Why do Android doesn't have a mac address for 3g when iOS does? [closed]

Question

I know this maybe a stupid question but maybe I'm just confused with the concept of mac address.

As far as I know, each device has its own mac address. For example, a wiFi interface has its own mac address. If all devices has its own mac address, then the device for 3g must also have a mac address. This is true for iPhones because the 3g in iPhone still gives a mac address. However, in Android, only the mac address for wiFi can be determined. There is no mac address for 3g. Or I'm not sure if it is just not accessible. Can you explain why Android doesn't have a mac address for 3g?

Correll

Answer 1

I believe that MAC address is specific to network technologies that implement the IEEE 802 standard, such as ethernet. 3G is not an IEEE 802 network, so MAC address really doesnt apply.

That said, there should be very few reasons to use the MAC address in your app, unless youre writing a network driver or doing something specific with the TCP/IP network.

Often people reach for MAC address thinking that it represents a unique device id, when really you should use something like http://developer.android.com/reference/android/provider/Settings.Secure.html#ANDROID_ID to get a unique id that will work across all of the different hardware combinations for android, some of which might include no IEE 802 network whatsoever.

I suspect Apple is just being sloppy with their API and/or able to assume that ALL iOS devices have IEE 802 network hardware because they control the entire ecosystem. Does IOs give a different MAC address when on Wifi than on 3G?

Evermore

Thanks, mmeyer for clearing that up! I've always thought that every device, regardless of the standard they're following, has its own mac address. Yes, iOS gives a different MAC address when on wiFi and on 3g. I wonder why some people closed my question as not constructive. I think they misunderstood my topic. I don't want to have a debate on why Android didn't supply a mac address for 3g when iOS does. I just want to understand how mac address works in both OS. – Correll

bluetooth isn't ieee 802 device as well, but it do have mac address on android. – Lewellen

I thought this was a helpful topic as well. – Archaeornis