How to Protect Android & iOS Apps Against Fake GPS Apps

Last updated May 29, 2024 by Appdome

This Knowledge Base article describes how to use Appdome’s AI/ML in your CI/CD pipeline to continuously deliver plugins that Detect Fake GPS App in Mobile apps.

What are Fake GPS Apps?

Fake GPS apps are applications that manipulate the location data of a mobile device to provide false GPS coordinates, thereby overriding the authentic location data reported by the device’s operating system’s GPS sensors. Attackers typically download these apps alongside the genuine app they wish to deceive. The fake GPS app then interacts with the genuine app, tricking it into accepting the false location data as if it were coming directly from the device’s operating system. This capability enables a range of harmful activities, including location spoofing, bypassing licensing restrictions, circumventing geo-fencing, and introducing significant security and privacy concerns for both users and app developers. The usage of fake GPS apps can have substantial implications for the integrity and functionality of various mobile applications, especially in sectors like gaming, social media, navigation, and location-based services.

Why is Detecting Fake GPS Inside Mobile Apps Important?

Many mobile apps leverage location signals from a user’s mobile device to determine a user’s whereabouts and provide a better service. For starters, it upholds the credibility of location-based data, ensuring that applications deliver accurate and reliable results. This functionality may be disrupted by Fake GPS, leading to inaccurate results, poor user experiences, and potential vulnerabilities. In this context, detecting fake GPS in gaming apps prevents unfair advantages, maintains fair competition among players, and preserves the integrity of the gaming experience. It addresses security concerns across different app types, as malicious use of fake GPS can compromise not only user privacy but also the safety of users in various scenarios, such as location-based social networks or geocaching apps. Overall, the capability to detect fake GPS within Android and iOS apps is crucial for both industry regulations and maintaining user trust by ensuring that the app functions as intended, which is particularly vital for navigation and mapping applications.

Appdome’s Solution to Detect Fake GPS Apps

Appdome’s Detect Fake GPS App protection offers an efficient way for mobile brands to combat the usage of fake GPS apps. This solution detects when a third-party fake GPS app is running in conjunction with the authentic app. Upon detection, it can shut down the authentic app to prevent the falsification of location information. This advanced feature enables mobile product managers to maintain the integrity of location-based services, ensuring the security and fairness of their applications and safeguarding both the app’s functionality and the user’s security and privacy.

Prerequisites for Using Appdome's Detect Fake GPS App Plugins:

To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Detect Fake GPS App , you’ll need:

How to Implement Detect Fake GPS App in Mobile Apps Using Appdome

On Appdome, follow these 3 simple steps to create self-defending Mobile Apps that Detect Fake GPS App without an SDK or gateway:

  1. Designate the Mobile App to be protected.

    1. Upload an app via the Appdome Mobile Defense platform GUI or via Appdome’s DEV-API or CI/CD Plugins.

    2. Mobile App Formats: .ipa for iOS, or .apk or .aab for Android
    3. Detect Fake GPS App is compatible with: Obj-C, Java, JS, C#, C++, Swift, Kotlin, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, and more.
  2. Select the defense: Detect Fake GPS App.

      1. Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the Detect Fake GPS App feature as shown below:
        fusion set that contains Detect Fake GPS App .

        Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the Detect Fake GPS App feature
        Note: Naming the Fusion Set to correspond to the protection(s) selected is for illustration purposes only (not required).

      2. Follow the steps in Sections 2.2-2.2.2 of this article to add the Detect Fake GPS App feature to your Fusion Set via the Appdome Console.

      3. When you select the Detect Fake GPS App you'll notice that the Fusion Set you created in step 2.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains Detect Fake GPS App.

        Fusion Set applied Detect Fake GPS App

        Figure 2: Fusion Set that displays the newly added Detect Fake GPS App protection
        Note: Annotating the Fusion Set to identify the protection(s) selected is optional only (not mandatory).

      4. Open the Fusion Set Detail Summary by clicking the “...” symbol on the far-right corner of the Fusion Set. Copy the Fusion Set ID from the Fusion Set Detail Summary (as shown below): fusion Set Detail Summary image

        Figure 3: Fusion Set Detail Summary

      5. Follow the instructions below to use the Fusion Set ID inside any standard mobile DevOps or CI/CD toolkit like Bitrise, Jenkins, Travis, Team City, Circle CI or other system:
        1. Refer to the Appdome API Reference Guide for API building instructions.
        2. Look for sample APIs in Appdome’s GitHub Repository.
    1. Add the Detect Fake GPS App feature to your security template.

      1. Navigate to Build > Security tab > Secure Communication section in the Appdome Console.
      2. Toggle On > Detect Fake GPS App.

        (a) Choose to monitor this attack vector by checking the Threat Events checkbox associated with Detect Fake GPS App as shown below.

        (b) To receive mobile Threat Monitoring, check the ThreatScope™ box as shown below. For more details, see our knowledge base article on ThreatScope™ Mobile XDR.
        Detect Fake GPS App option

        Figure 4: Selecting Detect Fake GPS App

        Note: The Appdome Platform displays the Mobile Operation Systems supported by each defense in real-time. For more details, see our OS Support Policy KB.

      3. Select the Threat-Event™ in-app mobile Threat Defense and Intelligence policy for Detect Fake GPS App:
        1. Threat-Events™ OFF > In-App Defense

          If the Threat-Events™ setting is not selected. Appdome will detect and defend the user and app by enforcing Fake GPS App.

        2. Threat-Events™ ON > In-App Detection

          When this setting is used, Appdome detects attempts at faking the app GPS location and passes Appdome’s Threat-Event™ attack intelligence to the app’s business logic for processing, enforcement, and user notification. For more information on consuming and using Appdome Threat-Events™ in the app, see section Using Threat-Events™ to Detect Fake GPS AppDetect Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps.

        3. Threat-Events™ ON > In-App Defense

          When this setting is used, Appdome detects and defends against Fake GPS App (same as Appdome Enforce) and passes Appdome’s Threat-Event™ attack intelligence to the app’s business logic for processing. For more information on consuming and using Appdome Threat-Events™ in the app, see section Using Threat-Events™ for Detect Fake GPS AppDetect Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps.

      4. Configure the User Experience Options for Detect Fake GPS App:
        With Threat-Events™ OFF, Appdome provides several user experience options for mobile brands and developers.
        1. App Compromise Notification: Customize the pop-up or toast Appdome uses to notify the user when a threat is present while using the protected mobile app.
        2. Short message Option. This is available for mobile devices that allow a banner notification for security events.
        3. Localized Message Option. Allows Appdome users to support global languages in security notifications.

          Localized Message

          Figure 5: Default User Experience Options for Appdome’s Fake GPS App

        4. Detect Fake GPS App Threat Code™. Appdome uses AI/ML to generate a unique code each time Detect Fake GPS App is triggered by an active threat on the mobile device. Use the code in Appdome Threat Resolution Center™ to help end users identify, find and resolve active threats on the personal mobile devices.
    2. Initiate the build command either by clicking Build My App at the bottom of the Build Workflow (shown in Figure 4) or via your CI/CD as described in Section 2.1.4.
    Congratulations!  The Detect Fake GPS App protection is now added to the mobile app
  3. Certify the Detect Fake GPS App feature in Mobile Apps

    After building Detect Fake GPS App, Appdome generates a Certified Secure™ certificate to guarantee that the Detect Fake GPS App protection has been added and is protecting the app. To verify that the Detect Fake GPS App protection has been added to the mobile app, locate the protection in the Certified Secure™ certificate as shown below: Detect Fake GPS App shown in Certificate secure

    Figure 6: Certified Secure™ certificate

    Each Certified Secure™ certificate provides DevOps and DevSecOps organizations the entire workflow summary, audit trail of each build, and proof of protection that Detect Fake GPS App has been added to each Mobile app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that Detect Fake GPS App and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app.

Using Threat-Events™ for Fake GPS App Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps

Appdome Threat-Events™ provides consumable in-app mobile app attack intelligence and defense control when Fake GPS App is detected. To consume and use Threat-Events™ for Fake GPS App in Mobile Apps, use AddObserverForName in Notification Center, and the code samples for Threat-Events™ for Fake GPS App shown below.

The specifications and options for Threat-Events™ for Fake GPS App are:

Threat-Event™ Elements Detect Fake GPS App Method Detail
Appdome Feature Name Detect Fake GPS App
Threat-Event Mode
OFF, IN-APP DEFENSE Appdome detects, defends and notifies user (standard OS dialog) using customizable messaging.
ON, IN-APP DETECTION Appdome detects the attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (app chooses how and when to enforce).
ON, IN-APP DEFENSE Uses Appdome Enforce mode for any attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (gather intel on attacks and threats without losing any protection).
Certified Secure™ Threat Event Check
Visible in ThreatScope™
Developer Parameters for Detecting Fake GPS App Threat-Event™
Threat-Event NAME GeoLocationMockByAppDetected
Threat-Event DATA reasonData
Threat-Event CODE reasonCode
Threat-Event REF 6801
Threat-Event SCORE
currentThreatEventScore Current Threat-Event score
threatEventsScore Total Threat-events score
Threat-Event Context Keys
message Message displayed for the user on event
failSafeEnforce Timed enforcement against the identified threat
externalID The external ID of the event which can be listened via Threat Events
osVersion OS version of the current device
deviceModel Current device model
deviceManufacturer The manufacturer of the current device
fusedAppToken The task ID of the Appdome fusion of the currently running app
kernelInfo Info about the kernel: system name, node name, release, version and machine.
carrierPlmn PLMN of the device. Only available for Android devices.
deviceID Current device ID
reasonCode Reason code of the occurred event
buildDate Appdome fusion date of the current application
devicePlatform OS name of the current device
carrierName Carrier name of the current device. Only available for Android.
updatedOSVersion Is the OS version up to date
deviceBrand Brand of the device
deviceBoard Board of the device
buildUser Build user
buildHost Build host
sdkVersion Sdk version
timeZone Time zone
deviceFaceDown Is the device face down
locationLong Location longitude conditioned by location permission
locationLat Location latitude conditioned by location permission
locationState Location state conditioned by location permission
wifiSsid Wifi SSID
wifiSsidPermissionStatus Wifi SSID permission status
threatCode The last six characters of the threat code specify the OS, allowing the Threat Resolution Center to address the attack on the affected device.

With Threat-Events™ enabled (turned ON), Mobile developers can get detailed attack intelligence and granular defense control in Mobile applications and create amazing user experiences for all mobile end users when Fake GPS App is detected.


The following is a code sample for native Mobile apps, which uses all values in the specification above for Detect Fake GPS App:


Important! Replace all placeholder instances of <Context Key> with the specific name of your threat event context key across all language examples. This is crucial to ensure your code functions correctly with the intended event data. For example, The <Context Key> could be the message, externalID, OS Version, reason code, etc.



Using Appdome, there are no development or coding prerequisites to build secured Mobile Apps by using Detect Fake GPS App. There is no SDK and no library to code or implement in the app and no gateway to deploy in your network. All protections are built into each app and the resulting app is self-defending and self-protecting.

Releasing and Publishing Mobile Apps with Detect Fake GPS App

After successfully securing your app by using Appdome, there are several available options to complete your project, depending on your app lifecycle or workflow. These include:

Related Articles:

How Do I Learn More?

If you have any questions, please send them our way at support.appdome.com or via the chat window on the Appdome platform.

Thank you!

Thanks for visiting Appdome! Our mission is to secure every app on the planet by making mobile app security easy. We hope we’re living up to the mission with your project.

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