How to mock location on device?

Question

It seems the only way to do is to use a mock location provider.

You have to enable mock locations in the development panel in your settings and add

   <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_MOCK_LOCATION" /> 

to your manifest.

Now you can go in your code and create your own mock location provider and set the location of this provider.

If you use this phone only in development lab, there is a chance you can solder away GPS chip and feed serial port directly with NMEA sequences from other device.

I wish I had my cable handy. I know you can telnet to the emulator to change its location

$ telnet localhost 5554
Android Console: type 'help' for a list of commands
OK
geo fix -82.411629 28.054553
OK

I cannot remember if you can telnet to your device, but I think you can. I hope this helps.

You'll need adb (android debugging bridge) for this (CLI).

You can use the Location Services permission to mock location...

"android.permission.ACCESS_MOCK_LOCATION"

and then in your java code,

// Set location by setting the latitude, longitude and may be the altitude...
String[] MockLoc = str.split(",");
Location location = new Location(mocLocationProvider);            
Double lat = Double.valueOf(MockLoc[0]);
location.setLatitude(lat);
Double longi = Double.valueOf(MockLoc[1]);
location.setLongitude(longi);
Double alti = Double.valueOf(MockLoc[2]);
location.setAltitude(alti);

I've had success with the following code. Albeit it got me a single lock for some reason (even if I've tried different LatLng pairs), it worked for me. mLocationManager is a LocationManager which is hooked up to a LocationListener:

private void getMockLocation()
{
    mLocationManager.removeTestProvider(LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER);
    mLocationManager.addTestProvider
    (
      LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER,
      "requiresNetwork" == "",
      "requiresSatellite" == "",
      "requiresCell" == "",
      "hasMonetaryCost" == "",
      "supportsAltitude" == "",
      "supportsSpeed" == "",
      "supportsBearing" == "",

      android.location.Criteria.POWER_LOW,
      android.location.Criteria.ACCURACY_FINE
    );      

    Location newLocation = new Location(LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER);

    newLocation.setLatitude (/* TODO: Set Some Lat */);
    newLocation.setLongitude(/* TODO: Set Some Lng */);

    newLocation.setAccuracy(500);

    mLocationManager.setTestProviderEnabled
    (
      LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER, 
      true
    );

    mLocationManager.setTestProviderStatus
    (
       LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER,
       LocationProvider.AVAILABLE,
       null,
       System.currentTimeMillis()
    );      

    mLocationManager.setTestProviderLocation
    (
      LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER, 
      newLocation
    );      
}

What Dr1Ku posted works. Used the code today but needed to add more locs. So here are some improvements:

Optional: Instead of using the LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER String, you might want to define your own constat PROVIDER_NAME and use it. When registering for location updates, pick a provider via criteria instead of directly specifying it in as a string.

First: Instead of calling removeTestProvider, first check if there is a provider to be removed (to avoid IllegalArgumentException):

if (mLocationManager.getProvider(PROVIDER_NAME) != null) {
  mLocationManager.removeTestProvider(PROVIDER_NAME);
}

Second: To publish more than one location, you have to set the time for the location:

newLocation.setTime(System.currentTimeMillis());
...
mLocationManager.setTestProviderLocation(PROVIDER_NAME, newLocation);

There also seems to be a google Test that uses MockLocationProviders: http://grepcode.com/file/repository.grepcode.com/java/ext/com.google.android/android/1.5_r4/android/location/LocationManagerProximityTest.java

Another good working example can be found at: http://pedroassuncao.com/blog/2009/11/12/android-location-provider-mock/

Another good article is: http://ballardhack.wordpress.com/2010/09/23/location-gps-and-automated-testing-on-android/#comment-1358 You'll also find some code that actually works for me on the emulator.