For Windows & Mac
Put your iPhone somewhere it isn't.
Plug your iPhone or iPad into your computer, click anywhere on the map, and your phone starts reporting that it's there. Walk around with the arrow keys, or plan a route and let it drive itself. Unplug and everything goes back to normal.
- Jailbreak
- Not needed
- On your phone
- Nothing to install
- Connection
- USB cable
- Works with
- iPhone & iPad
How it works
Three steps, about a minute.
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1
Plug your phone in
Use the cable that came with it. Unlock the phone and tap Trust when it asks. Draftpin finds it on its own.
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2
Click a spot on the map
Search for a place by name, or just click where you want to be. Your phone updates straight away.
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3
Move around, or don't
Stay put, walk with the arrow keys, or set a route and watch it travel. One click puts you back to your real location.
Anywhere
Search it, or click it.
Type a place name and pick it from the list, or click the map directly. If someone sends you coordinates, paste them straight in — Draftpin understands the usual formats without you having to convert anything.
Right-click anywhere for quick actions: go there now, save it, or use it as the start or end of a route. Switch between a clean street map, a colourful one, and real satellite imagery for when you need to land on a specific building rather than just the right street.
Movement
Walk it with the arrow keys.
Hold the arrow keys or W A S D and your location walks in that direction. Let go and it stops. There's an on-screen joystick too, if you'd rather drag than type.
Pick a speed
Walking, jogging, cycling, driving or flying — or drag the slider to whatever you want.
Natural drift
Optionally wobble the position slightly, the way a real GPS signal does when you're standing still.
Live readout
Current speed, direction and distance travelled, shown while you're moving.
Instant reset
One button, or a keyboard shortcut, and your phone is back to its real location.
Routes
Set a destination. It travels there.
Pick a start and an end, choose how you're getting there, and Draftpin works out a path along real streets — so you follow the road instead of cutting through buildings. Press play and it goes, with pause and a progress bar you can drag.
Walk, cycle or drive
Each one takes a different path, the same way your maps app does — one-way streets, pedestrian shortcuts, all of it.
Or fly
A straight line between two points at aircraft speed, for when you need to be on the other side of the world.
Draw your own
Click out a path on the map, or load one you already have. Draftpin can also record a walk and save it to replay later.
Saved places
Keep the spots you use.
Name a place and save it, and it stays on the map as a pin you can jump to with one click. Routes save the same way. Anywhere you've been this session is one click away too, so getting back is never a search.
A look inside
Same app, both platforms.
Screenshots coming shortly
The Mac version is the same app with Mac window controls. Fresh screenshots are on their way — in the meantime, the Windows tab shows exactly what you'll see.
Before you start
What you'll need.
On Windows
Windows 10 or 11, and Apple's free Apple Devices app from the Microsoft Store. That's the same thing you'd need to back up your phone to your PC, and it's what lets Windows talk to an iPhone at all. If you already use iTunes, you're set.
On Mac
macOS 11 or newer. Nothing else to install — your Mac already knows how to talk to an iPhone. Works on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.
On your phone
Tap Trust. The first time you plug into a new computer your phone asks whether to trust it. Unlock the phone and tap Trust.
Turn on Developer Mode. On iOS 16 and newer, go to Settings → Privacy & Security → Developer Mode, switch it on, and restart. Draftpin walks you through it if you forget.
A note on older iPhones
If your phone runs iOS 17.0 to 17.3, Apple changed how this works for those few versions and it needs administrator access on your computer. Updating the phone to iOS 17.4 or newer fixes it. Everything from iOS 16 and below, and everything from 17.4 up, works normally. Draftpin tells you which case you're in as soon as it sees your phone.
Questions
The ones people actually ask.
Do I have to jailbreak my phone?
No. Draftpin uses a facility Apple builds into every iPhone for app developers. Nothing is jailbroken, nothing is modified, and no app is installed on the phone.
Does anything get installed on my phone?
No. Draftpin runs entirely on your computer and talks to the phone over the cable. There's nothing to uninstall afterwards.
What happens when I unplug?
Your phone goes straight back to its real location. The simulated one only lasts as long as the connection — there's nothing left behind, and a restart clears it too. There's also a reset button if you want your real location back while still plugged in.
Can I use it wirelessly?
Not currently. The connection runs over the USB cable, which is what makes it reliable and instant.
Will apps on my phone know?
Draftpin sets the location your phone reports, and every app reads that. It does not hide itself from anything, and it makes no attempt to defeat apps that check for simulated locations — some do, and those will notice. If that matters for what you're doing, Draftpin is not the right tool.
Is it safe for my phone?
Yes. Nothing is written to the phone, no settings are changed, and no files are touched. It's the same mechanism developers use every day to test map and navigation apps.
Why does Windows warn me when I open it?
Draftpin isn't code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen and macOS Gatekeeper show a warning the first time. Click "More info" then "Run anyway" on Windows, or right-click and choose Open on a Mac. Signing is on the way.
Which iPhones and iPads does it work with?
Any iPhone or iPad that your computer can already connect to, running iOS 16 or newer. Older versions generally work too. See the note above about iOS 17.0–17.3.
Being straight with you
What Draftpin won't do.
Hide from apps
No tricks to get around apps that detect simulated locations. If an app checks, it'll find out.
Change your altitude
Latitude and longitude only. That's all iOS accepts, so nothing can set a different height or compass heading.
Work over the air
The cable has to stay in. Pull it out and your real location comes back immediately.
Get Draftpin
Download and you're a minute away.
Checking for the latest version…
Not code-signed yet, so your computer will warn you the first time you open it. See the FAQ above for what to click.