MockGPS

An Android application for testing and simulating device location. It provides a foreground location-mocking service and exposes a dedicated Android broadcast interface for external control.

The broadcast interface is a central part of the project: MockGPS can be controlled from scripts, Termux, ADB, automation tools, or another Android application without requiring the MockGPS UI to be open.

Features

- Interactive Android UI with an OpenFreeMap and MapLibre map. - Select a mock location directly on the map. - Start and stop location mocking from the app. - Stores the last selected mock location locally. - Optional location drift for small, realistic movement around the selected point. - Foreground location service using Android's GPS and network test providers. - Persistent state and automatic restoration after reboot when enabled. - Optional external broadcast control. - Companion POSIX shell command for Termux. - Quiet ongoing foreground-service notification showing the current coordinates. - Completely free and ad-free.

Requirements

- Android 10 (API 29) or newer - Developer options enabled - MockGPS selected as the system mock-location application - Location permission granted to MockGPS - Notification permission enabled on Android versions that require it

Setup

1. Grant location permission from Settings → Apps → MockGPS → Permissions → Location. 2. Allow notifications from Settings → Apps → MockGPS → Notifications. 3. Open Settings → Developer options → Select mock location app and choose MockGPS.

Without step 3, Android will not accept the injected test locations.

External broadcast control

External tools can send commands directly to the exported receiver:

dev.burixon.mockgps.MockGpsReceiver

The broadcast command is supplied through the string extra "command". Supported commands:

- on: start mocking using the stored coordinates. - off: stop mocking and disable persistent operation. - set: change the stored mock coordinates. If mocking is active, the new location is applied automatically. - drift: enable or disable location drift.

The set command accepts "lat" and "lon" extras, both in decimal degrees.

Example:

adb shell am broadcast -n dev.burixon.mockgps/.MockGpsReceiver --es command set --es lat 50.06143 --es lon 19.93658

The recommended command-line frontend is the companion Termux project (termux-mockgps), which wraps the broadcast and service interface into simple shell commands.

Location providers

MockGPS creates Android test providers named "gps" and "network". Both receive the selected mock coordinates. The GPS provider uses fine-accuracy metadata, while the network provider uses coarse-accuracy metadata. MockGPS does not replace Google's fused location provider, so apps using other location sources may behave differently.

Note

MockGPS is still under active development. On some devices, repeated development installs or service restarts may leave stale state behind. A clean uninstall and reinstall followed by a reboot is a useful troubleshooting step if a new build behaves unexpectedly.

License

GNU General Public License v3.0