Bespoke Android App Developers: NetworkInfo

Bespoke Android App Developers: NetworkInfo

NetworkInfo is a class in the Android SDK that provides information about the current network connection on an Android device. It is used to determine the type of network connection, such as Wi-Fi or mobile data, and whether or not the device is connected to the internet.

NetworkInfo can be obtained through the ConnectivityManager class, which is responsible for managing network connections on the device. Here's an example of how to obtain NetworkInfo:

ConnectivityManager cm = (ConnectivityManager) getSystemService(Context.CONNECTIVITY_SERVICE); NetworkInfo networkInfo = cm.getActiveNetworkInfo();

Once you have a NetworkInfo object, you can use its methods to determine the state of the network connection. For example:

boolean isConnected = networkInfo != null && networkInfo.isConnected(); boolean isWiFi = networkInfo != null && networkInfo.getType() == ConnectivityManager.TYPE_WIFI;

In the above example, the isConnected variable is set to true if the device is connected to a network, and the isWiFi variable is set to true if the device is connected to a Wi-Fi network.


Android NetworkInfo is a class in the Android framework that provides information about the state of the device's network connection. It is part of the Android connectivity framework and can be used to determine whether the device is currently connected to a network, what type of network connection is available, and whether the connection is usable for data transfer.

Some of the methods available in the NetworkInfo class include:

  • getType(): Returns the type of the network connection, such as WIFI or MOBILE.
  • isConnected(): Returns whether the device is currently connected to a network.
  • isConnectedOrConnecting(): Returns whether the device is currently connected to a network or is in the process of connecting to a network.
  • isAvailable(): Returns whether the network connection is available for data transfer.
  • isFailover(): Returns whether the network connection has failed over to another network.

Developers can use the NetworkInfo class to programmatically check the state of the device's network connection and respond accordingly in their applications. This can be useful for implementing features such as offline support or displaying appropriate messaging to users when a network connection is not available.

Read more about NetworkInfo