An app to set location, by longitude and latitude

[micky]

Is there an app that will allow me to tell the phone where it should
think it is? An app to set location, by longitude and latitude, or by
city, or at least country.

I finally looked and found how to turn the location off for google maps.
Prior, when I wanted to find directions, it would always find directions
from Baltmmore, even if I wanted directions for Chicago to Dodge City,
Kansas. So the first step was often a long airplane ride.

With NO location I could get the directions I want.

But I've been told google maps has special treatment in some cases
depending on where you are, so I want to be able to tell the phone that
it's in Dodge City, or Istanbul, or Casablanca, wherever there is
intrigue and traffic. I suspect this would have other uses too.

[Tim]

micky <NONONO...@bigfoot.com> wrote in
news:9clk5epqccdlp7ajl...@4ax.com:

Mapquest and Google Maps both allow you to specify both endpoints of a
trip. Just tell either one to find a specific spot, like the corner of 5th
and main, springfield, Illinois, then ask it for directions to wherever you
want to go. You will have several options, like fastest route, shortest
route, no tollroads, etc.

[micky]

In comp.mobile.android, on Wed, 06 Feb 2019 15:36:26 GMT, Tim

I know some people are annoyed when one asks about something he could
google for, but in my defense, I often can't put the question into words
until I try to write for Usenet.

So too here, it was in the subject line, that I wrote last, "set
location". It turns out searching for that in the play store finds 27
different apps that do what I want. Mostly they're called Fake GPS but
there are also Mock Location, Location Changer, and Location Settings.

The first one listed has been installed 10 million times. But it has a
problem that sometimes you get locked into your last false location and
it takes quite a bit of effort and waiting one or two days to unlock it!
I'll look at others!

I wonder what these other people, writers and users, wanted them for.


There are other things that come up with this search too, like "Family
Locator - GPS Tracker" which says "• Create your own private groups,
called “Circles,” of loved ones, teammates -- whoever matters most and
chat with them in Family Locator for FREE.
• View the real-time location of Circle Members on a private family map
that’s only visible to your Circle. Receive real-time alerts when
Circle Members arrive at or leave destinations (Eliminate disruptive
“Where are you?” texts) " Any parents of teenageres out there?

[arlen holder]

On Wed, 06 Feb 2019 16:55:51 -0500, micky wrote:

> I know some people are annoyed when one asks about something he could
> google for, but in my defense, I often can't put the question into words
> until I try to write for Usenet.

I wrote a bit about "fake GPS spoofing" a while ago.

As I recall, I ran into spoofing GPS coordinates accidentally when I was
looking for further ways to use "developer options"

Let me dig the reference up for you.,... click.... search... click... click...
Ah ... I think this is it...

o Do you enable "developer options" on Android? (What do you do with these new options?)
<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/comp.mobile.android/5VKHlHQ8Myg/wyckp5ffCAAJ>

Re-reading what I wrote about a year ago in that thread,
it seems I ran into this GPS spoofing when I was trying to
find uses for changing the default developer options.

Here's a copy of relevant information from that thread
(where you only need step #4 but I include the post for clarity).
****************************************************************************
Enabling specific developer options on Android 7.0 Nougat LG Stylo 3 Plus
****************************************************************************
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Allow apps outside of Google Play (e.g., copied APKs, F-Droid, etc.)
Settings > hamburger > General > Fingerprints & security > Unknown
source
Change from: Unknown source = off
Change to: Unknown source = on (allows APKs outside of Google Play)

Note: Free app APKs almost always work on any phone no matter the
operating system version or the user id that installed the free app
or from whence the free app was obtained.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Make the "Developer options" menu visible (it's invisible by default):
Settings > General > About phone > Software info > Build number
Tap three times on "Build number" & it will then pop up the message...
"You are now 4 steps away from being a developer"
Tap 4 more times and it will say...
"You are now a developer."
This makes visible options such as the "Select USB Configuration"
which allows you to just plug your device into a Windows PC to slide
files back and forth across the visible file system.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Enable Windows to access the entire visible Android file system.
Enable "Developer options" first as shown in #2 above, & then go to...
Settings > General > Developer options > (OK the warning) >
NETWORKING > Select USB Configuration
Change the options from:
Charging only (o) <== the default
MTP (Mediat Transfer Protocol) (_)
PTP (Picture Transfer Protocol) (_)
RNDIS (USB Ethernet) (_)
Audio Source (_)
MIDI (_)
Change the options to:
Charging only (_) <== the default
MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) (o)
PTP (Picture Transfer Protocol) (_)
RNDIS (USB Ethernet) (_)
Audio Source (_)
MIDI (_)

Charging = Just charge this phone
File transfer = Transfer documents & media files to the connected
device
Photo transfer = Transfer photos & videos to the connected device
MIDI device = Record and listen to music from the connected device
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
*4. Spoof your GPS location*
First install any fake-gps location spoofer, e.g.,
a. Fake GPS location, by Lexa
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lexa.fakegps
b. Fake GPS GO Location Spoofer Free, by IncorporateApps
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.incorporateapps.fakegps.fre
http://incorporateapps.com/fake_gps_free_faq.html
Then enable "Developer options" first as shown in #2 above, & then go
to...
Settings > General > Developer options > (OK the warning) >
DEBUGGING > Select mock location app
It will pop up a form saying "Select application" with the following:
Fake GPS
Fake GPS Pro
FakeGPS Free
Choose one & follow prompts to select any desired GPS location to spoof.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Enable viewing of running processes
Enable "Developer options" first as shown in #2 above, & then go to...
Settings > General > Developer options > (OK the warning) >
Running services
This will show a list of what services are in use and how much
of your RAM each app is using and how many processes and services
each app is running.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Enable any app to be written to external storage regardless of manifest:
Enable "Developer options" first as shown in #2 above, & then go to...
Settings > General > Developer options > (OK the warning) >
Inactive apps > Force allow apps on external
Change from: Force allow apps on external = off
Change to: Force allow apps on external = on

If you have limited internal storage space on your Android device,
but you have a SD card in the device, you may want to install some
apps to the SD card. Not all apps allow this, but the "Force allow apps
on external" setting in the Developer options allows you to install
any app to the SD card, whether it was programmed to do so or not.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Enable the phone to "talk" to the Android SDK on a PC over USB.
Enable "Developer options" first as shown in #2 above, & then go to...
Settings > General > Developer options > (OK the warning) >
DEBUGGING > USB debugging
Change from: USB debugging = off
Change to: USB debugging = on
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Do you enable "developer options" on Android?
(What do you do with these new options once you enable them?)

[Joe Beanfish]

On Wed, 06 Feb 2019 16:55:51 -0500, micky wrote:

> There are other things that come up with this search too, like "Family
> Locator - GPS Tracker" which says "• Create your own private groups,
> called “Circles,” of loved ones, teammates -- whoever matters most and
> chat with them in Family Locator for FREE.
> • View the real-time location of Circle Members on a private family map
> that’s only visible to your Circle. Receive real-time alerts when
> Circle Members arrive at or leave destinations (Eliminate disruptive
> “Where are you?” texts) " Any parents of teenageres out there?

My wife and I and adult kids use that. It's handy when she calls me asking
how to get home from wherever she is (tho now she's starting to learn how
to use the phone's nav). And to make sure people get where they're going
in bad weather etc.

[micky]

In comp.mobile.android, on Thu, 7 Feb 2019 05:49:42 -0000 (UTC), arlen

Yes, they're enabled.

>(What do you do with these new options once you enable them?)

IIRC, it was necessary merely to transfer files (or pictures) to the
computer. In a previous phone something inspired me to turn off dev.
options when not using them but that's not the case with my current
Android 7 phone.

Tnanks for the detailed reply.

BTW, one of the things people want them for is gaming. I don't know why
it matters there, but it must be common because some games won't let
them log in if their location setting is false (or even set, I'm sure.

[NY]

"Joe Beanfish" <joebe...@nospam.duh> wrote in message
news:q3heng$ec$1...@dont-email.me...

My wife and I keep in contact with Google Location Service which is OK but
it suffers from two problems:

- location is sometimes very imprecise, or jumps back to an earlier location

- update interval is at best every few minutes and can be several hours out
of date, even when the "mobile" phone (ie the one in the car whose location
is being tracked by the other which has good wifi/ADSL connection) has
strong mobile signal and therefore can report its location

Offering my wife help with navigating traffic jams is not easy when her
reported location is either behind the times or else totally wrong.

I'm sure there are better tracking services which use GPS only (without
being misled by SSIDs of local wifi networks or by triangulation from mobile
masts) and which are configured to report an updated position at a
configurable interval assuming a connection to the internet to be able to
report that position.

[Joe Beanfish]

Yeah, Family Locator shows accurate real-time location. You can watch on
the map as they drive and stop at lights etc. And it shows trip history
so you can see what whacky route they took to get from A to B, rofl.
Also the grandbaby can watch my progress getting home to see her <3

[Piso Mojado]

Tell her to put her Big Girl pants on and grow up- and your starting to
treat her like an adult would help ;-)

--
If you don’t want minimum wage, don’t have minimum skills

[micky]

In comp.mobile.android, on Fri, 8 Feb 2019 13:01:01 -0500, Piso Mojado

Love is wanting your wife to be able to make it home at night.

[sms]

First of all, Google Maps lets you specify your starting point (after
you put in your destination) so this is not really an issue at all. It
defaults to "Your Location" but you can change it.

There are a lot of GPS Spoofing apps, see
<https://play.google.com/store/search?q=fake%20gps%20location>.

The one I use
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.just4funtools.fakegpslocationprofessional>
lets you choose a location by name, then it shows the location on a map
with the longitude and latitude and you can move around and choose the
exact longitude and latitude you want, but you can't input a longitude
and latitude directly. There may be some that let you set longitude and
latitude directly.

My VPN (Surfshark) also includes GPS Spoofing.

GPS Spoofing is useful for many legitimate reasons. A few months ago I
wanted to watch a sporting event on AT&T Direct Stream but for my part
of the U.S. it was not available. I simply set the GPS location to an
area where it was available and it worked (I used an HDMI adapter from
the phone to the TV). Just using a VPN to change location is often not
sufficient.

Note that GPS Spoofing is not available on iPhones (unless the phone is
Jailbroken).

[Andy Burnelli]

sms wrote:

> First of all, Google Maps lets you specify your starting point (after
> you put in your destination) so this is not really an issue at all. It
> defaults to "Your Location" but you can change it.

I was confused by what micky's SUBJECT said versus what the body of micky's
message said, where Steve answered the body first (see above) which I thank
him for as that is likely the answer to the question micky asked in the
body.

> There are a lot of GPS Spoofing apps, see
> <https://play.google.com/store/search?q=fake%20gps%20location>.
> The one I use
> <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.just4funtools.fakegpslocationprofessional>
> lets you choose a location by name, then it shows the location on a map
> with the longitude and latitude and you can move around and choose the
> exact longitude and latitude you want, but you can't input a longitude
> and latitude directly. There may be some that let you set longitude and
> latitude directly.

I'm sure the $4 or ad-supported app above works fine, where I just want to
add I tested _all_ the known free ad-free gsf free mock location apps, and
settled on Lexa (which isn't perfect - but it works well enough for me).
*Fake GPS location* by Lexa 10M+ installs rated 4.6 out of 423,654 reviews
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lexa.fakegps>

Lexa starts & stops conveniently and Lexa allows easy setting of location.
<https://i.postimg.cc/pdf8prL4/screenshot03.jpg> Lexa GPS spoofing

> My VPN (Surfshark) also includes GPS Spoofing.

That reminds me that there's a cryptic (to me) option in Lexa:
Spoof Wi-Fi provider = on/off

All it says by way of explanation is this cryptic option help:
"Mandatory for spoofing Viber and some other apps"

If others know more about _how_ it spoofs the "Wi-Fi provider", please edify
me as I don't even know what it means to be spoofing a Wi-Fi provider.

Do you?

> GPS Spoofing is useful for many legitimate reasons. A few months ago I
> wanted to watch a sporting event on AT&T Direct Stream but for my part
> of the U.S. it was not available. I simply set the GPS location to an
> area where it was available and it worked (I used an HDMI adapter from
> the phone to the TV). Just using a VPN to change location is often not
> sufficient.

I agree with Steve's assessment that GPS spoofing is done for many reasons.

This article explains in detail a legitimate use for GPS spoofing
*How to Fake your Location on Android using GPS Spoofing*
<https://www.xda-developers.com/how-to-fake-location-android-gps-spoofing/>
However, bear in mind they are gamers so they went all out by rooting first.
Then they installed a specific gamer-focused app, apparently, to spoof gps.
<http://gpsjoystick.theappninjas.com/faq/>

BTW, they mention a gamer use for metal foil due to "rubberbanding" effects.
"Step 7: Why on earth do I need aluminum foil?

A lot of recent flagship phones have very strong GPS connectivity
which can result in what is known as *rubberbanding*.
In simple terms, you don't want your phone to keep alternating between
your actual location and the spoofed location in the game.
To prevent this from happening, it's recommended to use a sheet of
aluminum foil between your phone and a case. Make sure you cover
the entire back and the sides of the phone as well.
This may affect your connectivity as well, so that is a trade-off."

> Note that GPS Spoofing is not available on iPhones (unless the phone is
> Jailbroken).

It's great that Steve is well aware of what's on Android which is not on iOS
as that's so many things people wouldn't know unless they owned both types
of devices, as Steve and I do.

This is how I know most of the app functionality claimed by iKooks is
completely fabricated (why they do that I'll never fully understand).

It's interesting to note thought that nospam claimed it exists for iOS
but we're talking using the phone all by itself, unrooted/jailbroken.

Steve is well aware of nospam's claims so this is noted for the others.
--
Usenet allows purposefully helpful people to teach each other facts.