iOS: UDID deprecated... MAC address?

ios mac-address udid
Xavier_Ex picture Xavier_Ex · Mar 16, 2012 · Viewed 7.4k times · Source

As we know Apple is deprecating developers' access to UDID. But to my knowledge it is possible to get an iDevice's MAC address. So what's the difference then? Both MAC address and UDID are unique identifier of a hardware, which is not app specific.

Answer

Caleb picture Caleb · Mar 16, 2012

Some obvious differences between UDID's and MAC addresses:

  • It's conceivable that a device might have more than one MAC address.

  • Guaranteeing uniqueness for MAC addresses isn't Apple's responsibility.

  • UDID's and MAC differ in size and format.

I think it's best to consider the deprecation of the UDID as Apple's way of encouraging developers to switch to other means of identification. For example, keep track of the user rather than the device by setting up a userid/password system. Tracking the UDID brings some problems, like what to do if the user loses or sells his or her device.

Related questions

How can I programmatically get the MAC address of an iphone

How to programmatically get an iPhone's MAC address and IP address?

Read More
How to get iOS device MAC address programmatically

How do I get an iOS device's MAC code programmatically in my app?

Read More
Getting Device ID or Mac Address in iOS

I have an application that uses rest to communicate to a server, i would like to obtain the iphones either mac address or device ID for uniqueness validation, how can this be done?

Read More