How To Spoof your GPS Location on an Android

Robert Hayes October 26, 2022

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Whether you want to watch Netflix shows that are only available in another country or you want to change your location on Snapchat, there are plenty of reasons to spoof your GPS location on Android. Fortunately, doing so is relatively easy. All you need to do is download the right app and follow a few steps to get started.

How To Spoof your GPS Location on an Android

Let’s take a look at some of the apps you can use to spoof your GPS location on Android and how to set them up.

Choosing the Right App

If you’ve decided that spoofing your GPS is something that you want to do, you’re going to want to download the proper application to do so. First, if you don’t need to spoof your GPS location, but simply need to change your location to access a streaming service, choosing from the best VPN services would work better. If you just want to test a great free VPN, then Privado might be the service for you.

Thanks to the number of GPS spoofing apps on the Play Store in 2022, it can actually be pretty difficult to determine which app is right for you.

We aren’t going to do an exhaustive review of all of the GPS apps in the Play Store, 99% of which do the same thing, but we can point you in the direction of some apps that are known to work, aren’t malware, and are free.

Fake GPS Location: Fake GPS Location is well-designed and has maintained a nearly 4-star rating (out of 5) with more than 40,000 reviews. It’s basic but free and easy to use.
Fake GPS GO Location Spoofer: This spoofer is aimed at Pokemon Go players and is a solid app, albeit with a semi-dated interface and a 4.0 rating on the Play Store. If you can’t get our first pick to work for you, GO Location Spoofer is the app to try. There’s also a Pro version available for $2.99.
VPNa – Fake GPS Location: VPNa, despite the name, doesn’t include a VPN (a virtual private network). The name actually stands for Virtual Phone Navigation App, and it allows you to redirect your GPS to any location currently on Earth. Some have reported the app doesn’t work on more recent versions of Android, so keep that in mind when installing in 2020.
Mock GPS: Mock GPS features a joystick mode that allows you to move your signal at specific speeds, and also allows you to just move your GPS. The app’s design is solid, with a more modern look than most of the apps on this list.

If you install an app that is not on the list above, we recommend that you look at user reviews before continuing. It’s sometimes impossible to tell where your data is being sent—an issue even with our recommended apps above—but you should do your best to watch your data and where it’s being shipped, sent, and stored.

How to Fake Your GPS Location on Android

Once you’ve decided which app is right for you, it’s time to download and install the program on your device. All of these apps are offered free through the Play Store; unlike on iOS, you won’t have to jailbreak or go to third-party app repositories to download these apps. Likewise, you won’t need to root your device to install or use the app. You can use all of these apps on just about every smartphone without any major technical know-how.

We’re using Fake GPS Location for this walkthrough, thanks to its good user rating and simplicity. Regardless of which app you choose, the actual settings to set up the app will remain the same, so you shouldn’t run into any problems.

Enabling the Right Settings

While your phone doesn’t need to be rooted or hacked to gain access to a spoofed GPS signal, you do need to enable “developer settings,” a hidden menu inside Android that offers a wide variety of options and customization options to choose from.

There’s no downside to enabling developer settings as long as you don’t mess with settings without knowing what they do. Developer settings are hidden by default because there are some options in there that, while reversible, can really glitch your phone if you don’t know what you’re doing.

We’re only changing one setting for this tutorial, so enabling developer settings is easy and safe.

To enable developer options, open the settings menu on your phone and scroll all the way to the bottom until you find the “About Phone” section of your menu. Some devices might call this “System” settings or any other generic name.
Now, click on Software Information to access the next menu.
Scroll through the list of options and find Build Number. Consecutively tap on this option 7 times. At the bottom you will see a small message stating “five steps away from being a developer.”
After the seventh tap you will need to input your phone’s unlock code. Then, you will see the Developer mode has been turned on message at the bottom of the screen.

Now, we can teach your phone to use the Fake GPS app to send your location rather than the actual location.

Activating Mock Location

You’ll now notice a new option available inside your settings menu. At this point, we’ll need to go into the new Developer menu to set Fake GPS as your default location tool. Here’s how:

If you scroll down below About Phone you will see Developer options. Tap it.
Now, we need to tap on the Select Mock Location App option.
Select the app you plan on using to spoof your GPS location.

After you’ve selected the app, it’s time to set your location.

Set Your Spoofed Location

We’ll show you how to set up your location using the Fake GPS Location app. But the instructions are pretty similar regardless of which app you’re using.

Open your GPS app and click on the option to allow the to access your devices’ location.
Use your finger to move the slider to the location you’d like to set. You can also use the + or – option to zoom in and out making it easier to set the exact location.
After you’ve set your location, tap on the Play button. Then, your new location is active.

For Fake GPS Location, you’ll need to position the crosshairs over your target location. Once you’ve done that, you’ll click the small Play icon in the bottom right-hand corner, and a quick ad will play.

After the ad is over, you can either use the joystick to move your location around on the map or disable the joystick and simply let the app run in the background.

There are all sorts of options here that you can play around with, including creating a path, removing ads, setting favorite locations, and more.

Testing the App

The final step in the process is simple: check and make sure that your GPS location is being properly spoofed. There are a couple of ways to do this.

First, you can search “my location” on Google, which will display a small Google Maps window on your device with your current GPS location.

Alternatively, you can always open an app that uses your location to see if the app is working properly. For example, Snapchat might give you a multitude of Geofilters, or Google Maps will suggest “nearby” restaurants.

If it isn’t working, don’t despair. Recheck the app and try to make sure your spoofing has been enabled. You can also try using different apps to see if the first app you chose isn’t working properly on your phone. Also, make sure to check to see if your device’s GPS signal is on.

Ultimately, GPS spoofing can be a bit touchy, so it’s important to make sure that you keep troubleshooting the device if you run into any major issues.

Frequently Asked Questions

We have some more answers for your most frequently asked questions:

Can you spoof your location on Life360?

Life360, one of the more popular tracking apps, is often used to keep tabs on friends and family members. Rarely used for nefarious reasons, there may come a time when you need to keep your travels private. On Android devices, it is possible to trick Life360 into showing a different location.

We have a detailed article for this here, but essentially, you’ll follow the steps above to spoof your location on Life360.

Can location spoofing help me with Pokemon Go progress?

Pokemon Go is a great game where you earn rewards for traveling. You can’t advance far without getting away from your neighborhood to catch Pokemon and join battles. Fortunately, GPS spoofing makes it possible for those who love the game but cannot travel to progress in the game. But be warned: If Niantic catches onto your deception, you will get in trouble and possibly get a permanent ban.

Once you’ve downloaded a GPS spoofing app, turn on the Developer Options on your Android phone and set your location to a place you’d like to play the game. From here, open Pokemon Go and start playing just as you normally would.

Final Thoughts

Spoofing your GPS signal doesn’t get used a great deal to play Pokemon Go these days, but it has a lot of other applications. Fooling your friends into thinking you’re somewhere you aren’t, checking into locations you haven’t been, looking at dating profiles in new areas are all common reasons for doing so.

While we wouldn’t recommend spoofing your location all day, it’s a handy tool that’s good to keep in your app drawer, just in case you ever need to get around a content blackout or place a fake Geofilter on your Snapchat posts.