How to Download File in Background Using Android WorkManager

This Android WorkManager download file tutorial will be useful for those who want to develop an Android app with the feature of downloading any file, such as music, document, or video
In this Android WorkManager upload file tutorial, we will learn how to:-

Before moving to the technical part, we will understand what is a background task, what is Android WorkManager, the benefits of it, and when one should make use of it.

What is a Background Task?

To define a background task in simple terms, we can say that the Background task is an existing app-related task which not executed completely within the app. Generally, we need to execute the task within an app on a background thread because it is an invaluable process.

Now, because we don’t want to block the existing app or we want the task to continue running even after if we close the current app, we have to put that task into a background thread to execute.

Benefits of Android WorkManager

WorkManager in Android is a simple yet resilient library which has numerous benefits, given as:

When to Use Android WorkManager?

Although there are different ways for background task execution like ForegroundService, JobScheduler, AlarmManager, Firebase JobDispatcher, here we will prefer to use Android WorkManager as it can easily set up a task for run & forward it to the system based on specified conditions.

There are a few use cases where it is suitable to use WorkManager, such as

To know more in detail, you can refer to the Android development guide released by Google. In our Android app development tutorial, we will learn how to download a file using WorkManager.

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Let’s See How to Download File Using Android WorkManager

Add dependency in application module Gradle file (build.gradle)

implementation "androidx.work:work-runtime:2.0.0-rc01"

Create a work manager instance in onCreate() of activity

val workManager = WorkManager.getInstance()

Create a work manager class extends with Worker

    class DownLoadFileWorkManager(context: Context, workerParams: WorkerParameters) : Worker(context, workerParams) {
        override fun doWork(): Result {
        //TODO perform your async operational task here
        /**
        * We have performed download task here on above example
        */
        return Result.success()
    }
}

Set Constraints & start(enqueue) workmanager task

A) One Time task enqueue

val constraints = Constraints.Builder().setRequiredNetworkType(NetworkType.CONNECTED).build()
val task = OneTimeWorkRequest.Builder(DownLoadFileWorkManager::class.java).
setConstraints(constraints).build()
workManager.enqueue(task)

B) Periodic task enqueue, Recommended periodic work interval minimum time is 900000 seconds or in other words 15 minutes.

val periodicWorkRequest = PeriodicWorkRequest.Builder(DownLoadFileWorkManager::class.java,
PERIODIC_INTERVAL,
TimeUnit.MINUTES)
.setConstraints(Constraints.Builder()
.setRequiredNetworkType(NetworkType.CONNECTED)
.build())
.build()

workManager.enqueue(periodicWorkRequest)

👉 Get status of One time or periodic work Request task status.

workManager.getWorkInfoByIdLiveData(task.id)
    .observe(this@MainActivity, Observer {
    it?.let {
        if (it.state == WorkInfo.State.RUNNING) {
            //task running, you can update UI
        } else if (it.state.isFinished) {
            // task finished you can notify to Views
        }
    }
})    

and done. Now let’s check how it runs.

OUTPUT

Now, we will answer some of the most common questions that you might have.

Conclusion

Using the above Android WorkManager Tutorial, we learned how to download a file in the background.

Refer to the demo & download the source code from Github. In case, if you have any queries on implementing Android WorkManager in your project, let us know. We will be happy to help. Furthermore, if you’re looking for a reliable Android software development company, look no further. Our team of professional developers has got you covered. Schedule a call today and our experts will be happy to guide you in creating your next mobile app.