Manually add local file to the Downloads app

Question

My app needs to download files, I was looking into DownloadManager, however it has some limitations that don't suit my case (authentication, naming scheme, verification), so I made my custom download engine.

Is it possible to manually add a file downloaded with my engine (thus by using a local URL) to the list in the Downloads system app? My understanding is that list is populated by a system content provider. Is it possible to add records to it, without the DownloadManager trying to download the file?

Thanks ;)

Answer 1

To manually add a file you need to use the DownloadManager class. I use the following to show a file in the Download app that I created locally.

DownloadManager downloadManager = (DownloadManager)mainActivity.getSystemService(mainActivity.DOWNLOAD_SERVICE);
downloadManager.addCompletedDownload(file.getName(), file.getName(), true, "application/json", file.getAbsolutePath(),file.length(),true);

This will make the file appear in the Downloads app on 6.0, even if the file was created locally.