How to enable fake GPS on Android

In order to build a location depend app or to test the behavior of your app at places besides the one you're currently located it is very helpful to use the Android emulator and just set your location manually.

This post  will guide you through the steps of setting up fake GPS on the Google Android emulator
.

Set permissions in AndroidManifest.xml:

Find the correct local port for your Android emulator:

$ adb devices
List of devices attached
emulator-5554 device

The port we are looking for is in this case 5554. Now connect via telnet:

$ telnet localhost 5554
Trying ::1...
Trying 127.0.0.1...
Connected to localhost.
Escape character is '^]'.
Android Console: type 'help' for a list of commands

Set your preferred location manually: You set the location with the geo fix command:

geo fix $longitude $latitude

For example the city center of Barcelona:

geo fix 2.169919 41.387917
OK

To get the latitude and longitude you want simply go to http://maps.google.com on your computer's web browser, move the desired location to the center of your screen and simply enter this little JavaScript command into the address bar:

CAUTION: the format of the coordinates you get from Google Maps is ($latitude, $longitude) - but the way you enter the geo fix for Android has longitude and latitude switched around.

Make sure everything works properly:

Just launch the Google Maps application in your emulator. It should take you directly to the location you entered and display a blue blinking light.

Access Android's Location Service in your application:


Notes:

• I noticed that sometimes the manully entered location dissolves. I haven't looked into that yet, but a workaround for now is to simply re-enter the location via the geo fix command again.
• You always mix up latitude and longitude?
• Latitude: goes from East<>West, like the rungs of a ladder (→ sounds similar to latitude)
• Longitude: runs from North<>South. Think of the globe as a big, fat guy with a long (→ longitude) tie hanging down from the North Pole.

---

I've just launched a new side project of mine:

Bugfender - A modern remote logger tailor-made for mobile development

It's currently free and you can sign up here: https://app.bugfender.com/signup

Any kind of feedback is more than appreciated :-)