CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascriptios
jnic
jnic

Reputation: 8785

Generating a (non-UDID) identifier in JavaScript to identify iOS devices uniquely

As Mobile Safari does not have access to the iOS device's UDID, I'm looking for a way to generate a different (but still unique) identifier for iOS devices using JavaScript only.

A broader question would be:

"What system information does JavaScript on Mobile Safari have access to that could be used to generate a unique identifier?"

This would need to be information not requiring user permissions (i.e. alerts) to access.

The use-case for this is tracking conversions from CPC publishers where advertisers are limited to providing a URL as the landing page for the ad, and the publisher does not append the UDID to the URL.

Upvotes: 4

Views: 3383

Answers (1)

user1241773
user1241773

Reputation: 21

More to the point, third-party cookies (which is what the op is implying he needs to set) are disabled by default on mobile Safari. The short answer here is there's no easy way to do this, unless you resort to the kind of trickery Google engaged in - the workaround involves a loophole whereby a third-party cookie was allowed to be set with a form submission. Google created an invisible form and submitted it, all via JavaScript and thus was able to set a cookie.

There are companies claiming to be able to do "device fingerprinting" with high accuracy. Blue Cava is one getting a bunch of press, but a Google search will turn up others. If this feature is important enough to pay money for, I'd suggest checking them out.

Upvotes: 2

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