Does anyone know if any app exists that can display the serial number of an iOS device as a barcode or QR code? It seems like there should be an easy way to get that info out of an iPad and scanned if needed. Is the serial number inaccessible to iOS apps for security purposes?
iPad 2 Wi-Fi, iOS 6.1.4
Yes, I'm afraid so. Your app needs system privilages to get the serial number. This is to stop App manufacturers from getting the serial number and using it to track a particular user and everything they do.
It would be possible to write an app that generated a particular (random ?) code for each device, stored that code, and then always displayed the barcode/QR for that same code. That, at least, would give you a unique code for each device.
Simon Slavin wrote:
Yes, I'm afraid so. Your app needs system privilages to get the serial number. This is to stop App manufacturers from getting the serial number and using it to track a particular user and everything they do.
It would be possible to write an app that generated a particular (random ?) code for each device, stored that code, and then always displayed the barcode/QR for that same code. That, at least, would give you a unique code for each device.
so how to do with the barcode connected to device app in a specific way?
Not quite sure what you're asking so I will take a guess.
If you want to show barcodes, you can use an SDK like this one:
http://www.onbarcode.com/products/iphone_barcode/
(I have no experience with that SDK, it's just the first one I found.)
It's easy to make a barcode which relates to just one iPhone: just generate a random number from a big range and show that number as a barcode. I admit there's a chance that two phones will generate the same number but it's small.
But Apple has intentionally made it difficult to track a particular iPhone across apps, passing this identity from one app to another. You can track an iPhone within one of your own apps, but only that app can see that code. This is what users want: they want privacy, not to be tracked.
Thanks for answering. I was hoping for an easy way to check in/out iPads without adding an asset tag sticker. Sticker it is!
App to display serial number barcode?
