How to emulate GPS location in the Android Emulator?

Question

I want to get longitude and latitude in Android emulator for testing.

Can any one guide me how to achieve this?

How do I set the location of the emulator to a test position?

Floorman

If you're using Genymotion : #30709829 – Bisulfate

You can install one of the many mock location apps on the Play Store. – Bunce

Answer 1

You can connect to the Emulator via Telnet. You then have a Emulator console that lets you enter certain data like geo fixes, network etc.

How to use the console is extensively explained here. To connect to the console open a command line and type

telnet localhost 5554

You then can use the geo command to set a latitude, longitude and if needed altitude on the device that is passed to all programs using the gps location provider. See the link above for further instructions.

The specific command to run in the console is

geo fix <longitude value> <latitude value>

I found this site useful for finding a realistic lat/lng: http://itouchmap.com/latlong.html

If you need more then one coordinate you can use a kml file with a route as well it is a little bit described in this article. I can't find a better source at the moment.

Andri

using geo fix i have also set mock latitude and longitude still getting null location. – Floorman

adding many values through telnet now it is working.. i dont know why entering two or three values it was not working.. it works untill i close the emulator when i close the emulator i have to enter mock values again. – Floorman

or simple way turn on gps in emulator and go to emulator control give dummy lat,long values and send you will get those values in emulator as a gps location. – Floorman

This doesn't seem to work. I have a GPS logger running in the emulator, which prints a debug statement in the onLocationChanged handler, and setting the lat/long via geo shows no output... – Burdine

But what about the permissions in the AndroidManifest.xml? – Amsden

adb emu geo fix 30.219470 -97.745361 – Airla

I noticed you need to make your application watch for a position, THEN enter coordinates. It won't take the last position in account if you're registered for "location updates". (That seems logical.) – Sift

Mind the order, lon before lat! – Rintoul

I have wrote an app MockGeoFix (source code) that provides the same interface as the emulator so you can telnet to your phone on port 5554 and use "geo fix" or "geo nmea" the same way as with the emulator. – Maecenas

The geo fix command is only available if you auth first. Might be worth mentioning... – Zakaria

A command like geo fix 40 57.5555 0 12 gives me an error: KO: argument '.5555 0 12' is not a number. Though, the following works: geo fix 40 57,5555 0 12. Probably this is some locale related issue. – Tarweed

This solution doesn't make much sense after location and GPX files have been added to Emulator's UI. See @eden answer below – Geometrize

"auth auth_token" will imply the location of ~/.emulator_console_auth_token file – Dallon

Answer 2

No one here mentioned the built in solution of the emulator itself, so for future visitors, I'd like to share it with visuals.

First, run your Android Emulator and click on the menu button (3 dots) shown below:

Then from the left pane, select Location and change the coordinates according to your needs. After pressing Send button, changes will immediately take effect (I recommend you to open up Google Maps for better understanding).

Android Studio Version: 2.3.3

In addition, to make your different locations coming to your application in real time, you can use GPX file. It's very easy to create this file from Google Map direction link:

1. Go to google map, choose a location, then press "Directions" and enter the second location.
2. After route is created, copy a link from the browser
3. Go to this website: https://mapstogpx.com and paste the link to "Let's Go" box
4. Press the "Let's Go" button and GPX file will be downloaded

Use "Load GPS/KML" button to load the created file to your emulator, choose speed, and press green play button on the bottom. Locations will be sent in real time as shown on the picture below.

Terri

in this solution need a play services in emulator? – Subtenant

I don’t think so. – Terri

when i open app in emulator google api client null so not able to load map in emulator. and mobile device there is ok for me. – Subtenant

Did you sign in? – Terri

please do so and let us know the outcome – Terri

I confirm that there's no need to log in in your Google Account to do this. Cool! – Meader

I had to restart the emulated OS to get it to recognize the new location. – Prosector

How can let the emulator use my real (laptop's) location, without explicitly specifying the longtime and latitude? – Dedie

android emulator which came with android studio 3.5.1 does not have any send option in location tab. there is a set location button but it doesnt change the location when read using geolocator package – Passable

changes will immediately take effect while this is true, i actually needed to open up GoogleMaps once to be able to update the location. (GMaps doesn't need to stay open after this) without opening GMaps once, my app didn't get the updated locations... – Alkalize

Answer 3

I was looking for a better way to set the emulator's GPS coordinates than using geo fix and manually determining the specific latitude and longitude coordinates.

Unable to find anything, I put together a little program that uses GWT and the Google Maps API to launch a browser-based map tool to set the GPS location in the emulator:

android-gps-emulator

Hopefully it can be of use to help others who will undoubtedly stumble across this difficulty/question as well.

Wawro

wow, thank you! setup worked just fine, but I wasn't able to manage a connection to the emulator -> log prints java.net.ConnectionRefused. then i tried telnet localhost 5554 (from terminal) and it worked.. has anyone else tested your emulator successfully on mac? – Huan

I didn't test it, but this looks so awesome I think Google should tell the world about it. Simple ideas are always the best. Why did no one think of this? – Sift

@Huan - Yes, I am actually running on a mac without that problem (using Chrome on Mavericks). I so see that ConnectionRefused message if I launch the GPS emulator before starting the Android virtual device. At the top of my browser it also says "Error making connection on port 5554 ..." Everything works fine if I click the "Change Emulator Port" button to reconnect – Wawro

Exactly what I needed. – Bulldoze

This is a good program, but system locality changes the way floats work. On my system it has to be like geo fix 42,42 42,42 42 commas instead of dots. – Meteorite

@Meteorite Thanks for the feedback. I will create an Issue for this. If you have a fix, I'd love you to create a PR – Wawro

@Wawro I would happily test different ways but time is scant. My first try would be to use String.format("geo fix %f %f on GeoFixAsyncCallback.onSuccess instead of concatenating float with with + – Meteorite

It's a great project but it doesn't work for me I can not connect via telnet with my android device – Queeniequeenly

@Osgux Feel free to post a description of your problems over on GitHub – Wawro

Answer 4

If you're using Eclipse, go to Window->Open Perspective->DDMS, then type one in Location Controls and hit Send.

Cupule

This is by far the easiest method i have seen. Make sure you set up you AVD with GPS support, then in the DDMS perspective click on the emulator that is running under Devices, choose the Emulator Control tab on the center-right pane then at the bottom is the Location Controls section SteveCav mentioned (Using Eclipse Juno 4.2 for Java Developers with the latest ADT). My Location Controls panel was even preloaded with location data. – Isotropic

great answer! works with any ide because ddms is part of the sdk (yoursdkfolder/tools/) – Overleap

This, nor the telnet solution above, was working for me. I am trying to get my location like this but it's still null. LocationManager mlocManager = (LocationManager) getSystemService(Context.LOCATION_SERVICE); Location location = mlocManager.getLastKnownLocation(LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER); – Grievance

When I use "Location Controls" in DDMS I get the following error when trying to send Unable to send command to the emulator. Any idea why it isn't working? I'm using the default Nexus 4 AVD – Saarinen

@zarroka - I'm using the Android SDK and Window doesn't have an Open Perspective (or DDMS) option. What did you mean it works on any SDK? – Purveyance

I am unable to do this the locations controls are greyed out – Janetjaneta

Answer 5

For Android Studio users:

run the emulator,

Then, go to Tools -> Android ->Android device monitor

open the Emulator Control Tab, and use the location controls group.

Ricotta

In my case, all fileds are non-editable. Do you have an idea ? – Woolley

@MustafaOlkun It probably means the emulator itself has those controls on it. Look for a "..." next to the emulator. – Carter

I have the same problem. They are non editable. and yes there is the "...". However when I put anything there and Send, nothing changes on the application.... – Grimm

Answer 6

Sorry for the NecroPost. Some of the answers did not help my specific issue. For example, I set my location to Alaska. However, my device was still showing to be in Mountain View, California (Google's HQ)? So here's how I did a fix:

1) Go to the location settings:

2) Set your test location. I chose Alaska.

3) Google "My current location" and click on the map circled in the picture. Note that even though I set location as Alaska, my Virtual Device still thinks it's in Mountain View, California.

4) Click on this location Icon Your location should now be updated on your device. You can verify by Googling "My current location" again.

If anyone experienced this same issue, I hope my solution helped you.

Foreshorten

Hello! Did you solve this at the end? I am facing exactly the same issue. Thank you in advance and regards – Togs

Answer 7

The following solution worked for me - open command line and write:

adb emu geo fix [longtitude] [latitude]

Hobbism

Answer 8

Finally with the latest release of Android Studio 4 and his new Emulator update 10/23/2019 it become easier. Start your emulator and go to emulator parameters ... > in "Routes" tab you can choose two points on the map from/to and start a new route with an adjustable playback speed that can go to more than 1000km/h!

Diophantus

so how to get current lat lng ? – Guiana

Answer 9

Assuming you've got a mapview set up and running:

MapView mapView = (MapView) findViewById(R.id.mapview);
final MyLocationOverlay myLocation = new MyLocationOverlay(this, mapView);

mapView.getOverlays().add(myLocation);
myLocation.enableMyLocation();

myLocation.runOnFirstFix(new Runnable() {
    public void run() {
        GeoPoint pt = myLocation.getMyLocation();
    }
});

You'll need the following permission in your manifest:

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

And to send mock coordinates to the emulator from Eclipse, Go to the "Window" menu, select "Show View" > "Other" > "Emulator control", and you can send coordinates from the emulator control pane that appears.

Curtsey

but my friend where are the longitude and latitude ?? – Floorman

i have tried using this ans sending mock values to emulator control but when i press send button it does not do any thing no message nothing appears to confirm values sent or not. seocnd thing GeoPoint g= myLocation.getMyLocation(); is returning null value. – Floorman

Are you sure that you're using it within runOnFirstFix? Because that's the event that's raised when the device first receives GPS position, so if that's ever raised, getMyLocation should definitely return a value. – Curtsey

Answer 10

1. Android Studio users.

After running the emulator goto Tools->Android->Android device monitor

Click the Emulator Control Tab change from the location controls group.

2. Eclipse users.

First In Eclipse In Menu Select "Window" then Select "Open Perspective" then Select "DDMS". i.e Window->Open Prespective->DDMS.

You will see on Left Side Devices Panel and on Right Side you will see different tabs. Select "Emulator Control" Tab.

At bottom you will see Location Controls Panel. Select "Manual" Tab.

Enter Longitude and Latitude in Textboxs then Click Send Button. It will send the position to you emulator and the application.

3. Using telnet.

In the run command type this.

telnet localhost 5554

If you are not using windows you can use any telnet client.

After connecting with telnet use the following command to send your position to emulator.

geo fix long lat    
geo fix -121.45356 46.51119 4392

4. Use the browser based Google maps tool

There is a program that uses GWT and the Google Maps API to launch a browser-based map tool to set the GPS location in the emulator:

android-gps-emulator

Permeance

This first option worked for me, with one small change. I couldn't open the DDMS window from Eclipse, I just got a blank gray page. But while I had the emulator running, if I opened up DDMS from a command prompt (C:\Program Files\Android\android-sdk\tools\ddms) then I could see the window you described with Devices on left and "Emulator Control" tab on right. Thanks! – Kung

Answer 11

For the new emulator:

http://developer.android.com/tools/devices/emulator.html#extended

Basically, click on the three dots button in the emulator controls (to the right of the emulator) and it will open up a menu which will allow you to control the emulator including location

Septuagint

When I load a multipoint GPX/KML the settings window just spins forever. 😔 – Bodgie

Answer 12

Using the "geo" command in the emulator console

To send mock location data from the command line:

1. Launch your application in the Android emulator and open a terminal/console in your SDK's /tools directory.

2. Connect to the emulator console:

   telnet localhost 5555 (Replace 5555 with whatever port your emulator is running on)

3. Send the location data: * geo fix to send a fixed geo-location.

   This command accepts a longitude and latitude in decimal degrees, and an optional altitude in meters. For example:

   geo fix -121.45356 46.51119 4392
   

Kath

Answer 13

I wrote a python script to push gps locations to the emulator via telnet. It defines a source and a destination location. There is also a time offset which lets you control how long coordinates will be pushed to the device. One location is beeing pushed once a second.

In the example below the script moves from Berlin to Hamburg in 120 seconds. One step/gps location per second with random distances.

#!/usr/bin/python
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
import sys
import telnetlib
from time import sleep
import random

HOST = "127.0.0.1"
PORT = 5554
TIMEOUT = 10
LAT_SRC = 52.5243700
LNG_SRC = 13.4105300
LAT_DST = 53.5753200
LNG_DST = 10.0153400
SECONDS = 120

LAT_MAX_STEP = ((max(LAT_DST, LAT_SRC) - min(LAT_DST, LAT_SRC)) / SECONDS) * 2
LNG_MAX_STEP = ((max(LNG_DST, LNG_SRC) - min(LNG_DST, LNG_SRC)) / SECONDS) * 2

DIRECTION_LAT = 1 if LAT_DST - LAT_SRC > 0 else -1
DIRECTION_LNG = 1 if LNG_DST - LNG_SRC > 0 else -1

lat = LAT_SRC
lng = LNG_SRC

tn = telnetlib.Telnet(HOST, PORT, TIMEOUT)
tn.set_debuglevel(9)
tn.read_until("OK", 5)

tn.write("geo fix {0} {1}\n".format(LNG_SRC, LAT_SRC))
#tn.write("exit\n")

for i in range(SECONDS):
    lat += round(random.uniform(0, LAT_MAX_STEP), 7) * DIRECTION_LAT
    lng += round(random.uniform(0, LNG_MAX_STEP), 7) * DIRECTION_LNG

    #tn.read_until("OK", 5)
    tn.write("geo fix {0} {1}\n".format(lng, lat))
    #tn.write("exit\n")
    sleep(1)

tn.write("geo fix {0} {1}\n".format(LNG_DST, LAT_DST))
tn.write("exit\n")

print tn.read_all()

Omniscience

Works like a charm! Thanks for sharing. – Bracy

Mmmmm. I think there's a slight error: As far as I know the geo fix message gets Longitude and Latitude, in that order: You are sending them the other way around. See answers above. – Bracy

Not working. The emulator is listening on the port but its not receiving anything. – Purity

Answer 14

In Linux where communication ports are blocked. navigate the terminal to platform-tools folder inside android sdk and fire this command:

./adb -s #{device_name} emu geo fix #{longitude} #{latitude}

Swum

Answer 15

In Mac, Linux or Cygwin:

echo 'geo fix -99.133333 19.43333 2202' | nc localhost 5554

That will put you in Mexico City. Change your longitude/latitude/altitude accordingly. That should be enough if you are not interested in nmea.

Bracy

You may have to adjust the 5554 to your current emulator listening port. – Bracy

how did you find the value for different cities? I am trying to copy the value from google maps and it not in the range 90 to - 90. – Heigho

Answer 16

I use eclipse plug DDMS function to send GPS.

Yorke

Answer 17

See Obtaining User Location

Look under Providing Mock Location Data. You will find the solution for it.

Pleven

Answer 18

First go in DDMS section in your eclipse Than open emulator Control .... Go To Manual Section set lat and long and then press Send Button

Pandora

Answer 19

I was trying to set the geo fix through adb for many points and could not get my app to see any GPS data. But when I tried opening DDMS, selecting my app's process and sending coordinates through the emulator control tab it worked right away.

Amatory

You don't need to specify a process... Or perhaps DDMS in 2010 requires doing that. – Blown

Answer 20

Dalvik Debug Monitor > Select Emulator > Emulator Control Tab > Location Controls.

DDMS -- android_sdk/tools/ddms OR android_sdk/tools/monitor

Bloodred

Answer 21

If you are using eclipse then using Emulator controller you can manually set latitude and longitude and run your map based app in emulator

Granulation

Answer 22

If you're using Android Studio (1.3):

• Click on Menu "Tools"
• "Android"
• "Android device monitor"
• click on your current Emulator
• Tab "Emulator Control"
• go to "Location Controls" and enter Lat and Lon

Groscr

Answer 23

Just make Alberto Gaona's answer into one line

token=$(cat ~/.emulator_console_auth_token); cat <(echo -e "auth $token \n  geo fix 96.0290791 16.9041016  \n exit") - | nc localhost 5554

5554 is the emulator port number shown in adb devices.

It would have been better if adb emu work.

Abrasive

very useful one liner! in my case I had to remove the spaces between \n: token=$(cat ~/.emulator_console_auth_token); cat <(echo -e "auth $token\ngeo fix 96.0290791 19.9041016\nexit") - | nc localhost 5554 – Dolce

Answer 24

Go to Extended controls in emulate. After You can then set the location for the emulate by searching or dragging the map to the location you want to set.

Finally Click on SET LOCATION button to save.

Denim

Answer 25

If the above solutions don't work. Try this:

Inside your android Manifest.xml, add the following two links OUTSIDE of the application tag, but inside your manifest tag of course

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

Bette

Answer 26

I was unable to get a GPS fix on the emulator when emulator was running Android image without Google APIs. As soon as I changed the image to contain Google APIs all of the here mentioned ways to get a GPS fix worked.

Make sure you select an image with Google APIs when creating AVD.

Bethina

what do you mean by Image and while creating AVD how would i select an image with Google APIs? there are no such options while create AVD in eclipse. – Stung

Make sure you have downloaded images with Google APIs via the Android SDK manager. – Bethina

Answer 27

The already mentioned multiple times answer to use the shell command "geo fix..." is the correct answer. But in case you use LocationClient.getLastLocation() to retrieve your data it is worth to mention that it will not work at first. The LocationClient class uses the Google Play Service to retrieve the coordinates. For me this started working after running the emulators maps app once. During the first start you are asked to allow google apps access to your location, which I guess does the trick.

Gemmiparous

Answer 28

For a project of my own, I developed an online service which can provide simulated location to the Android emulator.

It uses geo nmea rather than geo fix which allows it to set speed, course, precise time etc. in addition to just lat/lon.

The service requires the nc (netcat) command line utility and nothing else.

http://www.kisstech.ch/nmea/

Fret

Answer 29

You can use an emulator like genymotion which gives you the flexibility to emulate your present GPS location, etc.

Pavement

@Grimm Well I did need to install google play ( #17832490 ) on the emulator – Pavement

Answer 30

There is a plugin for Android Studio called “Mock Location Plugin”. You can emulate multiple points with this plugin. You can find a detailed manual of use in this link: Android Studio. Simulate multiple GPS points with Mock Location Plugin

Content

Answer 31

Can't comment yet, so updating @ectomorphs answer here, which when telneting now requires to have an auth token. In linux that's under /home/username/.emulator_console_auth_token

#!/usr/bin/env python
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
import sys
import telnetlib
from time import sleep
import random

FILE = open('/home/username/.emulator_console_auth_token', 'r')
AUTH_TOKEN = FILE.read()
FILE.close()

HOST = "127.0.0.1"
PORT = 5554
TIMEOUT = 10
LAT_SRC = 52.5243700
LNG_SRC = 13.4105300
LAT_DST = 53.5753200
LNG_DST = 10.0153400
SECONDS = 120

LAT_MAX_STEP = ((max(LAT_DST, LAT_SRC) - min(LAT_DST, LAT_SRC)) / SECONDS) * 2
LNG_MAX_STEP = ((max(LNG_DST, LNG_SRC) - min(LNG_DST, LNG_SRC)) / SECONDS) * 2

DIRECTION_LAT = 1 if LAT_DST - LAT_SRC > 0 else -1
DIRECTION_LNG = 1 if LNG_DST - LNG_SRC > 0 else -1

lat = LAT_SRC
lng = LNG_SRC

tn = telnetlib.Telnet(HOST, PORT, TIMEOUT)
tn.set_debuglevel(9)
tn.read_until("OK", 5)

tn.write("auth {0}\n".format(AUTH_TOKEN))
tn.read_until("OK", 5)

tn.read_until("OK", 5)

tn.write("geo fix {0} {1}\n".format(LNG_SRC, LAT_SRC))
#tn.write("exit\n")

for i in range(SECONDS):
    lat += round(random.uniform(0, LAT_MAX_STEP), 7) * DIRECTION_LAT
    lng += round(random.uniform(0, LNG_MAX_STEP), 7) * DIRECTION_LNG

    #tn.read_until("OK", 5)
    tn.write("geo fix {0} {1}\n".format(lng, lat))
    #tn.write("exit\n")
    sleep(1)

tn.write("geo fix {0} {1}\n".format(LNG_DST, LAT_DST))
tn.write("exit\n")

print tn.read_all()

From a shell script one can set the coorinate like so

#!/usr/bin/env bash
export ATOKEN=`cat ~/.emulator_console_auth_token`
echo -ne "auth $ATOKEN\ngeo fix -99.133333 19.43333 2202\n"  | nc localhost 5554

Thracophrygian

Answer 32

Open Android studio->Tools menu->Android-> Android Device Monitor->Emulator Tab->Location control-> Set your required latitude and longitude and check your project as per your need

Sardella

you may set static location value (Latitude & Longitude) which location you need check directly in coding part? – Sardella

Answer 33

In eclipse:

You may have to drag the DDMS window down. 'Location Controls' is located under 'Telephony Actions' and may be hidden by a normally sized console view ( the bar with console, LogCat etc may be covering it!)

~

Cordierite

Inside DDMS I found under Emulator Control. Tab below Location Controls. – Niemann

Answer 34

I have made a little script similar to one of the previous answers, but using expect instead of python - because it is a bit simpler (expect was invented for this).

#!/usr/bin/expect

set port [lindex $argv 0]
set lon [lindex $argv 1]
set lat [lindex $argv 2]

set timeout 1
spawn telnet localhost $port
expect_after eof { exit 0 }

## interact
expect OK

set fp [open "~/.emulator_console_auth_token" r]
if {[gets $fp line] != -1} {
  send "auth $line\r"
}

send "geo fix $lon $lat\r"
expect OK
send "exit\r"

Exemple usage: sendloc 5554 2.35607 48.8263

Baily

Answer 35

I had the same problem on Android studio 3.5.1 When I clicked on three dots to the right of android emulator and selected location tab, I dont see a send option. I tried to set a location point but that did not change my default cupertino location. Open google maps and it will autolocate you and your cupertino location will change.

Passable

Answer 36

For BlueStack Users: open the emulator and press Ctrl+Shift +K then find your location and press set location!

Transhumance