Why does Windows say the publisher of GPSLarp is unverified?

Because this build carries no Authenticode code signature, so Windows has no publisher to check it against. The warning is not a virus finding and does not mean Windows detected anything in the file; it means Windows has nothing to check.

Has the Windows version of GPSLarp been tested?

Not on real hardware. Nobody in this project has run GPSLarp on a Windows machine with an iPhone attached. The release pipeline builds it and checks that the program starts, loads the device library and can reach the sign-in server, and none of those checks involves a phone. The Mac build is the one that has been used.

Which versions of Windows does GPSLarp run on?

Windows 10 or Windows 11, 64-bit. There is one Windows build and it is x64; Windows on Arm is not covered by it.

How do I uninstall GPSLarp on Windows?

Settings, then Apps, then Installed apps: find GPSLarp and choose Uninstall. Nothing privileged is installed alongside it, so that is the whole removal. Removing the app does not close your account or cancel anything; that is done from your account on gpslarp.com.

GPSLarpHelp

Installing GPSLarp on Windows

You downloaded the Windows installer and Windows warned you about it. Or it finished and you cannot find what it installed.

The download is a single 64-bit installer. Windows will say the publisher is unverified, because this build carries no Windows code signature — that warning is expected here, and it is the one thing on this page you should read before running anything.

01What you downloaded

One .exe, around 80 MB. It is that size because it bundles the iPhone-connection tooling GPSLarp drives, rather than asking you to install anything separately — there is no Python to install, no drivers to find, and nothing to download afterwards.

It is built from the same source and in the same release as the Mac version, by the same pipeline, on the same tag. There is one Windows build and it is x64: a 64-bit Intel or AMD PC running Windows 10 or Windows 11. Windows on Arm is not covered by it.

02Why Windows says the publisher is unverified

Because it is. This build carries no Authenticode signature, so Windows has no publisher to check it against and says so. That is Windows working correctly, not a fault in the download.

What this means, said plainly

A code signature is how Windows tells you that a file came from a particular company and has not been altered since. Without one, Windows can tell you neither of those things about this file, and the warning it shows is the honest summary of that.

It is also worth knowing what the warning is not about: it is not a virus finding, and it does not mean Windows detected anything in the file. It means Windows has nothing to check.

This page does not walk you through dismissing the warning. If you are not comfortable running an unsigned installer, the right decision is not to — and the Mac build is the one that has actually been used.

03What has not been verified

Nobody in this project has run GPSLarp on Windows. Not on a borrowed machine, not in a virtual machine, not with an iPhone attached. The Windows support is written against the documented interfaces — Windows' own elevation prompt, Windows' own credential store, and the same device library the Mac version uses — and the release pipeline builds it and checks that the built program starts, loads that device library, and can reach the sign-in server. Every one of those checks passed. None of them involves a phone.

So: the installer is real, the download is current, and the program starts. What happens when you connect an iPhone to it is not something this page can tell you, because nobody here has done it. That is a statement about this project, not a hint about the software — and it is the reason this page states it rather than leaving you to infer it from silence.

If you want the version with a history behind it, that is the Mac one.

04Where it goes, and how to remove it

The installer puts GPSLarp in your user profile's application folder and adds a Start menu entry. To open it afterwards: press the Windows key, type GPSLarp, press Enter.

To remove it: Settings › Apps › Installed apps, find GPSLarp, and choose Uninstall. Nothing privileged is installed alongside it — no service, no driver, no startup entry — so that is the whole removal.

Removing the app does not close your account or cancel anything. That is done from your account on this site.

05The administrator prompt

GPSLarp asks Windows to raise an elevation prompt once, to start the connection to your iPhone. It is Windows' own consent dialog: on an administrator account you approve it with a click, and on a standard account Windows asks for an administrator's password. GPSLarp never sees what you type into it — the prompt belongs to Windows, and all GPSLarp receives is whether you approved.

It is asked once per session rather than once forever, and the reason is the same one that applies on the Mac: nothing is installed that would keep running with elevated privileges after you close the app. See what that prompt is, which describes the same decision on the other platform.

06If that did not work

The download fails or the file is tiny. The installer is around 80 MB. A file much smaller than that is a failed download rather than a lightweight build.

Windows says the app can't run on this PC. That is a 32-bit or an Arm machine. There is one build and it is x64.

The app opens and shows a sign-in screen you cannot get past. That is a different problem with its own page: sign-in trouble. The sign-in screen covers the whole window, so it is easy to read as a broken install.

Your iPhone does not appear. The conditions are the same on both platforms and they are written out under connecting an iPhone — with the caveat from section 03 attached to every one of them here.