Hardware identifier

Android 6.0 has introduced a major change for greater data protection; the WifiInfo.getMacAddress() and BluetoothAdapter.getAddress() methods now return a constant value of 02:00:00:00:00:00, which means you can't rely on these methods to get information.

Now, when you're trying to use some of the methods in the API, you need to add permissions:

• WifiManager.getScanResults() and BluetoothLeScanner.startScan() need one of these two permissions granted:

  • The ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION permission

  • The ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION permission

• BluetoothDevice.ACTION_FOUND: This must have the ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION permission

Note

When a device running Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) initiates a background Wi-Fi or Bluetooth scan, external devices see the origin as a randomized MAC address.