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The GPS Glitch Made A Runner Appear To Have Run Across Africa
It feels like Dubai is usually right on track… until your phone suddenly decides it wants to take the scenic route… across continents.
Commuting, running errands, or finding a café? Navigation apps are meant to help, but recently, they’ve been a bit unpredictable.
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From the UAE to Africa in one run
One runner shared a screenshot on Reddit showing a run stretching all the way from the UAE to the far side of Africa. “I ran the whole length of Africa yesterday. The new GPS features are amazing!” the runner joked. Social media immediately caught on. People ran with the sarcasm, replying things like, “Tell us more about the experience running through different countries,” “How the Atlantic?… Cold like my ex,” and “Now make a post about it on LinkedIn, please make sure to highlight how it changed your life.”
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GPS glitches everywhere
Across Dubai and the UAE, GPS disruptions have been causing locations to jump to completely random spots. Sometimes in the middle of the sea, at airports, or hundreds of kilometres away. Drivers are finding routes rerouting in circles, trips taking much longer than expected, and general confusion everywhere. Screenshots, videos, and complaints have flooded social media in the past couple of days.
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What’s really happening?
While authorities haven’t confirmed anything, many suspect the glitches are caused by GPS jamming and spoofing tied to the ongoing regional situation involving the Iran crisis. In short: electronic warfare.
- Jamming blocks satellite signals.
- Spoofing sends fake signals to mislead devices.
Both are usually defensive measures (drones, missiles, or other threats) but civilian apps like Google Maps, Waze, ride-hailing, and delivery apps rely on the same signals. The result? Erratic GPS readings that are completely out of your control. It’s not your phone, and it’s not the apps, it’s just the signal getting… confused.
When technology gets a sense of humour
The silver lining? The internet is having a field day. From runners “crossing continents” to people joking about being teleported to the middle of the sea, the GPS glitches have sparked plenty of laughs. Sometimes, you just have to roll with it, hit the road, and let your location take you on an unexpected adventure.
Stay safe everyone!
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