When scanning on Android, the actual MAC address from the transmission is returned. There is no mechanism in Android to change this. The MAC address is randomized each time the transmitter is restarted. When the feature is enabled, the MAC address is not randomized during transmission, and the transmission includes the device's actual bluetooth MAC address, allowing receiving devices to read this MAC address.ĮDIT: Subsequent testing has proven to me that the above statement is incorrect. You can see a list of devices known to support and not support this feature here: The feature is present in Android 5.0+, but some manufacturers have chosen to disable support on certain models, especially older models.
Most newer Android devices with 5.0+ have support for Bluetooth LE peripheral mode, meaning they can transmit as beacons.
