How can I convert my device token (NSData) into an NSString?

Question

I am implementing push notifications. I'd like to save my APNS Token as a String.

- (void)application:(UIApplication *)application
didRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithDeviceToken:(NSData *)newDeviceToken
{
    NSString *tokenString = [NSString stringWithUTF8String:[newDeviceToken bytes]]; //[[NSString alloc]initWithData:newDeviceToken encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
    NSLog(@"%@", tokenString);
    NSLog(@"%@", newDeviceToken);
}

The first line of code prints null. the second prints the token. How can I get my newDeviceToken as an NSString?

Answer 1

use this :

NSString * deviceTokenString = [[[[deviceToken description]
                         stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString: @"<" withString: @""] 
                        stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString: @">" withString: @""] 
                       stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString: @" " withString: @""];

NSLog(@"The generated device token string is : %@",deviceTokenString);

Answer 2

If anyone is looking for a way to do this in Swift:

func application(application: UIApplication, didRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithDeviceToken deviceToken: NSData) {
    let tokenChars = UnsafePointer<CChar>(deviceToken.bytes)
    var tokenString = ""

    for i in 0..<deviceToken.length {
        tokenString += String(format: "%02.2hhx", arguments: [tokenChars[i]])
    }

    print("tokenString: \(tokenString)")
}

Edit: For Swift 3

Swift 3 introduces the Data type, with value semantics. To convert the deviceToken to a String, you can do as follows:

func application(_ application: UIApplication, didRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithDeviceToken deviceToken: Data) {
    let token = deviceToken.map { String(format: "%02.2hhx", $0) }.joined()
    print(token)
}

Answer 3

Someone Helped me with this.I am just passing along

- (void)application:(UIApplication *)application didRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithDeviceToken:(NSData *)devToken {

    const unsigned *tokenBytes = [deviceToken bytes];
    NSString *hexToken = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%08x%08x%08x%08x%08x%08x%08x%08x",
                         ntohl(tokenBytes[0]), ntohl(tokenBytes[1]), ntohl(tokenBytes[2]),
                         ntohl(tokenBytes[3]), ntohl(tokenBytes[4]), ntohl(tokenBytes[5]),
                         ntohl(tokenBytes[6]), ntohl(tokenBytes[7])];

    [[MyModel sharedModel] setApnsToken:hexToken];
}

Answer 4

You could use this

- (NSString *)stringWithDeviceToken:(NSData *)deviceToken {
    const char *data = [deviceToken bytes];
    NSMutableString *token = [NSMutableString string];

    for (NSUInteger i = 0; i < [deviceToken length]; i++) {
        [token appendFormat:@"%02.2hhX", data[i]];
    }

    return [token copy];
}

Answer 5

For those who want in Swift 3 and most easier method

func extractTokenFromData(deviceToken:Data) -> String {
    let token = deviceToken.reduce("", {$0 + String(format: "%02X", $1)})
    return token.uppercased();
}

Answer 6

It's my solution and It works well in my app:

    NSString* newToken = [[[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@",deviceToken] 
stringByTrimmingCharactersInSet:[NSCharacterSet characterSetWithCharactersInString:@"<>"]] stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString:@" " withString:@""];

• convert NSData to NSString with stringWithFormat
• trim the "<>"
• remove the spaces

Answer 7

I think converting deviceToken to hex byte string has no sense. Why? You will send it to your backend, where it will be transformed back to bytes to be pushed to APNS. So, use NSData's method base64EncodedStringWithOptions, push it to server, and then use reverse base64decoded data :) That is so much easier :)

NSString *tokenString = [tokenData base64EncodedStringWithOptions:NSDataBase64EncodingEndLineWithLineFeed];

Answer 8

This is a little bit shorter solution:

NSData *token = // ...
const uint64_t *tokenBytes = token.bytes;
NSString *hex = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%016llx%016llx%016llx%016llx",
                 ntohll(tokenBytes[0]), ntohll(tokenBytes[1]),
                 ntohll(tokenBytes[2]), ntohll(tokenBytes[3])];

Answer 9

What about one line solution?

Objective C

NSString *token = [[data.description componentsSeparatedByCharactersInSet:[[NSCharacterSet alphanumericCharacterSet]invertedSet]]componentsJoinedByString:@""];

Swift

let token = data.description.componentsSeparatedByCharactersInSet(NSCharacterSet.alphanumericCharacterSet().invertedSet).joinWithSeparator("")

Answer 10

Functional Swift version

One liner:

let hexString = UnsafeBufferPointer<UInt8>(start: UnsafePointer(data.bytes),
count: data.length).map { String(format: "%02x", $0) }.joinWithSeparator("")

---

Here's in a reusable and self documenting extension form:

extension NSData {
    func base16EncodedString(uppercase uppercase: Bool = false) -> String {
        let buffer = UnsafeBufferPointer<UInt8>(start: UnsafePointer(self.bytes),
                                                count: self.length)
        let hexFormat = uppercase ? "X" : "x"
        let formatString = "%02\(hexFormat)"
        let bytesAsHexStrings = buffer.map {
            String(format: formatString, $0)
        }
        return bytesAsHexStrings.joinWithSeparator("")
    }
}

---

Alternatively, use reduce("", combine: +) instead of joinWithSeparator("") to be seen as a functional master by your peers.

---

Edit: I changed String($0, radix: 16) to String(format: "%02x", $0), because one digit numbers needed to having a padding zero

(I don't know yet how to mark a question as a duplicate of this other one, so I just posted my answer again)

Answer 11

For Swift :

var characterSet: NSCharacterSet = NSCharacterSet( charactersInString: "<>" )
    var deviceTokenString: String = ( deviceToken.description as NSString )
    .stringByTrimmingCharactersInSet( characterSet )
    .stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString( " ", withString: "" ) as String

println( deviceTokenString )

Answer 12

Throwing my answer on the pile. Avoid using string parsing; It's not guaranteed by the docs that NSData.description will always work that way.

Swift 3 Implementation:

extension Data {
    func hexString() -> String {
        var bytesPointer: UnsafeBufferPointer<UInt8> = UnsafeBufferPointer(start: nil, count: 0)
        self.withUnsafeBytes { (bytes) in
            bytesPointer = UnsafeBufferPointer<UInt8>(start: UnsafePointer(bytes), count:self.count)
        }
        let hexBytes = bytesPointer.map { return String(format: "%02hhx", $0) }
        return hexBytes.joined()
    }
}

Answer 13

I've tried to test two different methods with format "%02.2hhx" and "%02x"

    var i :Int = 0
    var j: Int = 0
    let e: Int = Int(1e4)
    let time = NSDate.timeIntervalSinceReferenceDate
    while i < e {
        _ =  deviceToken.map { String(format: "%02x", $0) }.joined()
        i += 1
    }
    let time2 = NSDate.timeIntervalSinceReferenceDate
    let delta = time2-time
    print(delta)

    let time3 = NSDate.timeIntervalSinceReferenceDate
    while j < e {
        _ =  deviceToken.reduce("", {$0 + String(format: "%02x", $1)})
        j += 1
    }
    let time4 = NSDate.timeIntervalSinceReferenceDate
    let delta2 = time4-time3
    print(delta2)

and the result is that the fastest is "%02x" at average 2.0 vs 2.6 for the reduced version:

deviceToken.reduce("", {$0 + String(format: "%02x", $1)})

Answer 14

Explanation of %02.2hhx in the high vote answer:

• %: Introduces the x conversion specifier.
• 02: The minimum width of the converted value is 2. If the converted value has fewer bytes than the field width, it shall be padded with 0 on the left.
• .2: Gives the minimum number of digits to appear for the x conversion specifier.
• hh: Specifies that the x conversion specifier applies to a signed char or unsigned char argument (the argument will have been promoted according to the integer promotions, but its value shall be converted to signed char or unsigned char before printing).
• x: The unsigned argument shall be converted to unsigned hexadecimal format in the style "dddd"; the letters "abcdef" are used. The precision specifies the minimum number of digits to appear; if the value being converted can be represented in fewer digits, it shall be expanded with leading zeros. The default precision is 1. The result of converting zero with an explicit precision of zero shall be no characters.

For more details, see the IEEE printf specification.

---

Based on the above explanation, I think it is better to change %02.2hhx to %02x or %.2x.

For Swift 5, the following methods are all feasible:

deviceToken.map({String(format: "%02x", $0)}).joined()

deviceToken.map({String(format: "%.2x", $0)}).joined()

deviceToken.reduce("", {$0 + String(format: "%02x", $1)})

deviceToken.reduce("", {$0 + String(format: "%.2x", $1)})

The test is as follows:

let deviceToken = (0..<32).reduce(Data(), {$0 + [$1]})
print(deviceToken.reduce("", {$0 + String(format: "%.2x", $1)}))
// Print content:
// 000102030405060708090a0b0c0d0e0f101112131415161718191a1b1c1d1e1f

Answer 15

Swift:

let tokenString = deviceToken.description.stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString("[ <>]", withString: "", options: .RegularExpressionSearch, range: nil)

Answer 16

Swift

    // make sure that we have token for the devie on the App
    func application(application: UIApplication
        , didRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithDeviceToken deviceToken: NSData) {

            var tokenStr = deviceToken.description
            tokenStr = tokenStr.stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString("<", withString: "", options: [], range: nil)
            tokenStr = tokenStr.stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString(">", withString: "", options: [], range: nil)
            tokenStr = tokenStr.stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString(" ", withString: "", options: [], range: nil)



            print("my token is: \(tokenStr)")

    }

Answer 17

Here's how you do it in Xamarin.iOS

public override void RegisteredForRemoteNotifications(UIApplication application, NSData deviceToken)
{
    var tokenStringBase64 = deviceToken.GetBase64EncodedString(NSDataBase64EncodingOptions.None);
    //now you can store it for later use in local storage
}

Answer 18

-(NSString *)deviceTokenWithData:(NSData *)data
{
    NSString *deviceToken = [[data description] stringByTrimmingCharactersInSet:[NSCharacterSet characterSetWithCharactersInString:@"<>"]];
    deviceToken = [deviceToken stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString:@" " withString:@""];
    return deviceToken;
}

Answer 19

NSString *tokenString = [[newDeviceToken description] stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString:@"[<> ]" withString:@"" options:NSRegularExpressionSearch range:NSMakeRange(0, [[newDeviceToken description] length])];

Answer 20

Swift 3:

If any one is looking for a way to get device token in Swift 3. Use the below modified snippet.

    let characterSet: CharacterSet = CharacterSet( charactersIn: "<>" )

    let deviceTokenString: String = (deviceToken.description as NSString)
        .trimmingCharacters(in: characterSet as CharacterSet)
        .replacingOccurrences(of: " ", with: "")
        .uppercased()

    print(deviceTokenString)

Answer 21

Use excellent category!

// .h file

@interface NSData (DeviceToken)

- (NSString *)stringDeviceToken;

@end    

// .m file

#import "NSData+DeviceToken.h"

@implementation NSData (DeviceToken)

- (NSString *)stringDeviceToken {
    const unsigned *deviceTokenBytes = [deviceToken bytes];
    NSString *deviceToken = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%08x%08x%08x%08x%08x%08x%08x%08x",
                     ntohl(deviceTokenBytes[0]), ntohl(deviceTokenBytes[1]), ntohl(deviceTokenBytes[2]),
                     ntohl(deviceTokenBytes[3]), ntohl(deviceTokenBytes[4]), ntohl(deviceTokenBytes[5]),
                     ntohl(deviceTokenBytes[6]), ntohl(deviceTokenBytes[7])];
    return deviceToken;
}

@end

// AppDelegate.m

#import "NSData+DeviceToken.h"

- (void)application:(UIApplication *)application didRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithDeviceToken:(NSData *)deviceToken
{
    NSString *token = deviceToken.stringDeviceToken;
}

Works fine!

Answer 22

var token: String = ""
for i in 0..<deviceToken.count {
    token += String(format: "%02.2hhx", deviceToken[i] as CVarArg)
}

print(token)

Answer 23

Try this one unless the data is null-terminated.

NSString* newStr = [[NSString alloc] initWithData:newDeviceToken encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];

Answer 24

NSString *tokenstring = [[NSString alloc] initWithData:token encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];