Generating reliable device ID that can never change

Question

I need to generate a reliable device ID. I'm using Secure.getString(this.getContentResolver(), Secure.ANDROID_ID) at the moment, but it changes after factory reset or with flashing another ROM. Could you suggest a truly hardware ID that cannot be changed?

Upd: none of the solutions suggested so far help: the suggested IDs either can change, or not always available, or both. And I definitely need it to survive reinstallation, too.

[You can find you solution here](http://stackoverflow.com/a/2853253/1479570) — DroidBender, Jul 26 '12 at 07:27
Look at http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2785485/is-there-a-unique-android-device-id and http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3115918/android-unique-id — user370305, Jul 26 '12 at 07:35
@user370305: then it will be portable which is extremely undesirable. — Violet Giraffe, Jul 26 '12 at 07:36

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 26 '12 at 07:29

You can get the IMEI number like this:

TelephonyManager tm = (TelephonyManager) getSystemService(Context.TELEPHONY_SERVICE);
String imei = tm.getDeviceId();

In your AndroidManifest.xml:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_PHONE_STATE"/>

The IMEI number is guaranteed to be unique and will never change on any device.

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 20 '12 at 13:25

0

I haven't found anything better than Secure.getString(this.getContentResolver(), Secure.ANDROID_ID) so have to continue using it, despite its shortcoming.

answered Sep 20 '12 at 13:25

Violet Giraffe

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Generating reliable device ID that can never change

2 Answers2