Frequently asked questions

OpenUUID is a free-to-use catalogue of proximity UUIDs. A proximity UUID is a special type of identifier used primarily with the iBeacon technology. In a nutshell, it ensures the proper identification of an iBeacon region. It is often used in combination with two more identifiers ('major' and 'minor') to recognize a certain region.

0. How do I contact you if you don't answer my question here?

In case of any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us - we would love to hear from you. The easiest way to contact us is via our support e-mail: [email protected]. Our company is located in Prague, Czech Republic. If you would like to have a chat, simply drop us a line and we can sip a cup of coffee together and discuss your questions or concerns...

1. Why do I need a unique UUID?

Basically, to improve the user experience. If UUIDs are not unique, a mobile application is unable to properly distinguish a user's context. For example, it would incorrectly display an icon of an application on the lock screen despite the fact the application is not relevant in a given context.

2. Aren't UUIDs unique by themselves?

If you use some strong random UUID generator, the resulting UUID has a very high probability of being unique, since the probability of a collision is close to zero (not zero, though). The bigger part of the problem is that most of the iBeacon vendors use the same default UUID for all of their devices and application developers do not bother changing the default UUID. Since there are only a few large iBeacon vendors, there are currently quite a lot of iBeacons deployed with the same proximity UUID. OpenUUID generates truly unique UUIDs for you (we generate a new UUID in case of a collision) and helps you keep track of your UUIDs.

3. Why do you require registration?

Having a user account is the most reliable way to assure that UUIDs are unique across our system and that UUIDs are not generated by "random bots on the Internet". Also, it helps you keep track of the UUIDs you generated earlier.

4. What is your pricing model?

OpenUUID is free and will remain free forever, with no restrictions.

5. How many UUIDs can I have?

We currently do not limit the number of UUIDs a single user can have. We simply ask our users not to waste the energy of the universe by generating an unnecessarily high number of UUID records.

6. How do I delete UUID I created?

Currently, it is not possible to simply remove UUID records. In case you created some "testing record", you can either keep it aside, or you can edit its metadata to reflect some production deployment. In case you really insist on removing a UUID, please contact us via [email protected].

7. What is a "public catalogue"?

We currently do not publish any information about your UUIDs. However, we are considering implementing a public catalogue of UUIDs at some point. Therefore, we want to make sure we ask you in advance if your information can be shared with the public.