Location Forgeries Made Simple: Changing Your Position Readouts on an Android Smartphone

Key Takeaways

• Use the “Fake GPS Location” app from Google Play Store to set a fake location on your Android device easily.
• Enable Developer Options on your phone and select “Fake GPS” as the Mock Location App to start spoofing your location.

It should be no surprise that your Android phone knows your location. There are times when you may not want your phone—or other people—to track you. We’ll show you how to fake your location and set your location to anywhere easily.

Of course, if you simply don’t want to be tracked, you can turn off sensors completely . “Spoofing” your location will allow you to trick any apps that use your location into thinking you’re somewhere you’re not. People have used this to cheat in location-based games , but there are plenty of other reasons to do it.

We’ll be using an Android app called “Fake GPS Location .” Download the app from the Google Play Store to get started.

In order to use this app, we’ll need to set it as the “Mock Location” provider, and that can only be done if you enable Developer Options on your phone . When you’re done with that, go to Settings > System > Developer Options or Settings > Developer Options on Samsung devices.

Scroll all the way down to “Select Mock Location App.”

Select “Fake GPS” from the list.

Now, we can open the Fake GPS app and choose a fake location. Simply use your finger to move the pin to any location on the map and tap the start button in the bottom right corner.

You may be asked to grant the app permission to show notifications—do it.

The app will close, and your location is now being spoofed. You can test this by opening a maps app. To stop spoofing, swipe down from the top of the screen and tap “Pause” on the Fake GPS notification.

That’s it! This is a surprisingly simple and effective little trick. Location on Android devices is complex and messy sometimes . This is one way you can take it into your control.