Unable to download pdf from link in Android Using downloadManager

Question

I am encountering difficulties while attempting to download a PDF file in my Android app using the DownloadManager. I have provided my implementation below:

class AndroidDownloader(private val context: Context) : Downloader {
    private val downloadManager = context.getSystemService(DownloadManager::class.java)

    override fun downloadFile(url: String): Long {
        val request = DownloadManager.Request(Uri.parse(url))
            .setMimeType("application/pdf")
            .setTitle("Downloading PDF")
            .setDescription("Downloading...")
            .setAllowedNetworkTypes(DownloadManager.Request.NETWORK_WIFI or DownloadManager.Request.NETWORK_MOBILE)
            .setNotificationVisibility(DownloadManager.Request.VISIBILITY_VISIBLE_NOTIFY_COMPLETED)
            .setDestinationInExternalFilesDir(
                context,
                Environment.DIRECTORY_DOWNLOADS,
                File.separator + "my.pdf"
            )
        return downloadManager.enqueue(request)
    }
}

This is My Fragment from where i calling to download.

class UserFragment : Fragment() {

    private var _binding: FragmentUserBinding? = null
    private val binding get() = _binding!!

    override fun onCreateView(
        inflater: LayoutInflater, container: ViewGroup?,
        savedInstanceState: Bundle?
    ): View {
        _binding = FragmentUserBinding.inflate(inflater, container, false)
        binding.button.setOnClickListener {
            val url = "http://www.africau.edu/images/default/sample.pdf"
            println(url)
            downloadPdf(url)
        }
        return binding.root
    }
    private fun downloadPdf(pdfUrl: String) {
        val downloader = AndroidDownloader(requireContext())
        downloader.downloadFile(pdfUrl)
        Toast.makeText(requireContext(), "Download clicked for $pdfUrl", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show()
    }
}

And the interface i used

interface Downloader {
    fun downloadFile(url : String) : Long
}

The issue is that the PDF is not being downloaded, and there is no error in log-cat. I am not sure what might be causing this problem. I have checked the URL, and it seems to valid & working on browser. Can someone please review my code and point out any potential issues or suggest improvements? Additionally, is there a better way to download PDFs in Android using Kotlin?

Answer 1

Your url is http, not https so Android security policy prevents the download by default

Add this to your Manifest application tag to bypass the check:

android:usesCleartextTraffic="true"