WorthTheHours – Rethinking spending in terms of time
WorthTheHours is a native Android app I built to transform the way we evaluate everyday spending. The idea behind it is simple but powerful:…
WorthTheHours is a native Android app I built to transform the way we evaluate everyday spending.
The idea behind it is simple but powerful: instead of asking ourselves “can I afford it?”, the app invites us to ask a deeper question:
“How many hours of my working life does this purchase cost?”
By converting prices into hours and minutes of work, WorthTheHours helps you make more conscious, considered spending decisions.
🔗 Project links
- Source code (GitHub):
👉 https://github.com/paoloronco/WorthTheHours - App on the Play Store:
👉 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.paoloronco.worththehours&hl=it
💡 Concept & goal
WorthTheHours started as a personal project to bring together:
- reflection on the value of time
- digital minimalism
- modern Android development
Seeing an expense in terms of working time radically changes the perception of its “real cost”, making the impact a purchase has on our life immediate.
✨ Key features
- Flexible salary setup
- Enter your net hourly pay directly
- Or compute it automatically from monthly salary and working hours
- Sensitive data is stored locally and encrypted
- Purchase management
- Quickly add items with name and price
- Instant conversion into hours and minutes of work
- Privacy-first
- No account
- No network connection
- No backend or tracking
- All data stays on the device
- Modern interface
- UI built entirely with Jetpack Compose
- Material 3, clean and minimal design
- Light/dark theme support
🧱 Tech stack & architecture
The app is built following modern Android best practices and a clear, scalable MVVM architecture.
Technologies used:
- Kotlin
- Jetpack Compose
- Material 3
- MVVM Architecture
- Hilt (Dependency Injection)
- Kotlin Coroutines & Flow
- Navigation Compose
- Room (local persistence)
- EncryptedSharedPreferences (sensitive data)
- DataStore (user preferences)
📂 Project structure
The code is organized in a modular, readable way, clearly separating:
- data layer (repository, database, secure storage)
- UI layer (Compose screens, navigation, theme)
- ViewModel (business logic and state)
- Dependency Injection with Hilt
This approach makes the project easy to maintain and extend.
🚀 Final thoughts
WorthTheHours is a project that captures my approach to development well:
- attention to user experience
- focus on privacy and security
- thoughtful use of modern technologies
It’s a simple-looking app, but built on a solid, professional foundation, designed to grow over time.