Downloading webpages in WinRT throws an exception

Question

I\'m using this code to download a web page in my Metro Style app:

    public static async Task DownloadPageAsync(string url)
    {
        HttpCli         


        

Answer 1

OK. I found the answer. The exception was because I installed NetLimiter product on Windows 8 Developer Preview and somehow it prevented my app from accessing the internet.

UPDATE: First of all, this is the code working in EVERY version of Windows 8.

    public static async Task<string> DownloadPageAsync(string url)
    {
        try
        {
            HttpClientHandler handler = new HttpClientHandler { UseDefaultCredentials = true, AllowAutoRedirect = true };
            HttpClient client = new HttpClient(handler);
            HttpResponseMessage response = await client.GetAsync(url);
            response.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();
            string html = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
            return html;
        }
        catch (Exception)
        {
            return "";
        }
    }

Secondly, if this doesn't work, chances are, you have a network-related software preventing your app to access the Internet. One popular case is proxifier. If you have proxifier installed your MetroStyle apps won't be able to access the internet. To make it work, please refer to my blog at:

http://anoori.me/blog/general/use-proxifier-in-windows-8-without-fiddler2

Answer 2

pretty sure netlimiter was running your internet request through a localhost proxy, and your app didn't have the "local network" capability which would allow such access to the local network