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The perfect app for group travel: How to calculate expenses!
Discover "Split it Easy", an innovative app for Android to easily account for shared expenses, available on F-Droid.
The perfect app for group travel: How to calculate expenses!
Planning a trip, a trip or even a meal together can quickly turn into financial chaos. To address these challenges, more and more groups are switching to the open source “Split it Easy” app for Android, which makes it easier for users to account for shared expenses. How radiobielefeld.de reports, the app helps to keep your finances clear.
With “Split it Easy” users can easily create different groups for different occasions. Whether on vacation with friends or on a fun evening in the pub, the app records all expenses that the group members then have to report to the organizer. This solution, kept locally on the smartphone or tablet, works offline, which makes it quite practical.
Billing made easy
The app provides a clear overview of the difference amounts members owe each other under the “Balances” tab. Users who want to install the app should know that it is only available through the privacy-friendly Android store F-Droid. In order for the installation to work, “Installing unknown apps” may need to be activated in the smartphone settings. Warning messages from Google's Play Protect may appear, but these can easily be avoided by clicking "More details" and then "Install anyway".
The app is programmed in Java and uses several modern functions such as Recycler Views, ViewPager and LiveData. Further details on programming can be found at GitHub, where the app can also be downloaded directly, as well as in various app stores such as XDA Labs or Amazon.
How does the algorithm work?
A crucial point for the efficiency of “Split it Easy” is the algorithm that calculates the debt. An example: Suppose A spent 500 euros, B 600 euros and C 200 euros, making a total of 1300 euros. So everyone should spend around 433.33 euros. After the calculations, the following balance could emerge:
| person | Balances |
|---|---|
| A | -66.67 euros (owed) |
| b | -166.67 euros (owed) |
| C | 233.33 euros (owes) |
The algorithm selects the largest debtors and creditors and carries out transactions until there are no more debts. It is important to note that while the results are accurate, the number of transactions is not always minimal, which may slow down the app slightly.
The basic idea behind “Split it Easy” is to bring more order to your shared finances and, as the name suggests, to make things a little easier. Whether for your next trip or a visit to a restaurant together - you could really have a good hand with this app!