How to uniquely identify an android device:


From the Android Reference page:

"public static final String ANDROID_ID

The Android ID (a unique 64-bit value) as a hex string. Identical to that obtained by calling GoogleLoginService.getAndroidId(); it is also placed here so you can get it without binding to a service."

It took me awhile to figure out how to use this since all the code on the net regarding this issue is only compatible with 1.1 and most of the things the code utilizes has since been deprecated in 1.5 of the SDK.



This is perfect for storing high scores for a game for each individual user without the need for user registration.

NOTE: The emulator will return a null value so if you try to use this value in the emulator environment your application will crash.

Thank you, I've been searching for someway to get a device ID or other identification for some time now.

Hi all, Wooot... my first post. Anyway... I used the information in order to get the android_id in a hexadecimal value. But I have been testing my application on the HTC Tattoo, it returns a NULL when I am asking for a DEVICE_ID.
Is it because I am doing something wrong or, do I miss another permission or is there any other way to identify the ID of the phone?

Thanks in advance,

Ka-Sing Chou

Does this method invocation return the same ID, as the Secure.getString?
android.provider.Settings.System.getString(context.getContentResolver(), android.provider.Settings.System.ANDROID_ID)

On my HTC Tattoo the string returned by this System.getString call, is not null. Neither is it null on any of the devices my game is running on. It is null on the emulator.

theblackdragon19 wrote:Hi all, Wooot... my first post. Anyway... I used the information in order to get the android_id in a hexadecimal value. But I have been testing my application on the HTC Tattoo, it returns a NULL when I am asking for a DEVICE_ID.
Is it because I am doing something wrong or, do I miss another permission or is there any other way to identify the ID of the phone?

Thanks in advance,

Ka-Sing Chou

so, what is the best way to get this device ID?

SO :

for 1501 execution of :
{values in milliseconds}
Secure.getString(getContentResolver(), Secure.ANDROID_ID);
{289,199,390,195,183} ~200ms

android.provider.Settings.System.getString(getContentResolver(), android.provider.Settings.System.ANDROID_ID);
{1042,1048,833,747} ~800ms

So better Secure.getString(getContentResolver(), Secure.ANDROID_ID);

Say thx if it help you

I know this is an old thread, but thought I'd correct a misconception.

Using:
Secure.getString(getContentResolver(), Secure.ANDROID_ID);

CANNOT be considered truly unique. In fact, every single Viewsonic tablet appears to return the same DeviceID. That makes playing games like Pocket Empires interesting because it uses that field to identify a user account without needing a login Many other games just flat won't let me play because they say an account is already associated with my device and require me to login with those credentials.

Moral of the story - it's great as a second identifier, but a better answer is to perhaps concatenate the email account name with the deviceid for a truly unique (or still semi-unique) identifier.

I've got an example of getting a list of account address from the device on my blog:
http://www.ossramblings.com/finding_goo ... d_versions

I'm wake up by your answer, thanks for this precision !

I love google but android is very boring on his OS ! total failure !
Next phone will be iphone...

very nice thanks for that!

noobles wrote:How to uniquely identify an android device:


From the Android Reference page:

"public static final String ANDROID_ID

The Android ID (a unique 64-bit value) as a hex string. Identical to that obtained by calling GoogleLoginService.getAndroidId(); it is also placed here so you can get it without binding to a service."

It took me awhile to figure out how to use this since all the code on the net regarding this issue is only compatible with 1.1 and most of the things the code utilizes has since been deprecated in 1.5 of the SDK.

Syntax: [ Download ] [ Hide ]

Syntax: [ Download ] [ Show ]

Using java Syntax Highlighting

1. import android.provider.Settings.Secure;
2.  
3. private String android_id = Secure.getString(getContext().getContentResolver(), Secure.ANDROID_ID);
4.  

Parsed in 0.030 seconds, using GeSHi 1.0.8.4

This is perfect for storing high scores for a game for each individual user without the need for user registration.

NOTE: The emulator will return a null value so if you try to use this value in the emulator environment your application will crash.

You can identify Andriod Device by this statement also.

import android.provider.Settings.System;
String android_id = System.getString(this.getContentResolver(), System.ANDROID_ID);

I'm actually looking for something like a anonymous 'userid'. A device id on its own does not allow the transfer of a paying account for instance?

You can get the UserId for an anonymous cell phone tracking user with this:

string userId = Request.AnonymousID