Capacitor Location Plugin

A Capacitor plugin to check whether location services are enabled, listen for changes in real time, and detect fake / mock GPS (spoofing apps such as Lockito, Fake GPS, etc.).

Features

• Check if location services are enabled (isEnabled)
• Listen for location-services changes (locationStatusChanged event)
• Detect mock / spoofed location (checkMock) — on Android reads the mock flag from the fused provider (the source most apps use); on iOS 15+ reads CLLocation.sourceInformation.isSimulatedBySoftware. Catches a spoofed position even while the device is stationary
• Open the device settings so the user can disable the mock-location app (openDeveloperSettings)
• Lightweight: the status check uses system broadcasts (no continuous updates)

Mock detection support: Android, and iOS 15+. On iOS below 15 and on web, checkMock resolves { isMock: false, available: false }.

Installation

npm install capacitor-location-plugin
npx cap sync

The mock detection uses com.google.android.gms:play-services-location, which the plugin declares as a dependency — no extra setup required.

Usage

import { LocationPlugin } from 'capacitor-location-plugin';

Check if location services are enabled

const { isEnabled } = await LocationPlugin.isEnabled();

Listen for location-services changes

const listener = await LocationPlugin.addListener(
  'locationStatusChanged',
  (status) => {
    console.log('Location enabled:', status.isEnabled);
  },
);

// later
listener.remove();

Detect fake / mock GPS

const { isMock, available } = await LocationPlugin.checkMock();

if (available && isMock) {
  // A mock-location app is actively feeding the position.
  await LocationPlugin.openDeveloperSettings();
}

Poll it on an interval (and re-check on app resume) to react when the user enables or disables a spoofing app:

setInterval(async () => {
  const { isMock, available } = await LocationPlugin.checkMock();
  if (available) blocked.value = isMock;
}, 5000);

API

isEnabled()

isEnabled() => Promise<{ isEnabled: boolean }>

Returns whether GPS/network location services are enabled.

initialize(options?)

initialize(options?: any) => Promise<{ isEnabled: boolean }>

Registers the internal broadcast receiver and returns the current status. Call once before relying on locationStatusChanged.

checkMock()

checkMock() => Promise<{ isMock: boolean; available: boolean }>

Requests a fresh location and reports whether it is mocked.

• Android: reads the fused provider (Location.isMock() on API 31+, isFromMockProvider() below), falling back to the LocationManager providers if fused is unavailable.
• iOS 15+: requests a one-shot location and reads CLLocation.sourceInformation.isSimulatedBySoftware.

Fields:

• isMock: true when the current position comes from a mock/simulated source.
• available: false when the check could not run (no location permission, iOS below 15, or web) — treat isMock as inconclusive.

Requires location permission granted at runtime (ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION/ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION on Android, when-in-use on iOS).

openDeveloperSettings()

openDeveloperSettings() => Promise<void>

On Android, opens the developer settings screen (falls back to the main settings) so the user can turn off the selected mock-location app. On iOS, opens the app's settings page.

addListener('locationStatusChanged', ...)

addListener(
  eventName: 'locationStatusChanged',
  listenerFunc: (status: { isEnabled: boolean }) => void,
) => Promise<PluginListenerHandle>

Android setup

Add the location permissions to your app's AndroidManifest.xml:

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

iOS setup

In Info.plist, add usage descriptions:

<key>NSLocationWhenInUseUsageDescription</key>
<string>This app requires access to your location while using the app.</string>

Limitations

Mock detection relies on the OS simulated-location flag. It reliably catches spoofing apps on a non-rooted / non-jailbroken device. A rooted Android device running a mock-hiding module (Xposed/LSPosed) can suppress the flag; defeating that requires attestation (e.g. Play Integrity) and is out of scope for this plugin. iOS detection requires iOS 15+ (no public API exists below that).

License

MIT