Locaflip

How to change location on iPhone

“Changing your location” can mean five different things on an iPhone. Here is what each one does, the exact steps, and how to change the GPS location itself.

By the Locaflip team · Last updated

If you are looking for how to change location on iPhone, the first step is to decide which “location” you mean. The country of your App Store account, the place a website thinks you are in, the permission an app has to see where you are, and the GPS position your iPhone reports are four separate things, and each is changed in a different place. This guide walks through all of them, in the order most people need them.

Can you change your location on iPhone?

Yes, but the answer depends on the kind of location:

  • Country or region of your Apple Account. Decides which App Store, prices and content you get. Changed in Settings.
  • IP-based location. What websites and streaming services infer from your internet connection. Changed by a VPN.
  • Location access. Which apps may use your location, and how precisely. Changed in Location Services.
  • The GPS location itself. The coordinates that iOS hands to apps. There is no switch for this in Settings; it can only be simulated with Apple’s developer tools from a Mac.

If you only want apps to stop seeing where you are, you don’t need to change anything: see how to turn off location on iPhone.

How to change your Apple Account country or region

This is what you need after moving to another country, or when the App Store shows the wrong storefront. Apple asks you to spend any remaining account balance, cancel subscriptions that block the change and have a payment method for the new country ready. Then:

  1. Open Settings and tap your name.
  2. Tap Media & Purchases. You might need to sign in.
  3. Tap Country/Region and select the new country or region.
  4. Tap Continue, review the terms and tap Agree.
  5. Select a payment method, enter the billing address and tap Done.

If you are in a Family Sharing group, you might not be able to change the region until you leave it. None of this affects GPS, Maps or what location-based apps see.

Does a VPN change your location on iPhone?

Only the network part of it. A VPN sends your traffic through a server somewhere else, so websites see that server’s IP address and guess your location from it. Apple describes Location Services differently: it determines where you are from GPS, Bluetooth, crowd-sourced Wi‑Fi hotspots and cell towers. A VPN doesn’t alter any of those, so an app that has location permission still gets your real position while the VPN is on.

How to set location on iPhone: Location Services

If an app shows no location, or the wrong one, check that it is allowed to use Location Services at all:

  1. Go to Settings › Privacy & Security › Location Services and make sure Location Services is on.
  2. Scroll to the app and tap it.
  3. Choose Never, Ask Next Time Or When I Share, While Using the App or Always. Some apps offer fewer options.
  4. Leave Precise Location on if the app needs your exact position, or turn it off to share only an approximate one. More in the Precise Location guide.

These settings decide whether an app gets your location. They don’t let you enter a different one.

How to change your iPhone’s GPS location

To make the iPhone itself report other coordinates, you need location simulation. Apple built it for developers who have to test how an app behaves in another city or along a route without travelling there. It is the mechanism people usually mean when they ask how to spoof or fake location on iPhone, and it needs neither a jailbreak nor an app installed on the phone. It does need a Mac.

With Xcode (for developers)

Xcode, Apple’s development environment, can simulate a device’s location while you run or test an app: either a fixed place or a journey replayed from a GPX file. You need Xcode on a Mac, an app project to run, and Developer Mode turned on on the iPhone. Apple’s documentation notes that Developer Mode appears in Settings only after you start pairing the device with a Mac.

With Locaflip (without Xcode)

Locaflip is our Mac app for the same job without a project or Terminal. It uses Apple’s developer location-simulation service, the same mechanism as Xcode’s Simulate Location, so apps that read location through iOS Location Services receive the simulated coordinates. You need a Mac with macOS 14 or later (Apple silicon or Intel), an iPhone with iOS 17 or later and a USB cable that carries data.

  1. Download Locaflip, open it on your Mac and enter your license key.
  2. Connect the iPhone with the cable, unlock it and tap Trust when it asks whether to trust the computer.
  3. On the iPhone, open Settings › Privacy & Security › Developer Mode, turn it on and restart. After the restart, confirm that you want Developer Mode on. If you don’t see the setting, connect the iPhone, open Locaflip and look again. Step-by-step help
  4. In Locaflip, click a point on the map, enter coordinates, or plan a route between two addresses (driving, walking or transit).
  5. Click Set location, or start the route. Locaflip holds the location, re-applies it if the connection wavers and sounds an alarm if the simulation is interrupted.
  6. To go back, click Reset location. The iPhone returns to its real location immediately.

Limits and fair use

  • The Mac has to stay connected. The simulation ends when the connection ends or the iPhone restarts.
  • Apps can tell. iOS marks simulated locations, and Apple gives developers a property that reports whether a location was produced by software simulation. Apps can detect or forbid simulated locations; check the terms of the apps you use.
  • Not a tool for Find My. We haven’t designed or tested Locaflip for Find My or location sharing, and we make no promises about what any particular app shows.
  • Developer Mode is a trade-off. iOS warns that Developer Mode reduces the security of your device. You can turn it off again in the same place in Settings.
  • Use it honestly. Testing your own app, recording a demo, or not handing your real position to an app that doesn’t need it are fair uses. Deceiving people or breaking a service’s rules is not.

Frequently asked questions

How do I change my location on my iPhone for the App Store?

Change the country or region of your Apple Account: Settings, your name, Media & Purchases, Country/Region. Spend your balance and cancel blocking subscriptions first.

How do I spoof or fake location on iPhone without a jailbreak?

With Apple’s developer location simulation, driven from a Mac: either through Xcode, or with a Mac app such as Locaflip that uses the same service. Nothing is jailbroken and nothing is installed on the iPhone. Apps can detect or forbid simulated locations.

Can I change my iPhone’s GPS location without a computer?

iOS has no setting for it, and the simulation feature Apple documents is controlled from a Mac. Locaflip needs a Mac connected by cable the whole time.

Will a VPN change my location in Maps or other apps?

No. A VPN changes your IP address. Apps with location permission get their position from Location Services, which uses GPS, Bluetooth, Wi‑Fi hotspots and cell towers.

How do I get my real location back?

In Locaflip, click Reset location. Disconnecting the cable or restarting the iPhone also ends the simulation.

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