TechJunkie is a BOX20 Media Company

Home Social Media Snapchat How To Spoof or Change Your Location in Snapchat

How To Spoof or Change Your Location in Snapchat

How To Spoof or Change Your Location in Snapchat
FAKE Your Location in Snapchat!

Like most social media platforms and apps, Snapchat tracks your location and uses this information to improve its features and services. However, as more people become concerned about their privacy when using social media apps, it’s understandable not to want Snapchat to track your location. Even if it’s not using the information maliciously, you may not be comfortable with an app tracking your every move.

In this article, we’ll show you how to both hide your location from Snapchat entirely and how to trick the app into thinking that you’re somewhere else.

Snap Map Location Sharing

Snapchat SnapMap UI

Snap Map is the feature that allows you to see where your Snapchat friends are. It also allows your friends to see your location when turned on.

Your Snap Map location updates regularly as long as the Snapchat app is open. If you close the app, then SnapMap simply shows your last known location until it expires after several hours.

How to Turn Off Location Sharing in Snap Map

Turning off your location settings in Snapchat’s Snap Map is very simple. You can disappear yourself with Ghost Mode on the Snapchat Map. Follow these steps to turn off location sharing:

  1. Launch Snapchat on your phone and go to the Map section from the bottom.
    Snapchat Map icon
  2. Tap the gear icon on the top-right.
    SnapMap UI
  3. Turn on Ghost Mode.
    Snapchat Ghost Mode

On the Map screen, you’ll also see other privacy options if you don’t want to turn on Ghost Mode. These settings allow you to make some adjustments to better protect your privacy.

There are three basic settings:

  • My Friends – You can see your Snapchat friends location and they can see yours when you are using the app.
  • My Friends, Except… – Your friends can see you, but for a few that you expressly exclude.
  • Only These Friends – Choose the select “inner circle” of friends that can see where you are.
  • Ghost Mode – Keep your location a secret. Only you can see it on the map.

Turn on Ghost Mode and choose how long you want to remain hidden. You can select either three hours, 24 hours, or until you turn off the feature manually. Choose whichever setting works for you.

Snapchat Ghost Mode time limit

How to Spoof Your Location on Snapchat

While the Ghost Model will stop displaying your location on Snapchat, what if you want to convince the app that you’re somewhere that you aren’t?

Well, there’s no direct way to do it within the app itself. Snapchat wants everyone to be honest about their locations. So in order to do this, you need to get creative.

While there’s no way to change your location from within the app, there are a few methods you can use to spoof your location on Snpachat on Android and iPhone.

iTools for iPhone

If you’re using Snapchat on an iPhone, you can fake your GPS location using an app called iTools. You can get a free trial of iTools to see if it will work for you, but after that, a single-user license costs $30.95.

To start, run iTools on your Windows or Mac computer, then connect your iPhone to that computer using a cable. Your iPhone will have to stay connected to the host computer to make this work.

Once you have iTools installed, follow these steps to set up GPS spoofing on your iPhone:

  1. Click the Toolbox icon on the iTools panel.
    Toolbox icon on the iTools panel
  2. Select the Virtual Location button on the Toolbox panel.
    Virtual Location button on the Toolbox panel
  3. Enter the fake you want to spoof in the text box and click Move Here.
    Move Here button on iTools app
  4. Go to Snapchat on your phone and do whatever you wish to do in your new location.
  5. To end the GPS spoofing, select Stop Simulation in iTools.
    Stop Simulation button in iTools

While it isn’t free, this is the easiest and most effective to change your location to a fake one if you’re using an iPhone.

Alternative Methods for iPhone

The iMyFone AnyTo app is free to download and comes with a free trial period. Simply download the app to your computer and plug your phone into it. Click Get Started and then click on the teleport icon in the upper right-hand corner of the app. After that, you can tap anywhere on the map and set your location on your iPhone.

iMyFone AnyTo app UI

If you’re using iOS 14 and you have a Mac, you can use the Xcode application if you’re tech-savvy enough. This application allows you to build a project and change the location of your iPhone to a preset destination.

Xcode application app UI

How to Spoof Your Snapchat Location on Android

In this article, we’re using the Fake GPS Location app available on the Play Store. However, there are several options available, but this app is free and reliable.

For this to work, you need to enable developer settings on your Android phone. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Open the Settings menu on your phone.
  2. Tap About Phone.
    Android About phone
  3. Select Software Info.
    Android About Phone menu
  4. Tap Build Number seven times quickly.
    Android Build number
  5. Enter your phone’s lock code when prompted.

You now have access to the Developer Mode settings page under Settings > System > Developer Options. Toggle Developer options on if it didn’t turn itself on automatically, and you’re ready to go.

Now, you need to tell your phone to use the Fake GPS Location app for acquiring your GPS co-ordinates.

  1. Open Settings and select System.
  2. Tap Developer Options.
    Android Developer options
  3. Scroll down to Select mock location app and tap on it.
    Android Select mock location app
  4. Select the Fake GPS app.
    Android Fake GPS app option in Select mock location app menu

Spoofing your location in Snapchat is very simple after installing Fake GPS. Just open the app and move the map to wherever you want to appear. Hit the Play button, and your phone now believes you to be wherever you have navigated to on the map.

Fake GPS Location app play button

It’s easy to check this – open Snapchat and see where your icon is located on the map. You should be where Fake GPS Location pinpoints your location to be.

Final Thoughts

As we learn more and more about how social media companies are collecting and handling our private data, it’s not uncommon for users to be more concerned than ever about their privacy.

For privacy-minded users, the idea that Snapchat tracks your every move might be a little bit unnerving. If this sounds like you, just follow the steps outlined above to control, turn off, or spoof your location sharing on Snapchat.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How do you hide your location on Snapchat without them knowing?

A. To hide your location on Snapchat, open the app on your phone and go to the Map section from the bottom. Next, tap the gear icon on the top right and turn on Ghost Mode. After this, nobody will be able to see your location on Snapchat.

Q. Can I fake GPS without jailbreaking my iPhone?

A. Yes. You can download a third-party app on your iPhone to spoof your location without jailbreaking your device.

Q. My Snapchat location isn’t updating. What can I do?

A. If your location isn’t updating on Snapchat, that could be happening because of one of these reasons:

  • Your internet connection is weak.
  • There might be an issue with your GPS sensors.
  • You’re using an outdated version of Snapchat.
  • You haven’t given Snapchat access to your location.

The last thing you should do if none of these fixes work is to contact Snapchat support. Fill out the form and submit a request for help.

How To Know If Someone Deleted You On Snapchat

Read Next 

6 thoughts on “How To Spoof or Change Your Location in Snapchat”

Jessica Langguth says:
This had been great! However how do I turn it off? I can’t get my location to work and my phone says on on flight mood when I’m not
harry lee says:
hi
Joshua says:
I’m on a Samsung Galaxy A20 and I had gotten all the way to “developer options” but my option screen was completely different than what is here and I had only 3 options, none of which mentioned location like here. Is there any way to fix this or is it just my phone?
Melekte Bekele says:
After turning on the developer options search it up on settings. Then click on the one that does not have and things like this under it settings>accessibility>
Alice says:
It does work. However you have to constantly go back in the fake location app and putting it back before logging onto snap.
A says:
How to disable this settings now?
Mlađan says:
First of all I want to thank you for this, it’s really works and helped me a lot, anyone who didn’t knew if this work, I can tell you that if you follow the steps you will succeed for sure!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Ronil Thakkar

Jun 25, 2023

Ronil is a Computer Engineer graduate who has a knack for writing about consumer technology. He has been covering news and guides about consumer electronics for around three years. His work has appeared on esteemed publications such as MakeUseOf, 91Mobiles, FossBytes, and Greenbot.

89 Articles Published

More