How to Add an Immutable Device ID to Mobile Apps Using AI
This Knowledge Base article describes how to use Appdome’s AI/ML in your CI/CD pipeline to continuously deliver plugins that Add Immutable Device ID in Mobile apps.
What is an Immutable Device ID?
An Immutable Device ID is a unique identifier that remains constant for a device, even if the app is removed and reinstalled. While Android and iOS provide advertiser IDs (IDFA for iOS and GAID for Android), users can reset these at any time or opt out of tracking, making them unreliable for persistent identification. Additionally, both platforms have restricted access to the actual immutable device ID for years.
Appdome overcomes this limitation by generating its own Immutable Device ID using a combination of device attributes and real-time signals—without relying on user-tracking permissions. This ensures consistent device identification while maintaining privacy, as no personally identifiable information (PII) is collected or stored in the process.
How Does an Immutable Device ID Help Protect Mobile Apps?
An Immutable Device ID helps your app recognize and track a specific device, even if users try to reset or hide their identifiers. It can detect when an end user is logging in from a different device than usual or if multiple users are accessing the app from the same device. This insight strengthens security by helping to identify potential fraud, account takeovers, and unauthorized access.
Prerequisites for Using Appdome's Immutable Device ID Plugins:
To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Add Immutable Device ID , you’ll need:
- Appdome account (create a free Appdome account here)
- A license for Immutable Device ID
- Mobile App (.ipa for iOS, or .apk or .aab for Android)
- Signing Credentials (see Signing Secure Android apps and Signing Secure iOS apps)
How to Implement Add Immutable Device ID in Mobile Apps Using Appdome
On Appdome, follow these 3 simple steps to create self-defending Mobile Apps that Add Immutable Device ID without an SDK or gateway:
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Designate the Mobile App to be protected.
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Upload an app via the Appdome Mobile Defense platform GUI or via Appdome’s DEV-API or CI/CD Plugins.
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Mobile App Formats: .ipa for iOS, or .apk or .aab for Android
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Immutable Device ID is compatible with: Obj-C, Java, JS, C#, C++, Swift, Kotlin, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, and more.
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Select the defense: Immutable Device ID.
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Follow the steps in Sections 2.2-2.2.2 of this article to add the Immutable Device ID feature to your Fusion Set via the Appdome Console.
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When you select the Immutable Device ID you'll notice that the Fusion Set you created in step 2.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains Immutable Device ID.
Figure 2: Fusion Set that displays the newly added Immutable Device ID protection
Note: Annotating the Fusion Set to identify the protection(s) selected is optional only (not mandatory). -
Open the Fusion Set Detail Summary by clicking the “...” symbol on the far-right corner of the Fusion Set. Copy the Fusion Set ID from the Fusion Set Detail Summary (as shown below):
Figure 3: Fusion Set Detail Summary
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Follow the instructions below to use the Fusion Set ID inside any standard mobile DevOps or CI/CD toolkit like Bitrise, Jenkins, Travis, Team City, Circle CI or other system:
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Refer to the Appdome API Reference Guide for API building instructions.
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Look for sample APIs in Appdome’s GitHub Repository.
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Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the Immutable Device ID feature as shown below:Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the Immutable Device ID feature
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Add the Immutable Device ID feature to your security template.
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Navigate to Build > Anti ATO tab > Mobile Account Protection section in the Appdome Console.
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Toggle OnImmutable Device ID.
(a) Choose to monitor this attack vector by checking the Threat Events checkbox associated with Immutable Device ID as shown below.
(b) To receive mobile Threat Monitoring, check the ThreatScope™ box as shown below. For more details, see our knowledge base article on ThreatScope™ Mobile XDR.Figure 4: Selecting Add Immutable Device ID
Note: The Appdome Platform displays the Mobile Operation Systems supported by each defense in real-time. For more details, see our OS Support Policy KB. -
Select the Threat-Event™ in-app mobile Threat Defense and Intelligence policy for Immutable Device ID:
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Threat-Events™ ON > In-App Detection
When this setting is used, Appdome detects When the app detects a mismatch in the device ID and passes Appdome’s Threat-Event™ attack intelligence to the app’s business logic for processing, enforcement, and user notification. For more information on consuming and using Appdome Threat-Events™ in the app, see section Using Threat-Events™ to Add Immutable Device ID Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps.
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Configure the User Experience Options for Immutable Device ID:
With Threat-Events™ OFF, Appdome provides several user experience options for mobile brands and developers.- App Compromise Notification: Customize the pop-up or toast Appdome uses to notify the user when a threat is present while using the protected mobile app.
- Short message Option. This is available for mobile devices that allow a banner notification for security events.
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Localized Message Option. Allows Appdome users to support global languages in security notifications.
Figure 5: Default User Experience Options for Appdome’s Immutable Device ID
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Immutable Device ID Threat Code™. Appdome uses AI/ML to generate a unique code each time Immutable Device ID is triggered by an active threat on the mobile device. Use the code in Appdome Threat Resolution Center™ to help end users identify, find and resolve active threats on the personal mobile devices.
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Congratulations! The Immutable Device ID protection is now added to the mobile app -
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Certify the Immutable Device ID feature in Mobile Apps
After building Immutable Device ID, Appdome generates a Certified Secure™ certificate to guarantee that the Immutable Device ID protection has been added and is protecting the app. To verify that the Immutable Device ID protection has been added to the mobile app, locate the protection in the Certified Secure™ certificate as shown below:
Figure 6: Certified Secure™ certificate
Each Certified Secure™ certificate provides DevOps and DevSecOps organizations the entire workflow summary, audit trail of each build, and proof of protection that Immutable Device ID has been added to each Mobile app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that Immutable Device ID and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app.
Using Threat-Events™ for Immutable Device ID Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps
Appdome Threat-Events™ provides consumable in-app mobile app attack intelligence and defense control when Immutable Device ID is detected. To consume and use Threat-Events™ for Immutable Device ID in Mobile Apps, use AddObserverForName in Notification Center, and the code samples for Threat-Events™ for Immutable Device ID shown below.
The specifications and options for Threat-Events™ for Immutable Device ID are:
Threat-Event™ Elements | Add Immutable Device ID Method Detail |
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Appdome Feature Name | Immutable Device ID |
Threat-Event Mode | |
OFF, IN-APP DEFENSE | Appdome detects, defends and notifies user (standard OS dialog) using customizable messaging. |
ON, IN-APP DETECTION | Appdome detects the attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (app chooses how and when to enforce). |
ON, IN-APP DEFENSE | Uses Appdome Enforce mode for any attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (gather intel on attacks and threats without losing any protection). |
Certified Secure™ Threat Event Check | |
Visible in ThreatScope™ | |
Developer Parameters for Adding Immutable Device ID Threat-Event™ | |
Threat-Event NAME | DeviceFingerprintEvent |
Threat-Event DATA | reasonData |
Threat-Event CODE | reasonCode |
Threat-Event REF | 6801 |
Threat-Event SCORE | |
currentThreatEventScore | Current Threat-Event score |
threatEventsScore | Total Threat-events score |
Threat-Event Context Keys | |
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message | Message displayed for the user on event |
failSafeEnforce | Timed enforcement against the identified threat |
externalID | The external ID of the event which can be listened via Threat Events |
osVersion | OS version of the current device |
deviceModel | Current device model |
deviceManufacturer | The manufacturer of the current device |
fusedAppToken | The task ID of the Appdome fusion of the currently running app |
kernelInfo | Info about the kernel: system name, node name, release, version and machine. |
carrierPlmn | PLMN of the device. Only available for Android devices. |
deviceID | Current device ID |
reasonCode | Reason code of the occurred event |
buildDate | Appdome fusion date of the current application |
devicePlatform | OS name of the current device |
carrierName | Carrier name of the current device. Only available for Android. |
updatedOSVersion | Is the OS version up to date |
deviceBrand | Brand of the device |
deviceBoard | Board of the device |
buildUser | Build user |
buildHost | Build host |
sdkVersion | Sdk version |
timeZone | Time zone |
deviceFaceDown | Is the device face down |
locationLong | Location longitude conditioned by location permission |
locationLat | Location latitude conditioned by location permission |
locationState | Location state conditioned by location permission |
wifiSsid | Wifi SSID |
wifiSsidPermissionStatus | Wifi SSID permission status |
threatCode | The last six characters of the threat code specify the OS, allowing the Threat Resolution Center to address the attack on the affected device. |
With Threat-Events™ enabled (turned ON), Mobile developers can get detailed attack intelligence and granular defense control in Mobile applications and create amazing user experiences for all mobile end users when Immutable Device ID is detected.
The following is a code sample for native Mobile apps, which uses all values in the specification above for Immutable Device ID:
Important! Replace all placeholder instances of <Context Key> with the specific name of your threat event context key across all language examples. This is crucial to ensure your code functions correctly with the intended event data. For example, The <Context Key> could be the message, externalID, OS Version, reason code, etc.
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IntentFilter intentFilter = new IntentFilter();
intentFilter.addAction("DeviceFingerprintEvent");
BroadcastReceiver threatEventReceiver = new BroadcastReceiver() {
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
String message = intent.getStringExtra("message"); // Message shown to the user
String reasonData = intent.getStringExtra("reasonData"); // Threat detection cause
String reasonCode = intent.getStringExtra("reasonCode"); // Event reason code
// Current threat event score
String currentThreatEventScore = intent.getStringExtra("currentThreatEventScore");
// Total threat events score
String threatEventsScore = intent.getStringExtra("threatEventsScore");
// Replace '<Context Key>' with your specific event context key
// String variable = intent.getStringExtra("<Context Key>");
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
}
};
if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.TIRAMISU) {
registerReceiver(threatEventReceiver, intentFilter, Context.RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTED);
} else {
registerReceiver(threatEventReceiver, intentFilter);
}
Using Appdome, there are no development or coding prerequisites to build secured Mobile Apps by using Immutable Device ID. There is no SDK and no library to code or implement in the app and no gateway to deploy in your network. All protections are built into each app and the resulting app is self-defending and self-protecting.
Releasing and Publishing Mobile Apps with Immutable Device ID
After successfully securing your app by using Appdome, there are several available options to complete your project, depending on your app lifecycle or workflow. These include:
- Customizing, Configuring & Branding Secure Mobile Apps.
- Deploying/Publishing Secure mobile apps to Public or Private app stores.
- Releasing Secured Android & iOS Apps built on Appdome.
Related Articles:
- How to Detect DeepSeek Attack in Mobile Apps
- How to Detect Mobile Remote Access Trojans in Android Apps
- How to Encrypt App-Specific Data Stored in Memory for iOS apps
- How to Encrypt Data at Rest in Android or iOS Apps
- How to Encrypt Java Strings in Android Apps
- How to Encrypt Shared Preferences in Android apps
How Do I Learn More?
If you have any questions, please send them our way at support.appdome.com or via the chat window on the Appdome platform.
Thank you!
Thanks for visiting Appdome! Our mission is to secure every app on the planet by making mobile app security easy. We hope we’re living up to the mission with your project.