Preventing an iOS app from getting mock locations

Question

Is it possible to make sure that GPS positions an iOS app is getting are real, and they are not fake locations illegitimately provided somehow, for example, by means of another app such as LocationHolic?

Thanks!

Answer 1

You could theoretically do some ip number geo lookup (e.g. How does geographic lookup by IP work?), but that's not entirely reliable (e.g. VPNs), so I'd be hesitant to dispute someone's location on the basis of that. Given that locationholic is for jailbroken devices, perhaps validate location information against ip-derived location info if, and only if, the app is running on jailbroken device. For info re ip number based geo lookup or identifying if a device is jailbroken, I'm expert in neither, but both topics are covered well elsewhere on StackOverflow or can be answered with a google search.

In short, I suspect that locations are reliable on non-jail-broken phones. Regarding "Find My iPad/iPhone" on jail-broken phones, I can't speak to that, but all rules of reliability and security are thrown out of the window on jail-broken devices, so you can't rely on it.