1. Home
  2. Security
  3. MAC Address in StayLinked is different

MAC Address in StayLinked is different

StayLinked clients will report what the device OS provides.

Android 11 and newer operating systems no longer provide StayLinked with the hardware MAC. This is true even if MAC randomization is disabled in the operating system. StayLinked cannot display the true hardware MAC that might appear on the shipping box or hardware tag because the OS obfuscates the value.

It's not possible to pre-determine what value will be provided by the OS until StayLinked is installed. The value that appears in the connections list of the Administrator or in the staylink.log on the device would show what StayLinked has been given to work with. The value provided to StayLinked will be persistent. This means it can be used as a static value in things like Answerback messages.

Android development resources have been saying 'no more MAC' for a few years now. This has been a more popular question recently with newer devices getting these operating systems out in production environments. Many resources are available online for more details about why the hardware MAC is no longer used in these device operating systems.

Updated on December 5, 2023

Related Articles