in XCode 4.6, iOS 6.1, we use CoreTelephony to obtain IMEI, the same way mentioned in get IMEI on iPhone with CoreTelephony? question, but after switching to iOS7 and XCode 5 it doesn't work anymore. My system considers IMEI as an unbreakable way to identify a cellphone and guarantee it is linked to a specific user, also other security issues depend on this identifier. With the new iOS the code is not working and we hadn't found a way to obtain it.
My central question is: What options do I have to obtain IMEI in iOS7 / XCode 5?
Variations are: - How else could I guarantee a cellphone belongs to a specific person? Identity is very important in my system and ownership of device is a requisite. - What other options do we have to keep secure the system without the need to rewrite too much?
Unless there is a private API solution found - our organization is moving forward with placing the IMEI and phone# into our Enterprise Applications as a guarded Application Settings.
With the new camera based barcode recognition of iOS7 - the IMEI can even be scanned from the phone box during initial kitting and deployment rather than entered by hand.
We also considered tracking the identifierForVendor UUID in a database etc. linking to IMEI/Phone# but since it can change and since our historical data is all IMEI based - didn't make sense to add that layer of tracking complexity to a semi-useless identifier that doesn't trace back to a universal meaningful tracking mechanism like Phone/IMEI.