CharityApp: In-Kind Donations on Android
A native Android app written in Java that connects donors with people in need through categories of goods rather than sums of money. The repository is public and the code can be read directly.
AndroidJavaFirebase
Context
In-kind giving is not cash giving. A donor does not start from an amount, they start from an object they actually own — a fridge, clothes, furniture, baby items — and a recipient starts from a specific gap. One general listing makes both sides dig through the same pile.
Scope I disclose publicly
- A native Android app in Java with a screen-per-task structure and Firebase as the data layer.
- Donations segmented into concrete categories: electrical goods, clothes, furniture, and baby items.
- A donations cart kept separate from the request flow, because giving and asking are different journeys.
- An in-app moderation panel for reviewing and managing content.
Decisions and trade-offs
- Category before search: a donor starts from the kind of thing they own, not from a general list they have to filter themselves.
- Separating the giving path from the request path instead of one form serving both badly.
- Building a moderation surface from the start, because a platform both sides write into needs review that cannot be added later.
- The trade-off: native Android means one platform only, in exchange for a simpler build at this size.
The repository is public and the code is the evidence. I will also note that the README inside that repository describes the project as a Flutter app, which is wrong — the tree is entirely native Android Java. I correct that here rather than repeat it.
Check the public sourceDisclosure: An early project from 2023, never published to a store. I claim no impact and no user numbers for it.