How To Change, Fake or Spoof your Location for YouTube TV

Posted by Jamie on November 16, 2019

YouTube TV is a relatively new streaming service from Google, but it isn’t the first time they started a streaming service. YouTube Kids and YouTube Red are available in multiple US cities, but YouTube TV  is currently only available in certain areas. Right now, it covers most larger US cities, but not all of them and not the rest of the country. If you’re outside these areas or the US, you’re out of luck. Or are you? This tutorial is going to show you how to fake your location for YouTube TV.

YouTube TV is another option for cable cutters and a competitor for Netflix, Hulu, DirecTV, Sling TV, and other streaming services. It costs $40 a month right now and offers six concurrent streams, live TV, cloud DVR with unlimited storage, and dozens of popular channels. Those channels include ABC, Fox, NBC, BBC America, AMC, CNN, ESPN, FX, MSNBC, SyFy, and much more. You also get regional programming specific to your home region.

As a streaming service, it seems very competitive. Sure it’s expensive, but it is on par with DirecTV and those other aggregator services and offers more than most other streaming sites. Its real edge is its integration into your existing Google accounts and the unlimited DVR space. Other services charge extra for DVR and have space limitations. Some services limit you to 50 hours of DVR time, but YouTube TV does not.

How do I Trick YouTube TV Location?

Overcoming Geoblocking

Even though the service under discussion is different, the methods we use to circumvent geoblocking are not. We use a VPN, or we use a browser add-on that helps you spoof your location.

At the minute, at least, YouTube TV doesn’t seem that intelligent about how it geofences its services. As far as I can tell, it uses your device IP address to locate you and goes from there. I asked a friend in a non-YouTube TV area to take up the trial, and he was able to get it working with a Chrome extension and with a VPN.

Use a VPN to Fake your Location for YouTube TV

If you’re a regular TechJunkie reader, you will already know that we advocate using a VPN all the time. Not only does it help you circumvent geoblocking, but it also helps preserve privacy and enhances personal and data security while you’re online. Using one in this instance means you should be able to access YouTube TV from anywhere.

There is no guarantee that these services are going to work at all times. Websites are always looking to secure their advantage, so pick a VPN that continually updates their service like Express VPN.

At the time of writing, YouTube TV is only available in many larger cities in the US. That shouldn’t stop you, and as long as you use a good quality VPN provider with a server in one of these US cities, you’re golden.

Your priorities when looking for a VPN service, is one that:

  1. It does not keep any logs.
  2. A VPN provider that responds to services who do geoblock.
  3. A VPN provider with an endpoint server in a city that YouTube TV is available.

Logging refers to connection logs that can link your incoming VPN-secured IP address to exit addresses. This is a link between the encrypted part of the VPN service and the unencrypted part. It can directly link you to whatever you do online, so always choose a ‘no log’ VPN provider.

A provider that responds to services who geoblock means when Netflix or YouTube TV blacklists server IP addresses, they move quickly to change the IP address range to work around it. The provider usually publishes changes or discusses it on their website, so you know.

To enable you to fake your location for YouTube TV, you need a VPN provider with an endpoint server in a city where YouTube TV works. The primary YouTube TV page has a zip code checker. Find endpoint cities from your VPN provider, search for a ZIP code in that city from an online directory or business and enter it into that page. If YouTube TV is available in that city, the provider is potentially a viable one.

It’s better to do this online than with an extension, or with a DVR like Amazon Fire TV. Although these services have the capability to download the apps onto the system, it’s difficult to block your location from them. Try geoblocking with your web browser.

Use a Browser Extension to Fake your Location for YouTube TV

As well as a VPN, you can also use a browser extension to fake your location. I had the Manual Geolocation extension for Chrome tested, and it seemed to work fine. It is an extension that allows you to manually set your area and allows Chrome to broadcast that location instead of your real one.

There are other browser extensions available, but this is the one I tested. There are extensions for other internet browsers. For Firefox, we recommend Location Guard.

Even with a VPN or browser extension faking your location for YouTube TV, there is no guarantee it will work. Streaming services work hard to block this kind of activity and are always moving the goalposts to try to stop you from watching media you shouldn’t. It’s an eternal game of cat and mouse, but for once, with VPNs, the advantage is ours.

How do I Spoof my iPhone/Android Location?

If you decide to spoof your location from your phone instead of a browser, some apps can spoof your GPS. Our recommendations are iTools for the iPhone and Fake GPS for your Android. As we said, these apps may not always work, but, both of these apps frequently update to improve their geoblocking service.

When in doubt, you can download a VPN to change your location. Using a VPN is more secure, and companies will be less likely to access your data. We mentioned ExpressVPN because it’s one of the best of these services. They are continually updating to make sure they can access multiple region-blocked websites and streaming services.

4 thoughts on “How To Change, Fake or Spoof your Location for YouTube TV”

CH says:
Using YTTV I have been splitting an account with someone who lives in another part of the country. Since the account originated from there, I have been able to receive their local stations without problem. No VPN being used at all. I got the idea from another person who is able to do it as well, but they said it was only when they used YTTV on their home TV. When they use it on mobile it shows actual local content. I’m not sure why this is happening but it’s been very useful for keeping up my favorite NFL team.
johnny says:
This give me a great idea. I’m trying to watch an out-of-market NFL game on CBS. Using this theory, I can sign up for YTTV while using a VPN to spoof my location to a place where the game is available. With my home location set, I should then be able to stream the game to my smart TV without using a VPN. I think it’s worth a shot. On a side note, why in this day and age is it so freaking difficult to see the NFL game of your choice?
Jigga what says:
Youtubetv detects vpn use, you can watch the national stations, but not local ones, as the app demands you to use your devices gps location
Ross says:
It looks like the advantage is lost. I am able to access youtube TV with some difficulty with a VPN, but in order to record a show it keeps asking me to show my actual location. I can’t figure out a way around it. Not able to record anything.
BJ says:
I live in Calhoun GA, my YouTube TV is giving me local programming from Atlanta, I want Chattanooga instead
What are my options?
Bob Peirce says:
You can use the previously mentioned extension for Chrome. My YTTV is screwed up. It thinks I live in Harrisonburg, VA, but I live in the Pittsburgh, PA area. I was able to set a fixed location in Chrome and it worked fine. Unfortunately, I also use YTTV on a Firestick and I’m out of luck there.

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