A Taiwanese developer turned "iPhone location spoofing" into an App Store developer tool, and Pikmin players pay NT$120 a month

LocationLab's store listing says "location testing for iOS developers and QA," but in Taiwan's Pikmin Bloom Facebook groups it's known as "iPhone can fly too." Two months after launch it has only 40 ratings in Taiwan, nearly all five-star. It took off because iOS 27 was the first version to let phones change location without a computer, and it was one of the first to turn that into an app you can search for on the App Store. If you want to follow, the opportunity is in other countries and other games, and the cost is that it can be pulled at any time.

A typhoon-day post

2026 Oct 23, a typhoon hit Taiwan. LocationLab's official Threads account posted: "It's dangerous to go out on typhoon days. Do I really have to let today's 60 dollars fly away like this?" Below were the details: seven-day free trial; search the App Store; iOS 27 needs no computer at all, initial setup is done on the phone; works without Wi-Fi; subscription 120 a month ("under five NT dollars a day"), 320 per quarter, 1200 per year; without a subscription you still get three free setups a day.

The post mentions no game terms beyond "Pikmin," but everyone reading it understood: you can't go out on a typhoon day, you'll miss the limited-time event rewards in the game, and changing your location lets you collect them from your couch.

A week later, on Oct 30, someone posted anonymously on the 「Pikmin Flying Forum」 asking: 「Any recommended app for flying on iPhone?」 36 replies. The most-liked one (11 likes) said: 「LocationLab, you can set it directly on iOS27, pretty convenient I think.」

What it is

An iPhone app, free to download, by Taiwan-based solo developer SHU-CHIH LIN. Launched Sep 7, 2026, filed under Developer Tools.

It uses the location-simulation feature iOS provides to developers, the same route as simulating location in Xcode. Normally that route requires a computer connection; LocationLab builds in a local VPN so the phone effectively connects to itself as the "computer."

• iOS 26: connect to a Mac or Windows machine via USB once to generate a pairing file; after that no computer is needed.
• iOS 27 and up: with the developer's other app, "LL Pair" (listed Oct 12), pairing is generated directly on the phone, with no computer at all. This is its main selling point.

The features are nominally for testing, but in practice they map to the game one by one: pasting a string of coordinates, GPX routes, "petal detour" and "ring detour," speed that varies, random roaming. Players use it to harvest fruit, "pull" pots, and plant flowers along routes. Requests in the review section are just as direct: "Hope there's a directional pad while planting flowers" and "A feature for local corrections to the planting path would be better" (App Store Taiwan reviews, 10-23 / 10-25).

How big it actually got

Not big, but solid.

App Store charts and ratings by country, 11-06.

Charting in 17 countries sounds impressive, but Hong Kong, the UAE, and Norway all show 0 ratings. Developer Tools is a quiet category, and a handful of subscriptions can land it in the top 10 bestsellers. The real market is only Taiwan. Based on rating counts, downloads are in the hundreds to a couple thousand, with dozens to hundreds of paying users, and monthly revenue around tens of thousands of NT dollars (estimate; Apple doesn't publish figures).

Where users come from

The Pikmin Facebook groups were the main channel. In September 18, 11 days after launch, a user named Syuan posted the first message in "Pikmin Bloom [Player Discussion, Chat, Trade]": "Want to fly on iOS too? Search LocationLab on the App Store," with a download link. On Oct 9 and 10, someone named Daniel posted in two flying-Pikmin groups; one post got 55 likes, 26 comments, and 22 shares. The post repeats "seven-day free trial" three times and ends with "Listed on the App Store, reviewed, safe to use." This text matches the official Threads post from Oct 9 word for word, so Daniel is most likely the developer or someone they hired to promote (inference).

The questions in the comments show who these people are: "Do I need to pay?" "You say no computer, but then say the first setup needs a computer, that's contradictory." They aren't developers; they're players who want to stay home.

Official Threads and YouTube. The Threads account @location_lab_ has only 67 followers (11-06), but every post is tied to game events: typhoon days, Raid Pools. The Nov 6 post says "Trial is the best for Raid Pools!" A YouTube setup tutorial has 485 views. The volume is tiny; its job is to act as a manual for posts in the community groups.

LINE group as customer support. The website and every post send people to the official LINE account and the LINE community group. One review says: "Super useful! Wish I'd found it sooner, the developer answers every question in the LINE community too!" That's where its 4.97 rating comes from.

"Made in Taiwan". One five-star review is just one line: "The only one I support, made in Taiwan 🥹🥹".

Not found: paid ads, creator partnerships, media coverage, or discussion on X.

Why users pick it

Taiwanese Pikmin players who wanted to fly on iPhone had roughly four options before this:

LocationLab said something no one else said: "Searchable on the App Store, no computer needed." For ordinary players, "passed App Store review" means "safe," which is more persuasive than any feature. Add three free uses a day, a seven-day trial, and NT$120 a month, and it's well below the price of desktop software.

Changing location on Android has always been easy; iPhone users had nothing equivalent. LocationLab filled that gap.

Who it's competing with

I haven't seen an App Store copy of LocationLab yet. A few apps share the same idea:

• WLOC: Location Changer Assistant (listed July) uses network location rather than GPS simulation, mainly serves users in mainland China and Hong Kong, and has only 5 ratings in the US store.
• TinyWalk – Health Test Data (listed Jul 20) was made by another Taiwanese developer. It's packaged the same way, as a "HealthKit test data tool," but in practice it fakes step counts for players. It has 162 ratings in Taiwan, more than LocationLab.

A small group of apps is emerging in Taiwan that are listed under the guise of developer tools but actually serve Pikmin players. The approach has been proven, but the space is far from crowded.

It has also already drawn attention. In Sep 24, a Taiwanese player posted "Reporting Severe GPS Spoofing and Mushroom Disruption in Taiwan" in the official Pikmin Bloom support community, naming seven tools including LocationLab, AutoCool, and iAnyGo. The post also says LINE groups have been set up to teach people to fly and to specifically disrupt mushroom battles. North American players replied below that it's the same there, and in Europe too.

If it were you

Verdict: This is a business that opened up after iOS 27 and grew within a small circle. The product is not hard to copy, and the demand exists among location-game players worldwide. The hard part is that it depends on Apple's and the game companies' tolerance. If it gets delisted one day, or a system update closes the route, the business stops.

Who it suits: indie developers who understand iOS developer mode and the DVT location simulation stack, and who are well connected in a particular game's player community. The best candidates are people active in Pokémon GO, Pikmin, and Monster Hunter Now communities in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, or Southeast Asia. LocationLab already has Japanese and Korean localization, but its promotion has only covered Taiwan.

Who it doesn't suit: people who can't handle being delisted overnight or having users banned and blaming them; people who want a long-term, compliant product they can put on a resume.

How to do it: Write the store listing the way LocationLab does, as a location testing tool for developers and QA, and do the same on the website. Build features around the target game's real play patterns, such as Pokémon GO Fest, raid groups, and community day routes. Pairing without a computer on iOS 27 is both the barrier and the selling point, so it's essential. Copy the pricing: a few free uses a day, a seven-day trial, and a cheap monthly fee.

How to get users: Skip ads and rely entirely on community. Post "You can fly on iPhone too, search XX on the App Store" in players' Facebook groups, LINE and Discord groups, and Threads in the target countries. Time posts around event days and bad weather. Open a LINE or Discord group yourself to act as support, answer every question, and earn five-star reviews.

Timing: The earlier the better. The window opened by iOS 27 won't last. Apple already broke LocationLab's lock-screen route in 27.2 (per the LocationLab website, still "under investigation" as of 11-06). Given iOS's yearly major release cycle, the aim should be to list and recoup before the 2027 WWDC.

Signs you've misread it: ① LocationLab or TinyWalk is removed from the App Store and Apple starts clearing out this category of app; ② an iOS update (27.x or 28) closes the pairing or on-device tunnel; ③ the game company starts mass-banning accounts and the community sentiment shifts from "which one to recommend" to "who got banned for using it"; ④ conversely, if LocationLab's Taiwan rating passes 200 by next spring and it hasn't been delisted, the door is open longer than expected, and it's time to speed up expansion to other countries.