Samachar - Vintage News App

News, Vintage Style.

Samachar is a modern Android news application that brings news consumption back to its roots with a vintage newspaper-inspired design. Built using cutting-edge Android technologies, it delivers a unique reading experience while maintaining excellent performance and user experience.

Screenshots

Here's what the app looks like in action:

Features

• Vintage Newspaper UI: Classic newspaper design with elegant typography and layout
• Smart Search: Quick search functionality to find news articles
• Advanced Filtering: Filter news by country, language, and source
• Category Navigation: Browse through different news categories
• Bookmarking: Save articles for later reading
• Regional News: Get news specific to your region
• Multi-language Support: Read news in multiple languages
• Offline Reading: Cached articles for offline access

Architecture

Samachar follows Clean Architecture principles with MVVM (Model-View-ViewModel) pattern, ensuring maintainable, testable, and scalable code.

Architecture Layers

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                UI Layer                 │
│  ┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐ │
│  │  Compose UI │    │   ViewModels    │ │
│  │   Screens   │◄──►│   (MVVM)       │ │
│  └─────────────┘    └─────────────────┘ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
                        │
                        ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              Domain Layer               │
│  ┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐ │
│  │  Use Cases  │    │   Repository    │ │
│  │ (Business   │◄──►│   Interfaces    │ │
│  │   Logic)    │    │                 │ │
│  └─────────────┘    └─────────────────┘ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
                        │
                        ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│               Data Layer                │
│  ┌─────────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐ │
│  │ Repository  │    │  Data Sources   │ │
│  │Implementa-  │◄──►│ Remote & Local  │ │
│  │    tion     │    │                 │ │
│  └─────────────┘    └─────────────────┘ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

MVVM Implementation

The app uses Model-View-ViewModel pattern:

• Model: Data classes and repository implementations handle data operations
• View: Jetpack Compose UI screens observe ViewModel state
• ViewModel: Manages UI state and handles business logic through use cases

Clean Architecture Benefits

• Separation of Concerns: Each layer has a single responsibility
• Testability: Easy to unit test individual components
• Maintainability: Changes in one layer don't affect others
• Scalability: Easy to add new features without breaking existing code

Tech Stack

Core Technologies

• Kotlin: 100% Kotlin codebase
• Jetpack Compose: Modern declarative UI toolkit
• Hilt: Dependency injection framework
• Coroutines: Asynchronous programming
• Room Database: Local data persistence

Networking & Data

• Retrofit: Type-safe HTTP client
• OkHttp: Efficient HTTP connections
• Gson: JSON serialization/deserialization
• Coil: Image loading library

Architecture Components

• ViewModel: UI-related data holder
• Navigation Component: In-app navigation
• Repository Pattern: Data access abstraction

Development Tools

• Gradle Version Catalog: Centralized dependency management
• Kotlin DSL: Type-safe build scripts

Project Structure

app/
├── src/main/java/com/amangarg/samachar/
│   ├── data/                    # Data Layer
│   │   ├── mappers/            # Data mapping utilities
│   │   ├── remote/             # Network data sources
│   │   └── repository/         # Repository implementations
│   │
│   ├── domain/                 # Domain Layer
│   │   ├── model/              # Domain models
│   │   ├── repository/         # Repository interfaces
│   │   └── usecase/            # Business logic use cases
│   │
│   ├── ui/                     # UI Layer
│   │   ├── activity/           # Main activity & ViewModel
│   │   ├── composable/         # Reusable UI components
│   │   ├── navigation/         # Navigation setup
│   │   ├── theme/              # App theming
│   │   └── viewmodel/          # Screen ViewModels
│   │
│   ├── di/                     # Dependency Injection
│   │   ├── module/             # Hilt modules
│   │   └── qualifier/          # DI qualifiers
│   │
│   ├── util/                   # Utility classes
│   └── SamacharApp.kt         # Application class

Key Components

Data Sources

• Remote: NewsAPI integration for fetching latest news
• Local: Room database for caching and bookmarks

Use Cases

• Get top headlines
• Search news articles
• Manage bookmarks
• Filter by region/language

UI Screens

• News feed with vintage styling
• Advanced search interface
• Filter selection screens
• Article detail view

Getting Started

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/amangarg95/Samachar.git

2. Open in Android Studio

   • Ensure you have Android Studio Arctic Fox or newer
   • Open the project and sync Gradle files

3. Get NewsAPI Key

   • Visit NewsAPI and get your free API key
   • The key is already configured in the build file for development

4. Build and Run

   • Connect your Android device or start an emulator
   • Run the app using Android Studio

Requirements

• Min SDK: 24 (Android 7.0)
• Target SDK: 36
• Compile SDK: 36
• Java Version: 11

Testing

The project includes comprehensive testing setup:

• Unit Tests: JUnit, Mockito for business logic testing
• Instrumentation Tests: AndroidX Test for UI testing
• Compose Tests: Testing Compose UI components

Future Enhancements

• Dark mode support
• Push notifications for breaking news
• Social sharing capabilities
• Reading progress tracking
• Voice news reading
• Podcast integration

License

This project is open source and available under the MIT License.

Developer

Created with ❤️ by Aman Garg

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Samachar brings the charm of vintage newspapers to the digital age while leveraging modern Android development practices.