The build fingerprint of an Android Device or OS is a string that uniquely identifies this build which should be in human-readable form. These fingerprints are found in the /system/build.prop file on any Android phones. There are various ways to look at your Android phone’s build fingerprint. One way would be to use a file explorer app with root and take a look at the build.prop in the system folder file like the image below.
Android’s build fingerprints follow this template:
$(BRAND)/$(PRODUCT)/$(DEVICE)/$(BOARD):$(VERSION.RELEASE)/$(ID)/$(VERSION.INCREMENTAL):$(TYPE)/$(TAGS)
Here’s an Example of Nexus 5x build fingerprint of Android 8.1.0 Oreo:
ro.build.fingerprint=”google/bullhead/bullhead:8.1.0/OPM1.171019.011/4448085:user/release-keys”
In this tutorial, we are going through two methods to view the Android Device/OS build fingerprint. One method is by using Termux Application from the playstore and another method is using ADB(Android Debug Bridge) with platform sdk tools.
How to get Android Device/OS Build Fingerprint
Using Termux
1. Download Termux App from the playstore. [Termux is an Linux Terminal Emulator]
2. Run the app and enter the following command.getprop ro.build.fingerprint
3. Your Android Device/OS build fingerprint is displayed.
Using ADB
For getting the build fingerprint using ADB, you need to download Android SDK Platform tools on your PC i.e. Windows, Linux or Mac. We’ll be moving forward on Windows.
1. After download the Android SDK Platform tools zip, extract the files.
2. Enable USB debugging mode on your phone in Developer Settings. [To get Developer Settings, Tap on Build Number until Developer Settings is enabled in About Phone]
3. Connect your Android device to your PC using your USB Cable.
4. Go to the extracted platform tools and open a command prompt there. Check if your ADB connection is working by entering the following command.adb devices
5. If your device is shown, it means adb is working. Now type the following command in the cmd.adb shell getprop ro.build.fingerprint
This is how you will see your Android Device or OS Build Fingerprint. If you have any questions regarding this topic, please don’t hesitate to comment below.