Firebase Storage – Uploading and Downloading PDF Files

August 25, 2017 by Belal Khan 41 Comments

I got many messages asking how to store and fetch PDF files in Firebase Storage. So here is the detailed post explaining about Uploading PDF files in Firebase Storage and Fetching those uploaded files from Firbase Storage. I already posted a tutorial about the same thing but with image files. You can check that post from the below link.

Firebase Storage – Uploading and Retrieving Images

Important: If you have no idea about Firebase Database and Firebase Storage, then it is highly recommended that go through the previous post from the link given above first. As I will not be explaining here about setting ab Firebase Storage and Database in the project. These things are well explained in the post given above. So please go through that first.

Contents

1 Creating a New Project
2 Creating UI
- 2.1 MainActivity
- 2.2 View Uploads Screen
3 Creating Helper Classes
4 Uploading PDF in Firebase Storage
- 4.1 Changing Firebase Storage and Database Rules
  - 4.1.1 Firebase Storage Rules
  - 4.1.2 Firebase Database Rules
- 4.2 Testing the Upload
5 Retrieving Files from Firebase Storage
6 Download Source Code
- 6.1 Sharing is Caring:
- 6.2 Related

Creating a New Project

So again we will start by creating a new project. I just created a project named FirebaseStorage.
After creating the project add Firebase Storage and Firebase Database to your project (Go to tools->firebase).

Creating UI

We have only two screens for this application. The first is the activity_main.xml which is created by default. And create one more Activity named ViewUploadsActivity.java.
In the first activity we will upload files to firebase storage and in the second activity we will display a list of all the uploaded files.

MainActivity

Open your activity_main.xml and write the following xml code.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:padding="16dp"
    tools:context="net.simplifiedlearning.firebasestorage.MainActivity">

    <EditText
        android:id="@+id/editTextFileName"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_centerVertical="true"
        android:hint="Enter a name for your file"
        android:textAppearance="@style/Base.TextAppearance.AppCompat.Large" />

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/buttonUploadFile"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_below="@id/editTextFileName"
        android:text="Upload PDF" />

    <LinearLayout
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
        android:orientation="vertical">


        <ProgressBar
            android:id="@+id/progressbar"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_gravity="center_horizontal"
            android:visibility="gone" />

        <TextView
            android:id="@+id/textViewStatus"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:text="No file selected"
            android:textAlignment="center"
            android:textAppearance="@style/Base.TextAppearance.AppCompat.Large" />

        <TextView
            android:id="@+id/textViewUploads"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:padding="10dp"
            android:text="View Uploads"
            android:textAlignment="center"
            android:textAppearance="@style/Base.TextAppearance.AppCompat.Large"
            android:textColor="@color/colorPrimaryDark" />

    </LinearLayout>
</RelativeLayout>

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"

xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"

android:layout_width="match_parent"

android:layout_height="match_parent"

android:padding="16dp"

tools:context="net.simplifiedlearning.firebasestorage.MainActivity">

<EditText

android:id="@+id/editTextFileName"

android:layout_width="match_parent"

android:layout_height="wrap_content"

android:layout_centerVertical="true"

android:hint="Enter a name for your file"

android:textAppearance="@style/Base.TextAppearance.AppCompat.Large" />

<Button

android:id="@+id/buttonUploadFile"

android:layout_width="match_parent"

android:layout_height="wrap_content"

android:layout_below="@id/editTextFileName"

android:text="Upload PDF" />

<LinearLayout

android:layout_width="match_parent"

android:layout_height="wrap_content"

android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"

android:orientation="vertical">

<ProgressBar

android:id="@+id/progressbar"

android:layout_width="wrap_content"

android:layout_height="wrap_content"

android:layout_gravity="center_horizontal"

android:visibility="gone" />

<TextView

android:id="@+id/textViewStatus"

android:layout_width="match_parent"

android:layout_height="wrap_content"

android:text="No file selected"

android:textAlignment="center"

android:textAppearance="@style/Base.TextAppearance.AppCompat.Large" />

<TextView

android:id="@+id/textViewUploads"

android:layout_width="match_parent"

android:layout_height="wrap_content"

android:padding="10dp"

android:text="View Uploads"

android:textAlignment="center"

android:textAppearance="@style/Base.TextAppearance.AppCompat.Large"

android:textColor="@color/colorPrimaryDark" />

</LinearLayout>

</RelativeLayout>

The above code will generate the following screen.

activity_main.xml

You can see the layout is pretty simple, we have an EditText to get the file name, A button to upload the file and a TextView to go to the View Upload screen.

View Uploads Screen

As I told you that we have two screens in this app so create one more empty activity and name it ViewUploadsActivity.
Now come inside the layout file for this activity and write the following xml code.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    tools:context="net.simplifiedlearning.firebasestorage.ViewUploadsActivity">

    <ListView
        android:id="@+id/listView"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content" />

</RelativeLayout>

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"

xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"

xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"

android:layout_width="match_parent"

android:layout_height="match_parent"

tools:context="net.simplifiedlearning.firebasestorage.ViewUploadsActivity">

<ListView

android:id="@+id/listView"

android:layout_width="match_parent"

android:layout_height="wrap_content" />

</RelativeLayout>

Creating Helper Classes

For this we need some helper classes for modeling the data and storing the constants. So first create a class named Constants.java and write the following code.

package net.simplifiedlearning.firebasestorage;

/**
 * Created by Belal on 8/25/2017.
 */

public class Constants {
    public static final String STORAGE_PATH_UPLOADS = "uploads/";
    public static final String DATABASE_PATH_UPLOADS = "uploads";
}

package net.simplifiedlearning.firebasestorage;

/**

* Created by Belal on 8/25/2017.

public class Constants {

public static final String STORAGE_PATH_UPLOADS = "uploads/";

public static final String DATABASE_PATH_UPLOADS = "uploads";

}

Now to save the uploads data in Firebase database we need a model class. So create a new class named Upload.java and write the following code.

package net.simplifiedlearning.firebasestorage;

/**
 * Created by Belal on 8/25/2017.
 */
public class Upload {

    public String name;
    public String url;

    // Default constructor required for calls to
    // DataSnapshot.getValue(User.class)
    public Upload() {
    }

    public Upload(String name, String url) {
        this.name = name;
        this.url = url;
    }

    public String getName() {
        return name;
    }

    public String getUrl() {
        return url;
    }
}

package net.simplifiedlearning.firebasestorage;

/**

* Created by Belal on 8/25/2017.

public class Upload {

public String name;

public String url;

// Default constructor required for calls to

// DataSnapshot.getValue(User.class)

public Upload() {

}

public Upload(String name, String url) {

this.name = name;

this.url = url;

}

public String getName() {

return name;

}

public String getUrl() {

return url;

}

Now lets upload the files.

Uploading PDF in Firebase Storage

Now here comes the main task of this post which is uploading PDF files to the storage. The uploading is done on the MainActivity so come inside MainActivity.java and write the following code.

package net.simplifiedlearning.firebasestorage;

import android.Manifest;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.content.pm.PackageManager;
import android.net.Uri;
import android.os.Build;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.provider.Settings;
import android.support.annotation.NonNull;
import android.support.v4.content.ContextCompat;
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.EditText;
import android.widget.ProgressBar;
import android.widget.TextView;
import android.widget.Toast;

import com.google.android.gms.tasks.OnFailureListener;
import com.google.android.gms.tasks.OnSuccessListener;
import com.google.firebase.database.DatabaseReference;
import com.google.firebase.database.FirebaseDatabase;
import com.google.firebase.storage.FirebaseStorage;
import com.google.firebase.storage.OnProgressListener;
import com.google.firebase.storage.StorageReference;
import com.google.firebase.storage.UploadTask;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity implements View.OnClickListener {

    //this is the pic pdf code used in file chooser
    final static int PICK_PDF_CODE = 2342;

    //these are the views
    TextView textViewStatus;
    EditText editTextFilename;
    ProgressBar progressBar;

    //the firebase objects for storage and database
    StorageReference mStorageReference;
    DatabaseReference mDatabaseReference;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);


        //getting firebase objects
        mStorageReference = FirebaseStorage.getInstance().getReference();
        mDatabaseReference = FirebaseDatabase.getInstance().getReference(Constants.DATABASE_PATH_UPLOADS);

        //getting the views
        textViewStatus = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.textViewStatus);
        editTextFilename = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.editTextFileName);
        progressBar = (ProgressBar) findViewById(R.id.progressbar);

        //attaching listeners to views
        findViewById(R.id.buttonUploadFile).setOnClickListener(this);
        findViewById(R.id.textViewUploads).setOnClickListener(this);
    }

    //this function will get the pdf from the storage
    private void getPDF() {
        //for greater than lolipop versions we need the permissions asked on runtime 
        //so if the permission is not available user will go to the screen to allow storage permission
        if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.M && ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission(this,
                Manifest.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE)
                != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) {
            Intent intent = new Intent(Settings.ACTION_APPLICATION_DETAILS_SETTINGS,
                    Uri.parse("package:" + getPackageName()));
            startActivity(intent);
            return;
        }

        //creating an intent for file chooser 
        Intent intent = new Intent();
        intent.setType("application/pdf");
        intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT);
        startActivityForResult(Intent.createChooser(intent, "Select Picture"), PICK_PDF_CODE);
    }

    
    @Override
    protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
        super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);
        //when the user choses the file
        if (requestCode == PICK_PDF_CODE && resultCode == RESULT_OK && data != null && data.getData() != null) {
            //if a file is selected
            if (data.getData() != null) {
                //uploading the file 
                uploadFile(data.getData());
            }else{
                Toast.makeText(this, "No file chosen", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
            }
        }
    }


    //this method is uploading the file
    //the code is same as the previous tutorial
    //so we are not explaining it 
    private void uploadFile(Uri data) {
        progressBar.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
        StorageReference sRef = mStorageReference.child(Constants.STORAGE_PATH_UPLOADS + System.currentTimeMillis() + ".pdf");
        sRef.putFile(data)
                .addOnSuccessListener(new OnSuccessListener<UploadTask.TaskSnapshot>() {
                    @SuppressWarnings("VisibleForTests")
                    @Override
                    public void onSuccess(UploadTask.TaskSnapshot taskSnapshot) {
                        progressBar.setVisibility(View.GONE);
                        textViewStatus.setText("File Uploaded Successfully");

                        Upload upload = new Upload(editTextFilename.getText().toString(), taskSnapshot.getDownloadUrl().toString());
                        mDatabaseReference.child(mDatabaseReference.push().getKey()).setValue(upload);
                    }
                })
                .addOnFailureListener(new OnFailureListener() {
                    @Override
                    public void onFailure(@NonNull Exception exception) {
                        Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), exception.getMessage(), Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
                    }
                })
                .addOnProgressListener(new OnProgressListener<UploadTask.TaskSnapshot>() {
                    @SuppressWarnings("VisibleForTests")
                    @Override
                    public void onProgress(UploadTask.TaskSnapshot taskSnapshot) {
                        double progress = (100.0 * taskSnapshot.getBytesTransferred()) / taskSnapshot.getTotalByteCount();
                        textViewStatus.setText((int) progress + "% Uploading...");
                    }
                });

    }

    @Override
    public void onClick(View view) {
        switch (view.getId()) {
            case R.id.buttonUploadFile:
                getPDF();
                break;
            case R.id.textViewUploads:
                startActivity(new Intent(this, ViewUploadsActivity.class));
                break;
        }
    }
}

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package net.simplifiedlearning.firebasestorage;

import android.Manifest;

import android.content.Intent;

import android.content.pm.PackageManager;

import android.net.Uri;

import android.os.Build;

import android.os.Bundle;

import android.provider.Settings;

import android.support.annotation.NonNull;

import android.support.v4.content.ContextCompat;

import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;

import android.view.View;

import android.widget.EditText;

import android.widget.ProgressBar;

import android.widget.TextView;

import android.widget.Toast;

import com.google.android.gms.tasks.OnFailureListener;

import com.google.android.gms.tasks.OnSuccessListener;

import com.google.firebase.database.DatabaseReference;

import com.google.firebase.database.FirebaseDatabase;

import com.google.firebase.storage.FirebaseStorage;

import com.google.firebase.storage.OnProgressListener;

import com.google.firebase.storage.StorageReference;

import com.google.firebase.storage.UploadTask;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity implements View.OnClickListener {

//this is the pic pdf code used in file chooser

final static int PICK_PDF_CODE = 2342;

//these are the views

TextView textViewStatus;

EditText editTextFilename;

ProgressBar progressBar;

//the firebase objects for storage and database

StorageReference mStorageReference;

DatabaseReference mDatabaseReference;

@Override

protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {

super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

//getting firebase objects

mStorageReference = FirebaseStorage.getInstance().getReference();

mDatabaseReference = FirebaseDatabase.getInstance().getReference(Constants.DATABASE_PATH_UPLOADS);

//getting the views

textViewStatus = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.textViewStatus);

editTextFilename = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.editTextFileName);

progressBar = (ProgressBar) findViewById(R.id.progressbar);

//attaching listeners to views

findViewById(R.id.buttonUploadFile).setOnClickListener(this);

findViewById(R.id.textViewUploads).setOnClickListener(this);

}

//this function will get the pdf from the storage

private void getPDF() {

//for greater than lolipop versions we need the permissions asked on runtime

//so if the permission is not available user will go to the screen to allow storage permission

if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.M && ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission(this,

Manifest.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE)

!= PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) {

Intent intent = new Intent(Settings.ACTION_APPLICATION_DETAILS_SETTINGS,

Uri.parse("package:" + getPackageName()));

startActivity(intent);

return;

}

//creating an intent for file chooser

Intent intent = new Intent();

intent.setType("application/pdf");

intent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT);

startActivityForResult(Intent.createChooser(intent, "Select Picture"), PICK_PDF_CODE);

}

@Override

protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {

super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);

//when the user choses the file

if (requestCode == PICK_PDF_CODE && resultCode == RESULT_OK && data != null && data.getData() != null) {

//if a file is selected

if (data.getData() != null) {

//uploading the file

uploadFile(data.getData());

}else{

Toast.makeText(this, "No file chosen", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();

}

//this method is uploading the file

//the code is same as the previous tutorial

//so we are not explaining it

private void uploadFile(Uri data) {

progressBar.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);

StorageReference sRef = mStorageReference.child(Constants.STORAGE_PATH_UPLOADS + System.currentTimeMillis() + ".pdf");

sRef.putFile(data)

.addOnSuccessListener(new OnSuccessListener<UploadTask.TaskSnapshot>() {

@SuppressWarnings("VisibleForTests")

@Override

public void onSuccess(UploadTask.TaskSnapshot taskSnapshot) {

progressBar.setVisibility(View.GONE);

textViewStatus.setText("File Uploaded Successfully");

Upload upload = new Upload(editTextFilename.getText().toString(), taskSnapshot.getDownloadUrl().toString());

mDatabaseReference.child(mDatabaseReference.push().getKey()).setValue(upload);

}

})

.addOnFailureListener(new OnFailureListener() {

@Override

public void onFailure(@NonNull Exception exception) {

Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), exception.getMessage(), Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();

}

})

.addOnProgressListener(new OnProgressListener<UploadTask.TaskSnapshot>() {

@SuppressWarnings("VisibleForTests")

@Override

public void onProgress(UploadTask.TaskSnapshot taskSnapshot) {

double progress = (100.0 * taskSnapshot.getBytesTransferred()) / taskSnapshot.getTotalByteCount();

textViewStatus.setText((int) progress + "% Uploading...");

}

});

}

@Override

public void onClick(View view) {

switch (view.getId()) {

case R.id.buttonUploadFile:

getPDF();

break;

case R.id.textViewUploads:

startActivity(new Intent(this, ViewUploadsActivity.class));

break;

}

Now you can test uploading a File. But before we need to change the Storage Rules and Database Rules on Firebase Console. As the default rules allows only authenticated users to upload the file and write to the database. So either you need to make an authentication on the app or change the rules to public. So for this example we will make the rules as public.

Changing Firebase Storage and Database Rules

Firebase Storage Rules

Go to Firebase Storage and in Firebase Console and change the rules as below.

service firebase.storage {
  match /b/{bucket}/o {
    match /{allPaths=**} {
      allow read, write;
    }
  }
}

service firebase.storage {

match /b/{bucket}/o {

match /{allPaths=**} {

allow read, write;

}

Firebase Database Rules

Now for the Database Rules use the following.

{
  "rules": {
    ".read": true,
    ".write": true
  }
}

{

"rules": {

".read": true,

".write": true

}

Testing the Upload

Now lets test the application by uploading a file.

Uploading PDF in Firebase Storage

Retrieving Files from Firebase Storage

Now come to the ViewUploadsActivity.java and write the following code.

package net.simplifiedlearning.firebasestorage;

import android.content.Intent;
import android.net.Uri;
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.AdapterView;
import android.widget.ArrayAdapter;
import android.widget.ListView;

import com.google.firebase.database.DataSnapshot;
import com.google.firebase.database.DatabaseError;
import com.google.firebase.database.DatabaseReference;
import com.google.firebase.database.FirebaseDatabase;
import com.google.firebase.database.ValueEventListener;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

public class ViewUploadsActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

    //the listview
    ListView listView;
    
    //database reference to get uploads data
    DatabaseReference mDatabaseReference;

    //list to store uploads data
    List<Upload> uploadList;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_view_uploads);

        uploadList = new ArrayList<>();
        listView = (ListView) findViewById(R.id.listView);


        //adding a clicklistener on listview
        listView.setOnItemClickListener(new AdapterView.OnItemClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onItemClick(AdapterView<?> adapterView, View view, int i, long l) {
                //getting the upload
                Upload upload = uploadList.get(i);
                
                //Opening the upload file in browser using the upload url 
                Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
                intent.setData(Uri.parse(upload.getUrl()));
                startActivity(intent);
            }
        });


        //getting the database reference
        mDatabaseReference = FirebaseDatabase.getInstance().getReference(Constants.DATABASE_PATH_UPLOADS);

        //retrieving upload data from firebase database 
        mDatabaseReference.addValueEventListener(new ValueEventListener() {
            @Override
            public void onDataChange(DataSnapshot dataSnapshot) {
                for (DataSnapshot postSnapshot : dataSnapshot.getChildren()) {
                    Upload upload = postSnapshot.getValue(Upload.class);
                    uploadList.add(upload);
                }

                String[] uploads = new String[uploadList.size()];

                for (int i = 0; i < uploads.length; i++) {
                    uploads[i] = uploadList.get(i).getName();
                }

                //displaying it to list
                ArrayAdapter<String> adapter = new ArrayAdapter<String>(getApplicationContext(), android.R.layout.simple_list_item_1, uploads);
                listView.setAdapter(adapter);
            }

            @Override
            public void onCancelled(DatabaseError databaseError) {

            }
        });
    }


}

package net.simplifiedlearning.firebasestorage;

import android.content.Intent;

import android.net.Uri;

import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;

import android.os.Bundle;

import android.view.View;

import android.widget.AdapterView;

import android.widget.ArrayAdapter;

import android.widget.ListView;

import com.google.firebase.database.DataSnapshot;

import com.google.firebase.database.DatabaseError;

import com.google.firebase.database.DatabaseReference;

import com.google.firebase.database.FirebaseDatabase;

import com.google.firebase.database.ValueEventListener;

import java.util.ArrayList;

import java.util.List;

public class ViewUploadsActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

//the listview

ListView listView;

//database reference to get uploads data

DatabaseReference mDatabaseReference;

//list to store uploads data

List<Upload> uploadList;

@Override

protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {

super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

setContentView(R.layout.activity_view_uploads);

uploadList = new ArrayList<>();

listView = (ListView) findViewById(R.id.listView);

//adding a clicklistener on listview

listView.setOnItemClickListener(new AdapterView.OnItemClickListener() {

@Override

public void onItemClick(AdapterView<?> adapterView, View view, int i, long l) {

//getting the upload

Upload upload = uploadList.get(i);

//Opening the upload file in browser using the upload url

Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);

intent.setData(Uri.parse(upload.getUrl()));

startActivity(intent);

}

});

//getting the database reference

mDatabaseReference = FirebaseDatabase.getInstance().getReference(Constants.DATABASE_PATH_UPLOADS);

//retrieving upload data from firebase database

mDatabaseReference.addValueEventListener(new ValueEventListener() {

@Override

public void onDataChange(DataSnapshot dataSnapshot) {

for (DataSnapshot postSnapshot : dataSnapshot.getChildren()) {

Upload upload = postSnapshot.getValue(Upload.class);

uploadList.add(upload);

}

String[] uploads = new String[uploadList.size()];

for (int i = 0; i < uploads.length; i++) {

uploads[i] = uploadList.get(i).getName();

}

//displaying it to list

ArrayAdapter<String> adapter = new ArrayAdapter<String>(getApplicationContext(), android.R.layout.simple_list_item_1, uploads);

listView.setAdapter(adapter);

}

@Override

public void onCancelled(DatabaseError databaseError) {

}

});

}

Now test this screen as well.

Bingo! it is working as well. When you will click on an Item it will download the uploaded file from the storage.

Download Source Code

If you are facing any troubles you can get my source code from here.

So thats all for this tutorial friends. If you are having any queries regarding Firebase Storage or Android Development don’t hesitate to comment. And if you want some help if you are stuck in your app then also comment here and I will try to post a tutorial to help you.

If you liked this Firebase Storage tutorial, I request you to please SHARE this post among your friends. If you don’t like it please comment the reason so that I can improve the website. So thats all for now. Thank You 🙂

About Belal Khan

I am Belal Khan, I am currently pursuing my MCA. In this blog I write tutorials and articles related to coding, app development, android etc.

Comments

John says

August 25, 2017 at 11:22 am

Good tutorial. Can you make tutorials about App Architecture, i mean MVP pattern, Dagger2 etc.

Reply
- Belal Khan says
  
  August 26, 2017 at 6:59 am
  
  Yes sure, we are actually working on it. And you will get it soon for sure 🙂
  
  Reply
Anurag says

August 26, 2017 at 7:51 am

Outstanding Work Guys lot of Thank, Can you Please help to shave database between to app like merchant and customer if merchant upload customer can access that data, And how to make fire base Authentication using Email/Phone .. Once again Thanks

Reply
Nauman says

August 26, 2017 at 10:28 am

Your code is only viewing the files, how to download it on sdcard. Please guide me. Thanks

Reply
Abdul Mateen says

August 26, 2017 at 10:34 am

It is not downloading pdf file.How to download pdf file on Sdcard and How to read it from sdcard.Please help me as soon as possible

Reply
CK says

August 30, 2017 at 6:13 am

Can this work with docx files too?

Reply
Shreyas says

September 2, 2017 at 9:11 am

Im getting an error as compile import com.google.firebase.database.DatabaseReference; , import com.google.firebase.database.FirebaseDatabase; cannot resolve what to do for ths

Reply
- Belal Khan says
  
  September 2, 2017 at 2:00 pm
  
  Make sure you have added firebase in your project
  
  Reply
shalika says

September 10, 2017 at 7:46 am

how to get uploaded pdf thumbnail image

Reply
Hafiz says

September 24, 2017 at 4:32 am

Nice tutorial belal bhai. belal bhai how to display/open downloaded pdf file in same app

Reply
prashant says

October 14, 2017 at 4:04 pm

Bhai My App Crashes when i open this section for Pdf Files. plz help me out with this problem and tell me which Exception is unhandled here.

Reply
Jack Gruff says

November 18, 2017 at 6:02 am

Hi thanks for this tutorial, but if I want to let specific registered users to only see what they have uploaded, how should I implement it ? I tried changing the rules of storage and database, but then after that it says that I dont have permission to upload even though I am already logged in. Any advice ?

Reply
saad says

December 5, 2017 at 5:28 pm

hai
i hav watched your many tuts,
i want to retrive only for the users. Is apk file size will increase or not.

Reply
Anmol says

December 11, 2017 at 10:38 pm

All your tutorial helped me …
Can you help me
What to do uf i want to uplaod a document file…..
Please help

Reply
seema says

January 7, 2018 at 7:28 am

Hi,
your Tutorial is owesome

plz help me how can do it

listView.setOnItemClickListener to PDf Viewer

Reply
Zaryan Malik says

February 8, 2018 at 3:51 pm

list view display the files names in blurry way…
why i’am facing this problem>???

Reply
Sonu says

February 14, 2018 at 5:04 am

Error:(61, 36) error: cannot find symbol variable READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE

Reply
darklord says

February 18, 2018 at 2:21 pm

hallo upload pdf button take me to app setting

Reply
- Belal Khan says
  
  February 21, 2018 at 10:12 am
  
  You need to allow storage permission from the settings.. then you can select pdf files to upload
  
  Reply
  - samira says
    
    March 29, 2018 at 8:09 pm
    
    i have the same problem ..how can i allow storage permission !!
    
    Reply
Mangesh says

February 28, 2018 at 6:36 am

Hello sir,i am able to upload my file on my app and its get download but if i want to load on same app then how i can do that?

Reply
Mangesh says

March 8, 2018 at 4:21 pm

Sir, Mangesh here,Can uh suggest me how to view file which i uploaded in firebase database in my app?

Reply
gideon says

March 26, 2018 at 7:09 am

how to truncate the upload list?

Reply
Arpit kumar jain says

March 31, 2018 at 9:40 am

Please help me For uploading an Excel sheet to firebase using android programmatically

And a common code for getting file for image , pdf , zip , excel and uploading to firebase in android

Reply
potu harshitha says

April 8, 2018 at 3:00 am

I am unable to view the uploaded files its showing blank page

Reply
- tony stark says
  
  November 18, 2018 at 6:15 pm
  
  Same Thing I am suffering from,could you help me?
  
  Reply
Shahrukh says

April 19, 2018 at 11:28 am

you can put android.Manifest.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE instead of Manifest.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE

Reply
syafiqa says

May 21, 2018 at 6:45 am

hi sir. your code is work perfectly with my project, but instead of we download back the uploaded file at the list, can we view it without downloading it?

Reply
Karan says

May 28, 2018 at 12:49 pm

UploadTask.TaskSnapshot getDownloadUrl() not working anymore! It used to and now it seems it is deprecated. Is there any alternative way to use your method though?

Reply
- Nur says
  
  June 28, 2018 at 3:51 pm
  
  Hi there, do you find the answer for the problem that you have mentioned? Can you help me out with it?
  
  Reply
  - Emilka says
    
    November 30, 2018 at 11:54 am
    
    Please, use this: Objects.requireNonNull(Objects.requireNonNull(taskSnapshot.getMetadata()).getReference()).getDownloadUrl().toString()
    
    Reply
Nur says

June 28, 2018 at 3:49 pm

Hello sir, can I ask why the taskSnapshot.getDownloadUrl().toString() is not working? Do you have any other way?

Reply
- Pratik Thacker says
  
  August 1, 2018 at 11:43 am
  
  That particular method is deprecated
  this might help
  https://stackoverflow.com/questions/50467814/tasksnapshot-getdownloadurl-is-deprecated
  
  But i would request to find a workaround for this
  
  Reply
Rohan says

August 31, 2018 at 9:24 am

I cant see anything in view upload full code copied than too. The activity remains empty.

HOPING FOR EARLY RESPONSE

Reply
tony stark says

November 18, 2018 at 6:14 pm

Getting an error when merging this uploading task with my project,the error is that after uploading file there is no file shown in list view ,can you help me

Reply
ASHAY SINGH says

January 15, 2019 at 5:05 pm

My app is opening the app-settings page when i open the upload files button…what do i do..how do i upload the files

Reply
- Belal Khan says
  
  February 22, 2019 at 12:19 pm
  
  Give the permissions from the settings page then open the app again.
  
  Reply
- cloud says
  
  February 25, 2019 at 6:59 am
  
  add this to androidManifest.xml
  
  and in settings page give permission to storage
  
  Reply
Sampson says

January 25, 2019 at 12:20 pm

Hello. pleas does this process apply to uploading .ppt, .doc and excel files ?

Reply
- Belal Khan says
  
  February 22, 2019 at 12:11 pm
  
  Yes.
  
  Reply
Jeel says

March 15, 2019 at 4:37 am

I am unable to select a file from the storage . I have also given the permissions

Reply

Firebase Storage – Uploading and Downloading PDF Files

Creating a New Project

Creating UI

MainActivity

View Uploads Screen

Creating Helper Classes

Uploading PDF in Firebase Storage

Changing Firebase Storage and Database Rules

Firebase Storage Rules

Firebase Database Rules

Testing the Upload

Retrieving Files from Firebase Storage

Download Source Code

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About Belal Khan

Comments

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About Simplified Coding

Quick Links

Creating a New Project

Creating UI

MainActivity

View Uploads Screen

Creating Helper Classes

Uploading PDF in Firebase Storage

Changing Firebase Storage and Database Rules

Firebase Storage Rules

Firebase Database Rules

Testing the Upload

Retrieving Files from Firebase Storage

Download Source Code

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About Belal Khan

Comments

Leave a Reply to prashant Cancel reply

About Simplified Coding

Quick Links

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