Question

I'm develop application for jailbroken iOS devices. I use https://github.com/erica/uidevice-extension/blob/master/UIDevice-IOKitExtensions.m to get IMEI, but on iPhone 5 this solution does not work(return empty string). Is there any way to get IMEI on iPhone 5(iOS 6.1.2)?

creker · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-11 18:37:45Z

There are several ways to get IMEI on newer devices

1) Private ManagedConfiguration.framework

CFStringRef MCCTIMEI()

2) CoreTelephony.framework

struct CTResult
{
    int flag;
    int a;
};
extern CFStringRef kCTMobileEquipmentInfoIMEI;

void *connection = _CTServerConnectionCreate(kCFAllocatorDefault, NULL, NULL);

NSDictionary *info = nil;
struct CTResult result;
_CTServerConnectionCopyMobileEquipmentInfo(&result, connection, &info);
[info autorelease];    
CFRelease(connection);

NSString* IMEI = (NSString*)info[(NSString*)kCTMobileEquipmentInfoIMEI];

3) liblockdown.dylib

extern CFStringRef kLockdownIMEIKey;

void* connection = lockdown_connect();
NSString* IMEI = [(NSString*)lockdown_copy_value(connection, NULL, kLockdownIMEIKey) autorelease];
lockdown_disconnect(connection);

I had some problems with MCCTIMEI - returned empty IMEI after device start-up. Now I'm using CoreTelephony solution, never had a problem with it.

UPDATE

On iOS 7 these APIs are protected by com.apple.coretelephony.Identity.get. entitlement. To access IMEI (IMSI, phone number and other info) you need to sign your with that entitlement with boolean value set to true.

@Mobster, these APIs are probably protected by entitlement in iOS 7. I think it's com.apple.coretelephony.Identity.get. — creker, Nov 9 '13 at 23:05
@creker, to use the com.apple.coretelephony.Identity.get, the device must be jailbroken, right? — Mobster, Nov 11 '13 at 16:08
Yes, device must be jailbroken. As for entitlement, it's just a guess. I looked at Preferences app (it has access to this kind of information, including IMEI) entitlements, found one that's looks like it has something to do with IMEI. Preferences app in iOS 6 doesn't have this entitlement so I assumed it's the reason why these APIs stopped working. We just have to wait for jailbrake to test it. — creker, Nov 11 '13 at 17:40

Nate · Answer 2 · 2013-05-21 21:34:04Z

It have some difficult get the IMEI number programatically. However, if you're looking for a way to identify a particular phone, you can use the UDID (Unique Device Identifier) to do so.

NSString *UDID = [[UIDevice currentDevice] uniqueIdentifier];

and also try this for IMEI

NSString *imei = [[NetworkController sharedInstance] IMEI];

thx for reply, but uniqueIdentifier is deprecated – InViZz May 22 '13 at 8:32 — InViZz, May 22 '13 at 8:32

user2883619 · Answer 3 · 2013-10-16 16:20:37Z

You can use it:

Download following two files from GitHub

OpenUDID.h
OpenUDID.m

Add these files to your project.

And use it as

#import "OpenUDID.h"

NSString* openUDID = [OpenUDID value];

It is tested in iPhone 4 and iPhone 5

1down vote

I am not very sure about IMEI number in iOS7 Apple changed the way they provide the Unique Identifier. But you should not be getting IMEI in first place as you're using private API and this is against Apple rules.

To get unique identifier for device you should use UDID. This will always return the same id across all your apps running on the same phone.

answered Oct 16 '13 at 16:20

user2883619

Actually, UDID is deprecated on iOS7 (along with Open UDID and MAC Address). The correct way is to replace it with UUID, identifierForVendor or advertisingIdentifier, depending of your needs. Check the following to see how you can get the UUID and store it in the keychain:github.com/joseandro/TitaniumiOSUniqueIDs/blob/master/Classes/… – Mobster Nov 9 '13 at 19:35

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