Question

Android documentation refers to Build.FINGERPRINT as a way to uniquely identify the build. I’d like to know how this property is generated. I’m compiling whole framework on my board and it’s set by default to unknown. Another question is if Market uses this identifier as some kind of validation?

Answer 1

See here for an overview of Build.FINGERPRINT:

android.os.Build.FINGERPRINT: A string
that uniquely identifies this build.
It SHOULD be reasonably
human-readable. It MUST follow this
template:

$(BRAND)/$(PRODUCT)/$(DEVICE)/$(BOARD):$(VERSION.RELEASE)/$(ID)/$(VERSION.INCREMENTAL):$(TYPE)/$(TAGS)

For example:
acme/mydevice/generic/generic:2.1-update1/ERC77/3359:userdebug/test-keys

The fingerprint MUST NOT include
spaces. If other fields included in
the template above have spaces, they
SHOULD be replaced with the ASCII
underscore (“_”) character in the
fingerprint.

I do know that you do need to have your platform certified (which yes, includes providing your fingerprint so that Market can display only those apps that your device is able to run) before being licensed to use the Market.