How to Make My Location Appear Somewhere Else on iPhone

You can make the location shared with friends in Find My come from another iPhone or iPad you own. That device must actually be in the place you want to share. This changes your shared people location; it does not move your current iPhone’s GPS position or let you type an arbitrary address for every app.

If you want a website to see a different network location, a VPN changes the IP address it sees. If you want privacy from an app, review its location permissions. Choose the method that matches where your location is being displayed.

Choose What You Want to Change

• Your location in Find My’s People tab: choose another eligible device as the source, using the steps below.
• An app’s access to your physical location: limit its Location Services permission or turn off Precise Location.
• A website’s IP-based location: use a VPN connection; this does not replace GPS coordinates.
• Location inputs in an app you develop: use Xcode’s test tools. These are a development workflow, not a universal consumer setting.

Share Your Location from Another iPhone or iPad

Use a second device signed in to your own Apple Account, with Find My and Location Services set up. Apple’s Find My setup guide distinguishes sharing your personal location from locating individual devices.

1. On the device you want to use as the source, open Find My.
2. Open Me and turn on Share My Location.
3. Check the device listed beside Sharing From.
4. If that device is not the current source, select Use This iPhone as My Location, or Use This iPad as My Location on an iPad.
5. Keep that device connected and able to determine its location. Check Sharing From again to confirm which device is selected.

The iPhone instructions and iPad instructions document the source-selection controls. If the device is already selected, there may be no need to tap the source button.

For example, choosing an iPad at home shares that iPad’s location with people while your iPhone can still show its actual position in Maps. A disconnected or unavailable source is not a reliable way to provide a current location. The Devices tab continues to identify individual devices separately.

To switch back, open Find My on the iPhone you carry, open Me, and select Use This iPhone as My Location if needed. Our iPhone location-sharing guide covers choosing recipients and sharing duration.

Apple Watch exception: Apple says a paired GPS + Cellular Apple Watch can share your location when it is on your wrist and out of range of the iPhone sharing your location. Account for this when checking your selected source.

Limit an App’s Location Access Instead

For an app that does not need your exact position:

1. Open Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services.
2. Select the app you want to review.
3. Choose the access option that suits your use, such as Never or While Using the App, where offered.
4. Turn off Precise Location if approximate location is sufficient.

Apple’s location-permission guide explains this distinction. Approximate location gives a broader area around your real position; it does not let you select a different city. Restricting access can affect features that need location, such as navigation.

If the issue is sharing with a person, manage that sharing in Find My. Current iOS 27 instructions include People > person > More > Hide Location to pause for one friend. You can also stop sharing with that person, or turn off Share My Location in Me for everyone. Hiding a location does not supply a replacement address.

Why a VPN Does Not Change Your GPS Location

A VPN routes your internet connection through a server, so sites using your public IP address can infer the server’s region. Apps with permission to use Location Services can still receive device location information.

Proton’s explanation of IP location and Location Services describes these separate sources. A map pin inside a VPN app usually identifies its server, not proof that your iPhone’s GPS has moved. Check the website’s IP-based result separately from an app’s physical-location result.

Apple documents that iPhone Location Services uses GPS, Wi-Fi, cellular networks, and Bluetooth. Changing your region, a location label, or a VPN server is not a general replacement for those measurements.

Simulate a Location When Developing an App

If you are testing your own location-aware code, Apple’s Xcode simulation guide provides a supported test workflow:

1. Open your project in Xcode on a Mac.
2. Choose Product > Test Plan > Edit Test Plan.
3. Open Configuration.
4. Under Localization, choose a value in Simulated Location.

This test-plan setting applies to code in the test bundle. UI automation runs the app in a separate process and needs the separate location API described in that guide. Apple also documents GPX-based journeys for tests.

Simulation is not guaranteed to be invisible: Apple’s Core Location source information allows apps to identify and reject software-simulated locations. Simply enabling Developer Mode or installing an ordinary App Store app is not the procedure above.

If the Expected Location Does Not Appear

• Find My still uses your carried iPhone: choose the source on the other device, then inspect Sharing From. Selecting a contact or changing a location label does not change the source.
• Maps still shows your actual position after a VPN connection: that is consistent with device Location Services being separate from IP location.
• The source button is missing: check whether the device is already the source and whether it uses the same Apple Account. Follow the instructions for that device.
• A friend cannot see an updated location: check sharing, the selected device’s connectivity, and its Find My location permission. A stale marker does not confirm a successful change.