I just found out the setting to allow mock GPS in the developer option settings that allow me to change location using a fake GPS app for free. Is it any different from the VPN that I’ve been using? Which is better?
VPN and GPS are completely different things.
GPS is hardware, and can’t be physically spoofed. The developer setting is there to override the location acquired by GPS antenna. It tells your phone’s apps to use the location provided by the mock app rather than the phone’s hardware.
A VPN works on the network level. It redirects your internet packets to somewhere else (anything sent over the internet is sliced and packed into packets). The reason why VPNs make you appear in another location is because geographical areas are usually assigned fixed ranges of IPs. When you VPN into a different country, you are assigned an IP to you from that range. So when you visit websites it appears, from your new IP, that you are in a different region.
Edit: trying to format
most websites / services would use your IP address to locate you not access your GPS location
Oh i see. So if I’m playing games and i want to change my server to another country or if I want to gain access to contents that’s not available in my country, then just by using mock GPS wouldnt work right?
Did you grant the game or website the Location permission? If so, then it’s likely using GPS/cell(not literally cell towers)/wifi. If not, then it’s because your internet service provider’s external IP address connected to the game’s computer. And the game’s computer asked a website of the country associated with the external IP that it knows.
Depends on how the game devs implement their stuff. They could use one or the other. Or neither, and go by some unchangeable setting in an account.
Although keep in mind you may get in trouble for doing changing regions, depending on how strict the developers are.
level 1laymouni2 points · 3 hours ago
if they use gps location they will have to ask permission, to get that information from your phone , lots of people wont understand and will refuse or refuse on principal its way less hassle to just use your IP address, which they dont need permission for ,
That reminds me when I played Pokemon Go on my iPhone and I was able to spoof my location (GPS based) (when living in a place where there’s no Pokemon), I just got hit with a soft ban (4-6 hours) and then I was able to play. That was around 1-2 years ago.