Let User Save PDF Outside App in iOS Swift

Swift - Automatically save pdf file to Files app On My iPhone

Example of download any pdf file and automatically save inside files folder of iPhone.

    let urlString = "https://www.tutorialspoint.com/swift/swift_tutorial.pdf"
    let url = URL(string: urlString)
    let fileName = String((url!.lastPathComponent)) as NSString
    //Mark:  Create destination URL
    let documentsUrl:URL =  (FileManager.default.urls(for: .documentDirectory, in: .userDomainMask).first as URL?)!
    let destinationFileUrl = documentsUrl.appendingPathComponent("\(fileName)")
    //Mark: Create URL to the source file you want to download
    let fileURL = URL(string: urlString)
    let sessionConfig = URLSessionConfiguration.default
    let session = URLSession(configuration: sessionConfig)
    let request = URLRequest(url:fileURL!)
    let task = session.downloadTask(with: request) { (tempLocalUrl, response, error) in
        if let tempLocalUrl = tempLocalUrl, error == nil {
            //Mark: Success
            if let statusCode = (response as? HTTPURLResponse)?.statusCode {
                print("Successfully downloaded. Status code: \(statusCode)")
            }
            do {
                try FileManager.default.copyItem(at: tempLocalUrl, to: destinationFileUrl)
                do {
                    //Mark: Show UIActivityViewController to save the downloaded file
                    let contents  = try FileManager.default.contentsOfDirectory(at: documentsUrl, includingPropertiesForKeys: nil, options: .skipsHiddenFiles)
                    for indexx in 0..<contents.count {
                        if contents[indexx].lastPathComponent == destinationFileUrl.lastPathComponent {
                            let activityViewController = UIActivityViewController(activityItems: [contents[indexx]], applicationActivities: nil)
                            self.present(activityViewController, animated: true, completion: nil)
                        }
                    }
                }
                catch (let err) {
                    print("error: \(err)")
                }
            } catch (let writeError) {
                print("Error creating a file \(destinationFileUrl) : \(writeError)")
            }
        } else {
            print("Error took place while downloading a file. Error description: \(error?.localizedDescription ?? "")")
        }
    }
    task.resume()
    
    

Save PDF file to a user-defined default directory in iCloud Drive

Yes you can. Using UIDocumentPickerViewController you can ask for a directory, and you can save it in your app. This is explained in detail in Providing Access to Directories. iOS 13 and later.

See also What's New in File Management and Quick Look for sample code saving a directory URL and then reusing it to set the base directory for a subsequent call to UIDocumentPickerViewController

Saving PDF Files with Swift in iOS and display them

Since several people requested this, here is the equivalent to the first answer in Swift:

//The URL to Save
let yourURL = NSURL(string: "http://somewebsite.com/somefile.pdf")
//Create a URL request
let urlRequest = NSURLRequest(URL: yourURL!)
//get the data
let theData = NSURLConnection.sendSynchronousRequest(urlRequest, returningResponse: nil, error: nil)

//Get the local docs directory and append your local filename.
var docURL = (NSFileManager.defaultManager().URLsForDirectory(.DocumentDirectory, inDomains: .UserDomainMask)).last as? NSURL

docURL = docURL?.URLByAppendingPathComponent( "myFileName.pdf")

//Lastly, write your file to the disk.
theData?.writeToURL(docURL!, atomically: true)

Also, since this code uses a synchronous network request, I highly recommend dispatching it to a background queue:

dispatch_async(dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_DEFAULT, 0), { () -> Void in
    //The URL to Save
    let yourURL = NSURL(string: "http://somewebsite.com/somefile.pdf")
    //Create a URL request
    let urlRequest = NSURLRequest(URL: yourURL!)
    //get the data
    let theData = NSURLConnection.sendSynchronousRequest(urlRequest, returningResponse: nil, error: nil)

    //Get the local docs directory and append your local filename.
    var docURL = (NSFileManager.defaultManager().URLsForDirectory(.DocumentDirectory, inDomains: .UserDomainMask)).last as? NSURL

    docURL = docURL?.URLByAppendingPathComponent( "myFileName.pdf")

    //Lastly, write your file to the disk.
    theData?.writeToURL(docURL!, atomically: true)
})

And the answer to second question in Swift:

//Getting a list of the docs directory
let docURL = (NSFileManager.defaultManager().URLsForDirectory(.DocumentDirectory, inDomains: .UserDomainMask).last) as? NSURL

//put the contents in an array.
var contents = (NSFileManager.defaultManager().contentsOfDirectoryAtURL(docURL!, includingPropertiesForKeys: nil, options: NSDirectoryEnumerationOptions.SkipsHiddenFiles, error: nil))
//print the file listing to the console
println(contents)

_x0013_

Download PDF and save to the Files in iPhone, not to the app data, Swift

Here's how to download any files and save to Photos(if image file) or Files (if pdf)

let urlString = "your file url"
let url = URL(string: urlString)
let fileName = String((url!.lastPathComponent)) as NSString
// Create destination URL
let documentsUrl:URL =  FileManager.default.urls(for: .documentDirectory, in: .userDomainMask).first as URL!
let destinationFileUrl = documentsUrl.appendingPathComponent("\(fileName)")
//Create URL to the source file you want to download
let fileURL = URL(string: urlString)
let sessionConfig = URLSessionConfiguration.default
let session = URLSession(configuration: sessionConfig)
let request = URLRequest(url:fileURL!)
let task = session.downloadTask(with: request) { (tempLocalUrl, response, error) in
    if let tempLocalUrl = tempLocalUrl, error == nil {
        // Success
        if let statusCode = (response as? HTTPURLResponse)?.statusCode {
            print("Successfully downloaded. Status code: \(statusCode)")
        }
        do {
            try FileManager.default.copyItem(at: tempLocalUrl, to: destinationFileUrl)
            do {
                //Show UIActivityViewController to save the downloaded file
                let contents  = try FileManager.default.contentsOfDirectory(at: documentsUrl, includingPropertiesForKeys: nil, options: .skipsHiddenFiles)
                for indexx in 0..<contents.count {
                    if contents[indexx].lastPathComponent == destinationFileUrl.lastPathComponent {
                        let activityViewController = UIActivityViewController(activityItems: [contents[indexx]], applicationActivities: nil)
                        self.present(activityViewController, animated: true, completion: nil)
                    }
                }
            }
            catch (let err) {
                print("error: \(err)")
            }
        } catch (let writeError) {
            print("Error creating a file \(destinationFileUrl) : \(writeError)")
        }
    } else {
        print("Error took place while downloading a file. Error description: \(error?.localizedDescription ?? "")")
    }
}
task.resume()

---

Related Topics