Send spoof locations with DDMS emulator control to

Question

I want to test a GPS application I am developing in my android tablet, so I need to send to it spoof locations from a KML file loading it using DDMS. I want to use a physical device, not the emulator.

The problem is that the Emulator Control section in DDMS is disabled (grayed out) when I select my external device (the app process running) in the devices view. Insted if I select the emulator then the emulator control appears enabled but not with the physical device.

My applicaton has

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

And my physical tablet is configured with:

• USB debugging.
• Allow mock locations

I'm using SDK r20 and my tablet has android 4.0.3.

Any ideas?

Thank you very much

Answer 1

For simple spoofing you can use this free version but as you said in your question you want spoof locations from a KML file for that you have to buy pro version

Answer 2

I've pieced together a solution to this problem.

• Go to Settings->Applications->Development and select "Allow mock locations".

• Add ACCESS_MOCK_LOCATION permission to AndroidManifest.xml:

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
  <manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
  
  <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_MOCK_LOCATION">
  

• Implement a class which uses the LocationManager.addTestProvider() function. This will indicate to the application that it should use data from a file to construct new Location objects.

• New Locations can then be created using the LocationManager.setTestProviderLocation() function.

  // start using mock locations
  try {
     mockLocationCreator = new MockLocationCreator(this.getApplicationContext());
     try {
         mockLocationCreator.openLocationList();
  
         mockLocationThread = new Thread(mockLocationCreator);
         mockLocationThread.start();
  
         Toast.makeText(this.getApplicationContext(), 
                        "Mock locations are in use", 
                        Toast.LENGTH_LONG)
              .show();
  
     } catch (IOException e) {
         Toast.makeText(this.getApplicationContext(), 
                        "Error: Unable to open / read data file", 
                        Toast.LENGTH_LONG)
              .show();
         mockLocationCreator = null;
     }
  } catch(SecurityException e) {
     Toast.makeText(this.getApplicationContext(), 
                    "Error: Insufficient Privileges", 
                     Toast.LENGTH_LONG)
          .show();
     Log.e(TAG, "unable to use mock locations, insufficient privileges", e);
  }
  

Note: It is not possible to send mock locations to a real device from DDMS->Emulator Control->Location Controls regardless of device or manifest permissions as is incorrectly suggested here.

---

Sources:

Android mock location on device? - information about manifest permissions and alternative solution using the telnet command line, links and code snippets.

Using Mock Locations in Android - more verbose, contains some dead links.

LocationManager Documentation - Official Android documentation