How to get a fake GPS location for Snapchat on Android

How to get a fake GPS location for Snapchat on Android
(Image credit: Thought Catalog)

Whether you want to be sure no one’s tracking your movements, or you want to troll your friends into thinking you’re in Tokyo, Tennessee, or Timbuktu, getting a fake GPS for Snapchat couldn’t be easier – all you need to do is use one of the best VPN services.

In fact, only one VPN can give you a fake GPS location for Snapchat on Android without any other third-party apps getting involved, and it just so happens to be the cheapest, too: Surfshark. With its built-in GPS spoofing tech, you’ll be able to hide your true location and place yourself anywhere in the world with a couple of taps.

The only VPN that can spoof your location on Snapchatjust $2.49 a month

<a href="https://get.surfshark.net/aff_c?offer_id=61&aff_id=1691&aff_click_id=hawk-custom-tracking&aff_sub2=hawk-article-url" data-link-merchant="get.surfshark.net"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">The only VPN that can spoof your location on Snapchat
Surfshark is the only VPN with built-in fake GPS tech, but it's also the cheapest VPN worth getting right now. At just $2.49 a month, it's the perfect way to enhance your Snapchat experience and keep yourself safe on the web – and it's also great for streaming and torrenting, too.

How to get a fake GPS for Snapchat with Surfshark

• First of all, you’ll need to sign up to Surfshark. Install the Android app, and accept the permissions Surfshark asks for.

• Then, you’ll need to go to the ‘About Phone’ section in Settings. 

• Tap ‘Build Number’ seven times to enter Developer Mode. 

• Go back to Settings, and tap ‘Developer Options’, which may be at the end of menu.

• Turn on ‘Mock Locations App’ – it may be called ‘Allow Mock Locations’ – and select Surfshark as your mock location app.

• Download and install the Mock Mock Locations module – some apps won’t function if Mock Locations is turned on, so this module hides the setting from them.

• Then all you need to do is open Surfshark and select a location – it’ll spoof your location automatically to match the server you’re connected to. Make sure you do this before opening Snapchat!

How to get a fake GPS location for Snapchat on Android

(Image credit: Martin Sanchez)

Why would you want a fake GPS for Snapchat?

First and foremost, you probably want a fake Snapchat GPS to have a bit of fun. For example, if you use Surfshark to spoof your location to Paris, you could appear there on the Snap Map. You can also change your location to somewhere that has an exclusive filter – if you do, you could be the only one out of your friends to ever use it.

However, as an app that relies on knowing your location, it’s true that Snapchat tracks your location if you’ve given it permission to. The simple answer to avoiding tracking entirely would be to deny any location permissions, but then Snapchat would lose a lot of its core features.

Instead, you can take control of when the app knows where you are by spoofing your GPS location to somewhere else when you’d rather not have Snapchat (or anyone looking at your location) know where you are. Then, when you do want people to see where you are, you can just turn off Surfshark.

What else can I use Surfshark for?

There are other fake GPS for Snapchat apps available, but when dealing with personal information like your location, sometimes free apps can’t be trusted not to sell your information. With Surfshark, a strong no-logging policy and great privacy credentials means your data is kept safe.

You’ll also be able to watch loads more TV and films with Surfshark. Because it’s a VPN and not just a fake Snapchat GPS app, you’ll be able to trick websites into thinking you’re in a different country. That means you’ll be able to watch different media on Netflix, plus region-restricted services like BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Peacock and tons more.

Also, if you just keep your VPN all the time, everything you do online will be kept private from your ISP and mobile network provider. That means you can avoid targeted ads, stop them slowing down your connection when you do certain things, and browse in peace knowing that no one can see what you’re up to.

The best-value VPN on the market
Surfshark’s the only VPN with a built-in fake GPS for Snapchat, but it’s much more than that. With over 1,700 servers worldwide, it’s got great service worldwide – plus it’s able to unblock tons of streaming sites you won’t have had access to before. All of that for just $2.49 a month

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Surfshark’s the only VPN with a built-in fake GPS for Snapchat, but it’s much more than that. With over 1,700 servers worldwide, it’s got great service worldwide – plus it’s able to unblock tons of streaming sites you won’t have had access to before. All of that for just $2.49 a month? Not bad in our books.

three free months with Tom’s Guide

If you want our top-rated VPN service and don’t mind having to use a different app to spoof your location, we’d recommend ExpressVPN. With over 3,000 servers, blazing speeds and excellent apps for almost every device, it’s a more well-rounded service than Surfshark – and now you can claim <a href="https://go.expressvpn.com/c/4550836/1330033/16063?subId1=hawk-custom-tracking&sharedId=hawk&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.expressvpn.com%2Foffer%2Ftomsguide%3Foffer%3D3monthsfree%26a_fid%3D744" data-link-merchant="expressvpn.com"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">three free months with Tom’s Guide.

Mo Harber-Lamond
VPN Editor

Mo is VPN Editor at Tom's Guide. Day-to-day he oversees VPN, privacy, and cybersecurity content, and also undertakes independent testing of VPN services to ensure his recommendations are accurate and up to date. When he's not getting stuck into the nitty-gritty settings of a VPN you've never heard of, you'll find him working on his Peugeot 205 GTi or watching Peep Show instead of finally putting up those shelves.