Downloading Files

Downloading files from Firebase Storage can be handled in several ways. We can use methods made available through the Firebase package or use other packages to handle and manage the download process.

The methods available through the Firebase SDK are:

Using the getData method

The contents of a file can be immediately downloaded into memory as a byte array using the getData method. This approach is appropriate for relatively small data, such as pictures or brief documents. If we wish to process the downloaded data right away without saving it in the local storage, the fact that the data is held in memory can be helpful. However, it’s important to note that using getData on huge files might use up a lot of memory.

Here, we define a fileData variable of ​​Uint8List type to gather the data from the getData method being called on the fileReference object.

Using the getFile method

As an alternative, we can use the getFile method to download a file and store it on our device. This method can be used to download all types of files, including larger ones like films. This method is designed to be memory-efficient, particularly for handling substantial files. Because files are saved as temporary files on ...