Perfect unique_id for device except IMEI,Android_ID,WLAN Mac and Bluetooth address

Question

Objective:

I am looking for a way to find out a unique_id for android device.

Background:

I will use the Id in login request payload and as my app is license based service app the Id should not change under normal circumstances.

Existing Approaches:

In iOS there are some unique id solutions for iOS such as CFUUID or identifierForVendor coupled with Keychain,Advertising Identifier etc.. that can do this job upto the expectation.

But in Android all the options that I know seems to have hole in it.

IMEI:

TelephonyManager TelephonyMgr = (TelephonyManager)getSystemService(TELEPHONY_SERVICE); 
String m_deviceId = TelephonyMgr.getDeviceId();

Drawbacks

It is sim card dependent so

• If there is no sim card then we're doomed

• If there is dual sim then we're dommed

Android_ID:

  String m_androidId = Secure.getString(getContentResolver(), Secure.ANDROID_ID);

Drawbacks

• If OS version is upgraded then it may change
• If device is rooted it gets changed
• No guarantee that the device_id is unique there are some reports some manufacturers are having duplicate device_id

The WLAN MAC Address

WifiManager m_wm = (WifiManager)getSystemService(Context.WIFI_SERVICE); 
String m_wlanMacAdd = m_wm.getConnectionInfo().getMacAddress();

Drawbacks

• If there is no wifi hardware then we're doomed
• In some new devices If wifi is off then we're doomed.

Bluetooth Address:

   BluetoothAdapter m_BluetoothAdapter = BluetoothAdapter.getDefaultAdapter(); 
   String m_bluetoothAdd = m_BluetoothAdapter.getAddress();

Drawbacks:

• if there is no bluetooth hardware we're doomed.
• In future in some new devices we mightn't able to read it if its off.

Possible solutions:

There are two approaches that I think to solve this problem

• We generate a random id by hashing timestamp with unique ids that I have mentioned and store it so next time during login we’ll check if the the stored value of key is null if its so then we’ll generate and store it else we’ll use the value of the key.

  If there is something equivalent to keychain of iOS then we’re good with this approach.

• Find a global identifier something like advertisingIdentifier of iOS which is same for all the apps in the device.

Any help is appreciated !

Answer 1

I have chosen to use Android_ID since It's not dependent on any hardware.

Build.SERIAL also dependent on availability of telephony that is in wifi only devices this Build.SERIAL won't work.

I have explained how other approaches are dependent upon the hardware availability in the question itself.

Answer 2

There is no such ID available on Android. You can generate your own, for example a random UUID and connect it to the user's account. This is what Kindle, Audible and other applications do to identify devices in a non-privacy-intrusive way.

Consider Google Analytics Mobile if you want to "track your users", http://www.google.com/analytics/mobile/

If you want to get closer to tracking a device you can combine the IDs above together in a hash-function. Bluetooth + wifi + android serial, and if any of them are null, you put a 0 in the hash, e.g. if there is no wifi mac addr. As you point out, you aren't guaranteed the id won't change. Unless the user is running a custom ROM, I would expect this computed ID to stay constant, though.

Answer 3

I think, you could use device serial ID (hardware serial number, not android id). You could seen it in device settings. In your code, you could get it by Build.SERIAL.