How to get the device's IMEI/ESN programmatica

Question

To identify each devices uniquely I would like to use the IMEI (or ESN number for CDMA devices). How to access this programmatically?

Answer 1

Or you can use the ANDROID_ID setting from Android.Provider.Settings.System (as described here strazerre.com).

This has the advantage that it doesn't require special permissions but can change if another application has write access and changes it (which is apparently unusual but not impossible).

Just for reference here is the code from the blog:

import android.provider.Settings;
import android.provider.Settings.System;   

String androidID = System.getString(this.getContentResolver(),Secure.ANDROID_ID);

Implementation note: if the ID is critical to the system architecture you need to be aware that in practice some of the very low end Android phones & tablets have been found reusing the same ANDROID_ID (9774d56d682e549c was the value showing up in our logs)

Answer 2

The method getDeviceId() of TelephonyManager returns the unique device ID, for example, the IMEI for GSM and the MEID or ESN for CDMA phones. Return null if device ID is not available.

Java Code

package com.AndroidTelephonyManager;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.Context;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.telephony.TelephonyManager;
import android.widget.TextView;

public class AndroidTelephonyManager extends Activity {
/** Called when the activity is first created. */
@Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.main);
    TextView textDeviceID = (TextView)findViewById(R.id.deviceid);

    //retrieve a reference to an instance of TelephonyManager
    TelephonyManager telephonyManager = (TelephonyManager)getSystemService(Context.TELEPHONY_SERVICE);

    textDeviceID.setText(getDeviceID(telephonyManager));

}

String getDeviceID(TelephonyManager phonyManager){

 String id = phonyManager.getDeviceId();
 if (id == null){
  id = "not available";
 }

 int phoneType = phonyManager.getPhoneType();
 switch(phoneType){
 case TelephonyManager.PHONE_TYPE_NONE:
  return "NONE: " + id;

 case TelephonyManager.PHONE_TYPE_GSM:
  return "GSM: IMEI=" + id;

 case TelephonyManager.PHONE_TYPE_CDMA:
  return "CDMA: MEID/ESN=" + id;

 /*
  *  for API Level 11 or above
  *  case TelephonyManager.PHONE_TYPE_SIP:
  *   return "SIP";
  */

 default:
  return "UNKNOWN: ID=" + id;
 }

}
}

XML

<linearlayout android:layout_height="fill_parent" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:orientation="vertical" xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
<textview android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:text="@string/hello">
<textview android:id="@+id/deviceid" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_width="fill_parent">
</textview></textview></linearlayout> 

Permission Required READ_PHONE_STATE in manifest file.

Answer 3

Use below code gives you IMEI number:

TelephonyManager telephonyManager = (TelephonyManager) getSystemService(Context.TELEPHONY_SERVICE);
System.out.println("IMEI::" + telephonyManager.getDeviceId());

Answer 4

New Update:

For Android Version 6 And Above, WLAN MAC Address has been deprecated , follow Trevor Johns answer

Update:

For uniquely Identification of devices, You can Use Secure.ANDROID_ID.

Old Answer:

Disadvantages of using IMEI as Unique Device ID:

• IMEI is dependent on the Simcard slot of the device, so it is not possible to get the IMEI for the devices that do not use Simcard. In Dual sim devices, we get 2 different IMEIs for the same device as it has 2 slots for simcard.

You can Use The WLAN MAC Address string (Not Recommended For Marshmallow and Marshmallow+ as WLAN MAC Address has been deprecated on Marshmallow forward. So you'll get a bogus value)

We can get the Unique ID for android phones using the WLAN MAC address also. The MAC address is unique for all devices and it works for all kinds of devices.

Advantages of using WLAN MAC address as Device ID:

• It is unique identifier for all type of devices (smart phones and tablets).

• It remains unique if the application is reinstalled

Disadvantages of using WLAN MAC address as Device ID:

• Give You a Bogus Value from Marshmallow and above.

• If device doesn’t have wifi hardware then you get null MAC address, but generally it is seen that most of the Android devices have wifi hardware and there are hardly few devices in the market with no wifi hardware.

SOURCE : technetexperts.com