diff --git a/android/Omnivore/app/src/main/java/app/omnivore/omnivore/AppModule.kt b/android/Omnivore/app/src/main/java/app/omnivore/omnivore/AppModule.kt
index ef526af60..a395d831f 100644
--- a/android/Omnivore/app/src/main/java/app/omnivore/omnivore/AppModule.kt
+++ b/android/Omnivore/app/src/main/java/app/omnivore/omnivore/AppModule.kt
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 package app.omnivore.omnivore
 
 import android.content.Context
+import androidx.room.Room
 import app.omnivore.omnivore.networking.Networker
+import app.omnivore.omnivore.persistence.AppDatabase
 import dagger.Module
 import dagger.Provides
 import dagger.hilt.InstallIn
@@ -26,4 +28,8 @@ object AppModule {
   @Singleton
   @Provides
   fun provideAnalytics(@ApplicationContext app: Context) = EventTracker(app)
+
+  @Singleton
+  @Provides
+  fun provideDataService(@ApplicationContext app: Context) = DataService(app)
 }
diff --git a/android/Omnivore/app/src/main/java/app/omnivore/omnivore/DataService.kt b/android/Omnivore/app/src/main/java/app/omnivore/omnivore/DataService.kt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..651b7311a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/android/Omnivore/app/src/main/java/app/omnivore/omnivore/DataService.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+package app.omnivore.omnivore
+
+import android.content.Context
+import androidx.room.Room
+import app.omnivore.omnivore.persistence.AppDatabase
+import javax.inject.Inject
+
+class DataService @Inject constructor(
+  context: Context
+) {
+  val db = Room.databaseBuilder(
+    context,
+    AppDatabase::class.java, "omnivore-database"
+  ).build()
+}
diff --git a/android/Omnivore/app/src/main/java/app/omnivore/omnivore/networking/LinkedItemQuery.kt b/android/Omnivore/app/src/main/java/app/omnivore/omnivore/networking/LinkedItemQuery.kt
index 970e49c2a..ddf0c9d2f 100644
--- a/android/Omnivore/app/src/main/java/app/omnivore/omnivore/networking/LinkedItemQuery.kt
+++ b/android/Omnivore/app/src/main/java/app/omnivore/omnivore/networking/LinkedItemQuery.kt
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ suspend fun Networker.linkedItem(slug: String): LinkedItemQueryResponse {
         id = it.labelFields.id,
         name = it.labelFields.name,
         color = it.labelFields.color,
-        createdAt = it.labelFields.createdAt,
+        createdAt = it.labelFields.createdAt as String?,
         labelDescription = it.labelFields.description
       )
     }
diff --git a/android/Omnivore/app/src/main/java/app/omnivore/omnivore/persistence/AppDatabase.kt b/android/Omnivore/app/src/main/java/app/omnivore/omnivore/persistence/AppDatabase.kt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ea86ffedd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/android/Omnivore/app/src/main/java/app/omnivore/omnivore/persistence/AppDatabase.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+package app.omnivore.omnivore.persistence
+
+import androidx.room.Database
+import androidx.room.RoomDatabase
+import app.omnivore.omnivore.persistence.entities.Viewer
+import app.omnivore.omnivore.persistence.entities.ViewerDao
+
+@Database(
+  entities = [
+    Viewer::class
+  ],
+  version = 1
+)
+abstract class AppDatabase : RoomDatabase() {
+  abstract fun viewerDao(): ViewerDao
+}
diff --git a/android/Omnivore/app/src/main/java/app/omnivore/omnivore/persistence/empty.kt b/android/Omnivore/app/src/main/java/app/omnivore/omnivore/persistence/empty.kt
deleted file mode 100644
index 6ba1608e9..000000000
--- a/android/Omnivore/app/src/main/java/app/omnivore/omnivore/persistence/empty.kt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-package app.omnivore.omnivore.persistence
-
diff --git a/android/Omnivore/app/src/main/java/app/omnivore/omnivore/persistence/entities/Viewer.kt b/android/Omnivore/app/src/main/java/app/omnivore/omnivore/persistence/entities/Viewer.kt
index 5c52f9655..4dafd1639 100644
--- a/android/Omnivore/app/src/main/java/app/omnivore/omnivore/persistence/entities/Viewer.kt
+++ b/android/Omnivore/app/src/main/java/app/omnivore/omnivore/persistence/entities/Viewer.kt
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package app.omnivore.omnivore.persistence.entities
 
-import androidx.room.Entity
-import androidx.room.PrimaryKey
+import androidx.room.*
 
 @Entity
 data class Viewer(
@@ -11,3 +10,17 @@ data class Viewer(
   val profileImageURL: String?,
 )
 
+@Dao
+interface ViewerDao {
+  @Query("SELECT * FROM viewer")
+  fun getAll(): List<Viewer>
+
+  @Query("SELECT * FROM viewer WHERE userID IN (:viewerIds)")
+  fun loadAllByIds(viewerIds: IntArray): List<Viewer>
+
+  @Insert(onConflict = OnConflictStrategy.REPLACE)
+  fun insertAll(vararg viewers: Viewer)
+
+  @Delete
+  fun delete(viewer: Viewer)
+}
diff --git a/android/Omnivore/app/src/main/java/app/omnivore/omnivore/ui/home/HomeViewModel.kt b/android/Omnivore/app/src/main/java/app/omnivore/omnivore/ui/home/HomeViewModel.kt
index 5cf16508a..c795bd73f 100644
--- a/android/Omnivore/app/src/main/java/app/omnivore/omnivore/ui/home/HomeViewModel.kt
+++ b/android/Omnivore/app/src/main/java/app/omnivore/omnivore/ui/home/HomeViewModel.kt
@@ -1,22 +1,27 @@
 package app.omnivore.omnivore.ui.home
 
+import android.util.Log
 import androidx.compose.runtime.getValue
 import androidx.compose.runtime.mutableStateOf
 import androidx.compose.runtime.setValue
 import androidx.lifecycle.MutableLiveData
 import androidx.lifecycle.ViewModel
 import androidx.lifecycle.viewModelScope
+import app.omnivore.omnivore.DataService
 import app.omnivore.omnivore.persistence.entities.LinkedItem
 import app.omnivore.omnivore.networking.*
+import app.omnivore.omnivore.persistence.AppDatabase
 import dagger.hilt.android.lifecycle.HiltViewModel
 import kotlinx.coroutines.CoroutineScope
 import kotlinx.coroutines.Dispatchers
 import kotlinx.coroutines.launch
+import kotlinx.coroutines.withContext
 import javax.inject.Inject
 
 @HiltViewModel
 class HomeViewModel @Inject constructor(
   private val networker: Networker,
+  private val dataService: DataService
 ): ViewModel() {
   private var cursor: String? = null
   private var items: List<LinkedItem> = listOf()
@@ -53,6 +58,11 @@ class HomeViewModel @Inject constructor(
     }
 
     viewModelScope.launch {
+      withContext(Dispatchers.IO) {
+        val viewers = dataService.db.viewerDao().getAll()
+        Log.d("appDatabase", "found ${viewers.count()} viewers in db")
+      }
+
       val thisSearchIdx = searchIdx
       searchIdx += 1