with an EPUB reading experience that has been improved for performance, stability and compatibility. I would read that as the developer continuing to treat the reading side as a first-class part of the product rather than an afterthought. For study or for reading through a section in the evening, that matters more than it might sound.

The overall shape is a reference library with tools attached: code tables, diagrams, safety notes, an ebook and a calculator suite, all in one place. That is a lot of material for a single app, and the search and bookmarking features exist precisely because the volume would otherwise be hard to navigate.

What it costs and what it needs

Ugly's Electrical References is a one-time purchase of $12.99 on Google Play. There are no ads and no in-app purchases, so the price you see is the price you pay, and nothing in the app is gated behind a second transaction. For a professional reference that is a straightforward arrangement: buy it once and use it.

The app keeps working without a signal, which is the requirement that matters most for field use. Basements, service rooms, remote sites and new construction often have no usable signal, and a reference that needs a connection would be useless in exactly the places electricians work. Because the material is available without a connection, the app does not depend on a network to answer a question.

The other requirement is simply the device itself. The developer notes that pinch and zoom and high-definition images are part of the design, which tells you the app expects to be read on a phone or tablet screen. If you are buying for a crew or a set of company-owned devices, the developer asks that you email them for details on volume purchases rather than buying copies one at a time.

Getting the most from it in the field

The practical approach with an app like this is to set it up before you need it. Bookmark the screens you reach for most, whether that is a particular ampacity table, the conduit fill calculator or the safety procedures, so the search step disappears when you are standing in front of a panel. The bookmarking feature exists for exactly that reason, and it is the difference between a reference you consult and one you avoid.

It also helps to know which tool answers which question before the pressure is on. Voltage drop, ampacity and conduit fill each address a different stage of a job, and the motor data calculators cover starter, breaker, heater, wire and conduit sizing in one place. Spending a few minutes with the calculator list on a quiet day makes the app faster to use when a question comes up mid-task.

For students and anyone working toward a code exam, the combination of the ebook, the NEC updater and the change overview from 2020 through 2026 gives you both the current rules and the context for how they got there. The safety section is worth reading through once rather than only searching when something goes wrong. None of this requires a connection, so it works as a study companion wherever you happen to be.

A reference worth carrying for working electricians

Ugly's Electrical References is a focused, paid tool for people who work with electrical systems. The calculators cover the common field questions, the code material follows the 2026 NEC, the conduit bending videos and offset calculator support a task that is easy to get wrong, and the safety and ebook content add depth beyond a simple calculator app. At $12.99 with no ads and no in-app purchases, it is a single decision rather than an ongoing cost.

The strongest case for it is a working electrician, contractor or maintenance worker who wants answers without carrying a printed reference and without depending on a signal. Students and engineers preparing for code work will find the ebook and the change overview useful as well. Military personnel are among those the app is aimed at, which fits the offline design.

The case is weaker if you need electrical answers only rarely, or if your work does not touch the NEC at all. This is a reference built around one trade and one code cycle, and its value comes from how often you reach for it. For the people it is built for, that is likely to be often enough to justify the price many times over.

What's new in version 1.4.0

Enhanced EPUB reading experience with improved performance, stability, and compatibility.