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Tip: iPhone Serial Number

So isn’t it annoying that when you need somebody’s iPhone ID for setting them up for Ad Hoc distribution and the like, there’s no way to easily copy it from iTunes? Well, here’s a handy way to get it as text. Plug it in, and have them go to Terminal.app and enter

system_profiler SPUSBDataType | grep 'Serial Number'

and just tell them to copy the text that appears!

Serial Number: eb2342b2feh5209e845fa7428e60f27a5ef93b7d

Ah, that’s much easier than relying on screenshots or questionable transcription abilities, isn’t it now?

[EDIT: Well, ok then ... apparently sometime since I did my first provisioning, iTunes got smart enough to actually copy the phone's ID when displayed. See first comment. My, you readers are so clever!]

[EDIT 2: No, wait -- there's actually an app, Ad Hoc Helper, from the redoubtable Erica Sadun up on the App Store for free to have your intended tester just email it to you directly. There you go. Brandon wins for that tip!]

Ad Hoc Helper

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APR
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  • http://foggynoggin.com August Trometer

    Actually, that’s an extremely user-unfriendly way to do it, especially for non-technical types who think Terminal means where they board the plane.

    iTunes, frankly, is the _best_ way to get these numbers, no screenshots, no transcription, and it works cross platform.

    Here’s what you have the user do:

    1) Connect your device, and wait for it to load in iTunes
    2) You’ll see all the device information, name, serial number etc. Click on the the words Serial Number. It will change to Identifier
    3) Copy the identifier string by Command-C (or Control-C on a PC). You do not need to select the text. iTunes puts it on the clipboard for you.
    4) Paste into a email

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  • http://www.alexcurylo.com/ Alex

    Huh. Now when did that start working? It definitely didn’t last summer when I was doing my first Ad Hoc provisioning…

  • http://brandontennant.com Brandon

    What about Ad Hoc helper. Pretty handy app the client can install and sends you an email with the UDID.

  • David

    There’s also the eponymous UDID app in the store that does the same job as Adhoc Helper.

  • David

    Nevermind, I’m an idiot. I didn’t realize the app with the big UDID icon is actually, tada, Ad Hoc Helper. :-[

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