# MobileGestalt Device Info | Shortcuts Library

> Get device information from the MobileGestalt private library

## What this shortcut does

Back in March 2020 u/gianflo6 published a shortcut in a comment that showed how to read the cached
com.apple.MobileGestalt.plist
file.
Intrigued, I looked into it, and although the information in it seemed relevant, the dictionary keys were annoyingly obfuscated. Fortunately I found this fascinating blog post by /u/timacfr where he deobfuscated most of them, so I decided to, based on that information, do this shortcut.
The shortcut outputs a readable version of the
CacheExtra
key/dictionary in
com.apple.MobileGestalt.plist
, which contains interesting information about each device.
Binary data
Since version 1.2.0 the binary data in the dictionary is formatted as an hexadecimal string.
Before
"MainScreenStaticInfo": {
 "__type__": "data",
 "__value__": "AAgAAKwKAAAIAQAAAAAAQNsPyT8LAAAA"
 },
Now
"MainScreenStaticInfo": "00080000ac0a00000801000000000040db0fc93f0b000000",
This change makes easier to find some interesting data. For example, the
MainScreenStaticInfo
subkey above includes information about the screen of my
iPad Pro 12.9"
: real width (
0x00000800
= 2048), real height (
0x00000aac
= 2732), and pixel density (
0x00000108
= 264)
a-Shell mini requirement
Since iOS 18.4 Apple has blocked direct access to the
com.apple.MobileGestalt.plist
file from Shortcuts. The only way I know of accessing it is via the a-Shell mini app.

## Compatibility

iPhone, iPad, Mac

## Required apps

Jayson, a-Shell mini

[View this page](https://shortcutlibrary.app/shortcuts/mobilegestalt-device-info)

[Download Shortcuts Library on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id6759494377)