You’re not the first one to wonder how to change your location on your iPhone. iPhone users want to switch off Location Services on their phones or change their region for a variety of reasons. You might be looking to boost your online privacy, or maybe you want to keep streaming from your Netflix account as you travel. Did you know changing your location can even help you grab bigger online discounts?
Whichever reason you’re here for, we’ll show you how to conceal and change your location on your iPhone. Follow our step-by-step guides to switch off Location Services on your iPhone, turn off location tracking for individual apps, and switch your App Store region.
How to Quickly Change Your IP Address on iPhone
Simply follow these steps to instantly switch your virtual location to one of 90+ countries:
- Sign up for CyberGhost VPN. It’s quick and easy.
- Download and install the CyberGhost VPN iOS app.
- Sign in, choose your server location, and connect.
- That’s it! Websites and apps will now detect the server’s location instead of yours!
Why Should I Change My iPhone Location Settings?
Leaving your iPhone’s location settings on is like leaving your diary open in the living room — someone’s bound to invade your privacy. Your phone’s location settings can reveal your whereabouts, which helps snoopers create a more accurate profile about you and your online habits. It can even help stalkers track you down for reasons like swatting or doxxing, or help cybercriminals steal your personally identifying information.
Your iPhone can keep tabs on your frequently visited places, and can even register certain locations as work, home, or the gym. If you visit these locations at specific times of the day, you might even see directions appear on your iPhone as soon as you switch on your car engine. It’s not a coincidence — your phone knows where you’re going!
Third-party websites and apps can also use this information for marketing purposes, like showing relevant ads or sending annoying emails. They can even sell your location data (and other sensitive information if they have it) to other third parties without you knowing. What they do with that information is up to them. That doesn’t seem fair! Thankfully, you can easily spoof your location and disable location tracking on your iPhone.
Aside from the obvious benefits to your privacy, there are many other reasons to change your iPhone location. Let’s run through some of the top ones:
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- ⛔ Encrypt your information: If you use a VPN to change your location, you’ll also encrypt your iPhone connection at the same time. This stops data-hungry snoopers from spying on your whereabouts and online activities. They can’t see where you are or what you’re doing online.
- 📺 Access locked services: Platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and even your online banking can be geo-locked depending on your location. If you travel abroad, you might struggle to get access to your account. Masking your location helps you get around these blocks so you can keep your favorite platforms and websites unlocked.
- 💸 Get better deals: Prices can vary depending on where you are in the world, especially for things like flights and hotels. Changing your location can help you unlock better deals by easily switching your geo-location to somewhere where prices are lower.
- 🗺️ Stop app location tracking: Plenty of iPhone apps want access to your location, even when they don’t actually need it to function properly. Turning off app location permissions and spoofing your location helps keep your movements more private.
Changing Location or Changing IP Address — What’s the Difference?
Changing your iPhone IP address also switches your virtual geo-location. Changing your IP address doesn’t change your iPhone’s registered region though — you’ll need to reset your Apple ID region or buy a new iPhone for that. Your iPhone is still registered to a specific country or region, regardless of whether you’re masking your IP address.
Your IP address is a unique identifier assigned to your device whenever you log online. It can reveal your general whereabouts, like the city or zip code closest to you. It can’t pinpoint your precise location, such as your home address, but that doesn’t mean it’s not easy to find.
Sometimes your general location is all someone needs to track you down. If you post photos of your house or nearby locations online, for example, it won’t take a stalker or cybercriminal long to locate you. That’s why changing your iPhone IP address (your virtual location) is so important for boosting your online privacy.
How to Change Your Location on iPhone with a VPN
Using an iPhone VPN is the easiest and safest way to change your location. A VPN switches your IP address to one in another location. It does this by rerouting your traffic through a remote VPN server, masking your real IP address with the VPN server’s IP address. Most VPNs give you several server connections (meaning different locations) to choose from.
VPNs also encrypt your iPhone information. When you establish a VPN connection, it creates a secure tunnel that’s protected by encryption. This encryption scrambles your traffic, preventing outsiders like your ISP, snoopers, stalkers, and governments from reading it. VPNs make it incredibly difficult for third parties to collect your data because your online activities stay hidden in the VPN tunnel — including your location, personal details, and browsing history.
Follow these steps to change your iPhone location with a VPN:
- Sign up for CyberGhost VPN and download the iOS app.
- Log in to your account.
- Open the app and hit the power button to connect to any server, or click the Best Location button to browse worldwide servers.
- Once you’re connected, that’s it! The VPN masks your iPhone’s IP address and location as soon as you’re connected to a server.
- Look for your new IP address on your VPN app to see your new location. You can also use CyberGhost VPN’s privacy checker to see whether your VPN connection is working.
Note: While a VPN can change your IP address, it can’t change your Apple ID region or spoof your GPS data via Location Services — both of which are also used to track your location. If you want to fully switch your location on your iPhone, you’ll need to change these too. Unless you’re trying to hide your real location for security reasons, using a VPN is normally enough to improve your privacy and overcome location-based restrictions on websites and apps.
How to Change Your GPS Location on iPhone with iTools
You can change your iPhone location with GPS-spoofing apps — but proceed with caution. Some GPS-spoofing apps are fake, so you could unknowingly download malware to your device or give a cybercriminal free reign of your iPhone.
Using a location-hiding app means you’ll need to jailbreak your iPhone because Apple doesn’t let you download this software freely. Jailbreaking your phone is risky, though. It lets you unlock your iPhone completely, so you have full control over the operating system. You’ll be removing Apple’s pre-installed configurations, which means forgoing security patches and updates along with restrictions on which apps you can download. This can leave your phone vulnerable to cyber attacks.
If you still want to proceed with a GPS-spoofing app, make sure you only use reliable software. iTools and 3uTools are two of the most commonly used location-hiding apps for iPhones, but we can’t promise they’re safe to use.
Here’s a quick guide for setting up iTools, as an example:
- Jailbreak your iPhone to gain full control of your device.
- Download the iTools app to your PC (macOS or Windows).
- Connect your iPhone to your PC.
- Launch the iTools app and look for Toolbox > Virtual Location.
- Search for a new location or GPS address in the search bar.
- Once you’ve chosen a new location, select Go > Move here.
- Restart your iPhone to refresh your location.
We don’t recommend using a GPS-spoofing app. Apps like iTools can change your location, but they don’t come with any additional security features like a VPN app does. You’ll also need to jailbreak your iPhone before downloading them. You can download CyberGhost VPN instead to safely spoof your IP location and keep your online traffic secure with encryption.
What Are Location Services? How to Turn Them Off on Your iPhone
Some apps combine data on your iPhone to detect your location. This includes data from cellular networks, Bluetooth, GPS networks, and Wi-Fi networks. Together, these are known as Location Services.
Switching your IP address with a VPN isn’t enough to block Location Services. Apps can still gather information from your iPhone’s GPS and cellular network connections to track you down. It’s important to turn off Location Services to keep your location private. Even though this doesn’t change your iPhone’s location, it helps conceal your whereabouts by preventing apps from gathering that data.
Be aware: Apps that rely on Location Services to function might not work correctly if you turn it off.
Follow these steps to switch off Location Services on your iPhone:
- Open Settings on your iPhone, then tap on Privacy & Security.
- Look for Location Services (it’s the first option), and click it.
- Make sure the toggle for Location Services is turned off.
- When prompted, press Turn Off.
How to Turn Off Location Services for iPhone Apps
If you don’t want to disable Location Services completely, you can choose which apps have permission to use Location Services instead. To do this, follow these steps:
- Open Settings and go to Privacy & Security.
- Click on Location Services.
- Scroll down to see which apps are using Location Services and the permissions each app has.
- Click on a specific app to change its permissions.
- Select Never to turn off Location Services completely for an app.
- You can also toggle Precise Location off for an app so it only knows your approximate location, not the exact area.
Troubleshooting: Why Changing My iPhone Location Isn’t Working
If you’re struggling to change your iPhone location, it could be down to how you’ve configured the settings. Try these troubleshooting tips to fix it:
- Confirm that you’ve turned off Location Services in your settings.
- Ensure you’ve disabled Precise Location sharing for individual apps, and that all permissions are set to Never.
- Make sure your VPN is connected. You can use CyberGhost VPN’s privacy tool to see which IP address is assigned to your connection.
- Check your Apple ID settings to see whether it’s displaying the location you want. If it isn’t, you’ll need to change your App Store region (see our guide below).
- Restart your iPhone to see whether this updates its location settings.
If nothing is working, you can contact Apple support to see if they can help you.
How to Change Your App Store Region on iPhone and iPad
If you want to access apps that aren’t available in your current country or prevent your Apple ID from displaying your real location, you’ll have to change your App Store region. Be aware this will require you to list a valid payment method from the new region.
Note: If you don’t want to add a new payment method, you can create a new Apple ID tied to a different country instead. This won’t remove your old Apple ID, but you’ll only be able to use free apps and services with the new one. It’s a convenient way to switch between App Store regions when traveling.
Before you change your Apple ID and App Store region, you’ll need to do a few things:
- Spend credit: Make sure you’ve spent any remaining balance in your Apple account. You also need to wait for any credit refunds or pending balances to clear.
- Cancel subscriptions: Cancel any ongoing subscriptions or wait until your subscription expires to avoid potential cancellation problems.
- Update payment method: Update your account information with a payment method from your new region.
- Leave family sharing: If you’re part of a Family Sharing group, it might not let you change the country or App Store region. Exit any groups first to edit location settings.
Once you’re finished, follow these steps for both iPhone and iPad:
- Open Settings and tap on your account name.
- Select Media & Purchases.
- Tap View Account — it might ask you to sign in.
- Click on Country/Region.
- Tap Change Country or Region.
- Choose your new country or region.
- Click Agree, then Agree again to accept the new terms and conditions.
- Select a payment method and enter the new information and billing address.
- Click Next to complete the process.
Note: You’ll need to redownload any music, movies, and apps after changing your App Store region.
It’s Time to Turn Off Your iPhone Location
The only one tracking your iPhone’s location should be you. Unfortunately, that’s not a reality for Apple users. Almost every app you use spies on your every move. Some need your location for the app to function correctly, but others are just data-hungry snoopers.
Turning off your Location Services is a quick and easy way to keep your movements more private, but it doesn’t mean you’re untraceable. Cybercriminals can still use other information to track you down, like your browsing history and IP address.
Using a VPN is the best way to secure your online habits and keep your location concealed. A VPN encrypts your traffic and masks your IP address with another, stopping others from spying on you or your location. You can download CyberGhost VPN to mask your online identity and location. You’ll also get all the other benefits of a VPN connection, like unrestricted access to your favorite streaming platforms when you hop on a plane abroad.
Remember, using a VPN doesn’t make you 100% anonymous online. You’ll still need to turn off your iPhone Location Services and think twice about where you check in online to keep your location and personal information private.
FAQs
Yes, you can change the GPS location on your iPhone. You’ll need to use a GPS-spoofing app, but you can’t download these from the App Store unless you jailbreak your iPhone. That means disabling all security settings and pre-installed privacy configurations so you have full control over your device. For security reasons, we don’t recommend jailbreaking your iPhone to change your virtual location. A VPN is a much safer method. You can download CyberGhost VPN to change your IP address and make websites and apps detect a different location without compromising your iPhone’s security.
You’ll need to jailbreak your iPhone and change your GPS location with a third-party app. We don’t recommend this, because it leaves your iPhone vulnerable to cyber attacks. You can simply stop sharing your location with friends if you’d prefer to keep your whereabouts a secret. To do this, open the Find My app, select Me, and turn off Share My Location.
Turning on Airplane mode is a quick and easy way to make your location stay in one area. You can also turn off Share My Location in the Find My app to freeze your spot, so people only see your last-known location. Otherwise, you’ll need a GPS-spoofing app, but that means jailbreaking your iPhone and downloading third-party software, which is risky for your online security.
You can change your iPhone location by choosing a different country in your Apple ID settings on the App Store. Or you can conceal your location by turning off Location Services and using a VPN. A VPN switches your IP address (and location) to another country or region of your choice, masking your real IP address. This makes it difficult for anyone to trace your online activity back to your real IP address and detect your whereabouts.
If your iPhone says you’re somewhere you’re not, it might be due to your Location Services settings. Make sure Location Services are switched on to reset your location. You can then turn them off again if you want to preserve your privacy. If your App Store region is set elsewhere, this could also cause your location to change, so be sure to update your Apple ID region.
GPS-spoofing apps can change your location, but they don’t stop others from tracking you. They could easily stop working and expose your real location too. The safest way to change your virtual location is with a VPN. CyberGhost VPN switches your IP address to a server location of your choice and redirects your traffic through an encrypted tunnel. This helps to keep you safe from malicious cyber attacks and keeps your browsing history hidden from your ISP and online snoopers.
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