How to programmatically get a public IP address?

Question

I didn't find the right solution. The below code gives me local IP address (if I connected to Wifi, it gives IP address like 192.168.0.x), but I want public IP address (same as if I search in google " what is my IP ")

public static String getLocalIpAddress() {
try {
    for (Enumeration<NetworkInterface> en = NetworkInterface.getNetworkInterfaces(); en.hasMoreElements();) {
        NetworkInterface intf = en.nextElement();
        for (Enumeration<InetAddress> enumIpAddr = intf.getInetAddresses(); enumIpAddr.hasMoreElements();) {
            InetAddress inetAddress = enumIpAddr.nextElement();
            if (!inetAddress.isLoopbackAddress() && inetAddress instanceof Inet4Address) {
                return inetAddress.getHostAddress();
            }
        }
    }
} catch (SocketException ex) {
    ex.printStackTrace();
}
return null;
}

OR

WifiManager wm = (WifiManager) getSystemService(WIFI_SERVICE);
    String ip = Formatter.formatIpAddress(wm.getConnectionInfo().getIpAddress());

Can anyone help? Thanks!

Possible duplicate of [How to get IP address of the device from code?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6064510/how-to-get-ip-address-of-the-device-from-code) — Firoz Memon, Dec 14 '17 at 12:09

score 20 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 14 '17 at 12:01

20

Step #1: Create a Web service that returns the requester's IP address

Step #2: Call that Web service from your app.

A device does not know its public IP address (unless that device was seriously misconfigured).

answered Dec 14 '17 at 12:01

CommonsWare

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The other answers were driving me nuts. Thanks a ton! – Soon Santos Jan 08 '19 at 13:54

score 12 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

12

~~You may use the WS https://api.whatismyip.com/ip.php from whatismyip.com : This would output only your IP address in the simple text. (No input required, output is optional)~~

You must be a Gold Level Member to access the API

Updated Answer

You can make use of the web service from ipify.org

Read through the documentation here

Use https://api.ipify.org/?format=json WS to get device public IP address. This would output your IP address in JSON format.

You should use ipify because:

You can use it without limit (even if you're doing millions of requests per minute).
It's always online and available, and its infrastructure is powered by Heroku, which means that regardless of whether the server running the API dies, or if there's an enormous tornado which destroys half of the east coast, ipify will still be running!
It works flawlessly with both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, so no matter what sort of technology you're using, there won't be issues.

....................

edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

Community

1
1

answered Dec 14 '17 at 12:09

Anoop M Maddasseri

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`Use http://api.whatismyip.com/ip.php WS to get device public IP address` That does not work. DId you try before posting? – greenapps Dec 14 '17 at 12:20
***You must be a Gold Level Member to access the API***. Are you a Gold Level Member of WhatIsMyIP.com? – Anoop M Maddasseri Dec 14 '17 at 12:24
It does not make much sense to use a server where you need to be a member. And why didnt you tell right away? – greenapps Dec 14 '17 at 12:27
The documentation is still valid according to them, no deprecation notes found. – Anoop M Maddasseri Dec 14 '17 at 12:27
I don't think the suggested sites in your [answer](https://stackoverflow.com/a/47813220/4694013) much reliable, what If they go down? AFAIK, *whatismyip* is trustworthy and generally used for this purpose. – Anoop M Maddasseri Dec 14 '17 at 12:36
1

They are there decades. Like the one you mentioned. No difference. – greenapps Dec 14 '17 at 12:43
1

Make sure that your privacy policy points out that you are making these requests of somebody else's Web service, rather than one of your own. – CommonsWare Dec 14 '17 at 12:47

Antônio Sérgio Ferraz · Answer 3 · 2022-01-24T11:55:07.640

7

I found this simple solution:

public String getExternalIpAddress() throws Exception {
    URL whatismyip = new URL("http://checkip.amazonaws.com");
    BufferedReader in = null;
    try {
        in = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(
                whatismyip.openStream()));
        String ip = in.readLine();
        return ip;
    } finally {
        if (in != null) {
            try {
                in.close();
            } catch (IOException e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
            }
        }
    }
}

Remember that this must be run on a separate thread.

edited Jan 24 '22 at 11:55

answered Nov 27 '18 at 14:49

Antônio Sérgio Ferraz

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Awesome solution available online :) – Zia Feb 27 '20 at 09:49
Is there any max limit for using this api? – hetsgandhi Feb 28 '20 at 05:59

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 28 '20 at 08:44

You can do this with a simple thread. you need to create a function in Activity.class file, and need to request a url that will give your public IP in text form: "https://api.ipify.org/. Click to open.

Add this function call in your onCreate() function.

    getPublicIP();

Add this function in your MainActivity.class.

    private void getPublicIP() {

        new Thread(new Runnable(){
            public void run(){
                //TextView t; //to show the result, please declare and find it inside onCreate()

                try {
                    // Create a URL for the desired page
                    URL url = new URL("https://api.ipify.org/"); //My text file location
                    //First open the connection
                    HttpURLConnection conn=(HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
                    conn.setConnectTimeout(60000); // timing out in a minute

                    BufferedReader in = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(conn.getInputStream()));

                    //t=(TextView)findViewById(R.id.TextView1); // ideally do this in onCreate()
                    String str;
                    while ((str = in.readLine()) != null) {
                        urls.add(str);
                    }
                    in.close();
                } catch (Exception e) {
                    Log.d("MyTag",e.toString());
                }

                //since we are in background thread, to post results we have to go back to ui thread. do the following for that

                PermissionsActivity.this.runOnUiThread(new Runnable(){
                    public void run(){
                        try {
                            Toast.makeText(PermissionsActivity.this, "Public IP:"+urls.get(0), Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                        }
                        catch (Exception e){
                            Toast.makeText(PermissionsActivity.this, "TurnOn wiffi to get public ip", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                        }
                    }
                });

            }
        }).start();

    }

score -2 · Answer 5 · answered Dec 14 '17 at 12:19

-2

Make a call to a server like https://whatismyipaddress.com or http://howtofindmyipaddress.com/.

If you have the page source then parse the ip address out.

There are other servers who only return your ip address. Not a whole html page as above two. But i forgot which one...

answered Dec 14 '17 at 12:19

greenapps

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2
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1

Make sure that your privacy policy points out that you are making these requests of somebody else's Web service, rather than one of your own. – CommonsWare Dec 14 '17 at 12:47

How to programmatically get a public IP address?

5 Answers5

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