Using DownloadManager

If we wish to download files or resources but do not need fine control over the actual download, we can hand the task over to the DownloadManager instance.

How to do it...

We can use the DownloadManager instance to initiate, cancel, and query downloads:

1. As with normal HTTP requests, we need to request permission to access the Internet:

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

2. Then, we get hold of DownloadManager so that we can work with it:

   var manager = DownloadManager.FromContext(this); 

3. Once we have the manager, we can start downloads using the Enqueue() method with a DownloadManager.Request instance:

   var request = new DownloadManager.Request(Uri.Parse(uri));
   long downloadId = manager.Enqueue(request);

4. We can also specify whether we only want the download to progress on Wi-Fi, mobile data, or both by using the DownloadNetwork flags enumeration:

   request.SetAllowedNetworkTypes(DownloadNetwork.Wifi);

5. If we want to cancel a download, we pass the download ID to the...