Acceptable use

Last updated 30 August 2026

Elsewhere changes the location your own iPhone reports. Location data ends up in places that matter to other people, so this page is specific about where the product stops. It is part of the licence agreement, not a statement of preferences.

What it is for

• Testing location-aware software without driving anywhere. This is what the underlying Apple channel was built for, and it is the use the product is designed around.
• Keeping your address to yourself. Deciding that an app, or a person you share your location with, does not get your real position is a legitimate choice about your own data.
• Services whose terms permit it, and games you are entitled to play that way.

What it is not for

None of the following is made acceptable by the licence, and all of it is grounds for termination without refund:

• Deceiving people who depend on your location. Family safety sharing, custody arrangements, care arrangements, lone-worker check-ins.
• Defeating court-ordered or employer-mandated monitoring.
• Fraud. Falsifying a delivery, a fare, a timesheet, an attendance record, an insurance claim, or a geofenced entitlement. In many places this is a crime, and it is not made otherwise by the fact that a tool made it easy.
• Beating age, licensing or sanctions geofences — gambling, financial services, regional legal restrictions.
• Stalking, tracking or deceiving another person.
• Any device that is not yours, or that you do not have the owner's clear permission to use.

Setup requires physical access to the phone, unlocking it, and tapping Trust. That is a deliberate floor, not an obstacle to route around: Elsewhere cannot be pointed at a device you do not have in your hand.

Terms of service are between you and them

Most apps you might point this at forbid location falsification in their own terms. That is a matter between you and them, and being banned is a normal outcome. We do not indemnify it and we cannot appeal it for you.

What it cannot hide

Worth knowing before relying on it for anything:

• iOS marks a simulated fix with a flag (CLLocation.sourceInformation.isSimulatedBySoftware) that any app is free to read. Every tool in this category is in the same position. Most apps never look.
• CoreMotion keeps reporting a phone that is sitting still while the map says you are driving.
• The Wi-Fi and cell environment stays wherever the phone really is.
• Your IP address and time zone are not touched by any location tool, and are yours to handle.

An app that cares will notice. The free tier exists so you can find that out without paying.

Reporting misuse

If you believe Elsewhere is being used against you, write to hello@itselsewhere.app. We can terminate a licence, and we will respond to lawful requests from law enforcement. We cannot locate a device or tell you where someone really is: the app runs entirely on the customer's own Mac and we hold no location data of any kind.