How to download a blob file from Chrome iOS in Javascript ?

I'm working on download files (pdf, excel, txt, png) from iOS. iOS hasn't a file systems which is a problem for downloads. I create a code which download a blob file depending of the OS and the navigator if is required. It works nicely on desktop (lastest versions of Chrome and IE), Mobile Android (Chrome, native navigator) and iOS iPad2 (Safari).

Now, Chrome iOS supposed to be like Safari mobile, but the algorithm doesn't works, Chrome iOs download the file by opening in a new tab but the page is empty.

I create my own blob to create the downloadUrl.

This is a part of the download function .

    var URL = window.URL || window.webkitURL;
    var downloadUrl = URL.createObjectURL(iobBLOB);
    var newWindow = null;   

    if (typeof a.download === 'undefined') {
            var newWindow = null;
            newWindow = window.open(downloadUrl, '_blank');
            setTimeout(function() {
                newWindow.document.title = isbFilename;
            }, 10);
    }

More details

Debugging on iPad 2 and iPhone 4

Trying to download an excell, pdf, txt, and Png files.

The devices doesn't have file system.

Thanks for helping me... Tell me if you need more information it's my first question.

How to download a blob file from Chrome iOS in Javascript ?

I'm working on download files (pdf, excel, txt, png) from iOS. iOS hasn't a file systems which is a problem for downloads. I create a code which download a blob file depending of the OS and the navigator if is required. It works nicely on desktop (lastest versions of Chrome and IE), Mobile Android (Chrome, native navigator) and iOS iPad2 (Safari).

Now, Chrome iOS supposed to be like Safari mobile, but the algorithm doesn't works, Chrome iOs download the file by opening in a new tab but the page is empty.

I create my own blob to create the downloadUrl.

This is a part of the download function .

    var URL = window.URL || window.webkitURL;
    var downloadUrl = URL.createObjectURL(iobBLOB);
    var newWindow = null;   

    if (typeof a.download === 'undefined') {
            var newWindow = null;
            newWindow = window.open(downloadUrl, '_blank');
            setTimeout(function() {
                newWindow.document.title = isbFilename;
            }, 10);
    }

More details

Debugging on iPad 2 and iPhone 4

Trying to download an excell, pdf, txt, and Png files.

The devices doesn't have file system.

Thanks for helping me... Tell me if you need more information it's my first question.

• javascript
• ios
• download
• blob
• chrome-ios

• you can use my download script to download blobs: github.com/rndme/download download(iobBLOB, "file.ext", "text/plain") – dandavis Commented Mar 18, 2015 at 23:20
• I've done blob downloads by using an anchor. Create an anchor, set the hrefto the ObjectURL data, set the download to the filename, and trigger a click(). Might help? – Malk Commented Mar 18, 2015 at 23:21
• @dandavis Thanks dan, but your code does't work on devices without file systems – Es Noguera Commented Mar 20, 2015 at 13:57
• i've tested on ipads... i think you need iOS7.1+ for it, so you may need to update the iPad. (just a guess) – dandavis Commented Mar 20, 2015 at 17:14
• Could you write the code that download from Chrome in an iPad for me please? I'm implementing download.min.js but it doesn't works on my device. I've just update de iPad to iOS 8.2 – Es Noguera Commented Mar 25, 2015 at 17:27

3 Answers 3

After searching, this solution seems to works fine on ChromeiOS and Safari. I found it on this post How to open Blob URL on Chrome iOS. This solved my problem:

//isbContentType i.e. 'text/plain'
//isbFilename i.e. 'This is a title'
 var reader = new FileReader();
    reader.onload = function(e) {
       var bdata = btoa(reader.result);
       var datauri = 'data:' + isbContentType + ';base64,' + bdata;
       window.open(datauri);
       newWindow = setTimeout(function() {
           newWindow.document.title = isbFilename;
       }, 10);
    };
    reader.readAsBinaryString(iobBLOB);

I believed there was a way to download the blob file, but it wasn't. Thanks anyway

var reader = new FileReader();
var out = new Blob([response.data], { type: 'application/pdf' });
reader.onload = function(e) {
    window.location.href = reader.result;
}
reader.readAsDataURL(out);

// var blob = new Blob([response.data], { type: "application/pdf" });
var fileURL = URL.createObjectURL(out);
var a = document.createElement('a');
a.href = fileURL;
a.target = '_blank';
a.download = 'lkn_' + id + '.pdf';
document.body.appendChild(a);
a.click();

We have a wordpress site, and on the callback to download a csv file we had to add the following for ipad/pod/phone specific download;

if(stristr($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'], 'ipad') OR stristr($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'], 'iphone') OR stristr($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'], 'ipod')) {
      header("Content-Type: application/octet-stream");   
} else {
      header('Content-Type: application/vnd.ms-excel');   
}