Another app shows my real location — why?

Android marks every coordinate that comes from a test provider with a “from a mock source” flag. The flag is not hidden: any app may read it and decide what to do with such data.

Some services do exactly that — and it is not a malfunction but their deliberate choice. Banking apps, delivery confirmation systems, corporate time tracking, location-based reward programs and games with anti-cheat systems refuse to work with mock coordinates. For them location is not a convenience but proof of a fact, and by the nature of their task they cannot accept unreliable data.

This check cannot be bypassed without modifying the firmware, and Mock Location deliberately does not do it. The flag can only be hidden with Magisk-level modules on a device with an unlocked bootloader — with a voided warranty, broken system integrity checks and the risk of leaving the phone unusable. We do not support or describe this path; why, and why it still does not solve the task, is covered in the article can location spoofing be hidden.

But before assuming the flag is the cause, rule out three simpler reasons.

The first is the cache. The app may have remembered the last known point and keep showing it without asking for a new one. Close it completely (close it, not minimize it) and open it again with spoofing already active.

The second is IP-based location. Some services learn your location not from the system but from your network address; spoofing coordinates has no effect on that channel at all, and a VPN would help there, not a coordinate change. The difference between the two mechanisms is explained in the article location spoofing or VPN.

The third — the app requests the location once at launch and does not react to later changes. Then do it in the reverse of the usual order: turn on spoofing first, then open the app.

If none of the three fits and the app keeps showing your real point with spoofing active, it almost certainly reads the mock source flag, and nothing can be done about it.