Handling network state changes

If we are busy transferring data to or from our device, we need to respond appropriately if the network goes down or if it changes from Wi-Fi to mobile data for some reason.

How to do it...

In order to receive events from the ConnectivityManager instance, we register a BroadcastReceiver instance with the current activity or service:

1. When we want to access the state of the network, we have to request permission from Android first:

   [assembly: UsesPermission(
     Manifest.Permission.AccessNetworkState)]

2. After obtaining permission, we create an instance of BroadcastReceiver that will handle network events:

   private class NetworkReceiver : BroadcastReceiver {
     public override void OnReceive(
       Context context, Intent intent) {
     }
   }

3. In the OnReceive() method, we handle the network events:

   var manager = ConnectivityManager.FromContext(context);
   var networkInfo = manager.ActiveNetworkInfo;
   if (networkInfo != null && networkInfo.IsConnected) {
     // we are connected...