Bespoke Android App Developers: Bandwidth Estimation

Android provides an API for estimating bandwidth called NetworkCapabilities. This API allows you to determine the estimated bandwidth of the network connection your device is currently using.

To use this API, you must first obtain an instance of the ConnectivityManager. Then, you can get the active network's capabilities and query its estimated bandwidth:

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ConnectivityManager connectivityManager =
    (ConnectivityManager) context.getSystemService(Context.CONNECTIVITY_SERVICE);
NetworkCapabilities networkCapabilities =
    connectivityManager.getNetworkCapabilities(connectivityManager.getActiveNetwork());
int bandwidth = networkCapabilities.getLinkDownstreamBandwidthKbps();

The getLinkDownstreamBandwidthKbps() method returns the estimated downstream bandwidth of the network connection in kilobits per second (kbps). You can also use getLinkUpstreamBandwidthKbps() to get the estimated upstream bandwidth.

Note that these methods return an estimated value, which may not be accurate in all situations. The actual network bandwidth may be affected by various factors, such as network congestion and signal strength.

Bandwidth estimation on Android can be achieved using the NetworkCapabilities API, which allows you to determine the current network's capabilities and estimate the available bandwidth.

Here's an example of how to use the NetworkCapabilities API to estimate bandwidth on Android:

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ConnectivityManager cm = (ConnectivityManager) getSystemService(Context.CONNECTIVITY_SERVICE);
NetworkCapabilities nc = cm.getNetworkCapabilities(cm.getActiveNetwork());
if (nc != null) {
   int downSpeed = nc.getLinkDownstreamBandwidthKbps();
   int upSpeed = nc.getLinkUpstreamBandwidthKbps();
   Log.d(TAG, "downSpeed: " + downSpeed + "kbps, upSpeed: " + upSpeed + "kbps");
}

This code snippet gets the ConnectivityManager and uses it to get the NetworkCapabilities of the active network. The NetworkCapabilities object provides the downstream and upstream bandwidth in kilobits per second (kbps).

Note that the bandwidth estimation is only an estimate and may not always be accurate. The available bandwidth may also change over time and in different network conditions.