How to set the time zone on Android. Troubleshooting automatic time synchronization in Android

Something as simple as setting the date and time on Android seems like a no-brainer. Indeed, for experienced owners of smartphones or tablets this is a trivial operation. However, for those who are holding a device running this operating system for the first time, setting these parameters may raise questions. Below we will look at how to set the date and time on Android.

Changing the date and time manually

To adjust the time and date manually, you need to enter the device settings. This can be done in two ways:

1. Open the curtain vertically from the status bar and tap on the icon depicting a gear.
2. Enter the application menu by tapping on the icon with the image of six dots located in the dock bar. Find the icon with the image of a gear and short-click on it to open the section “ Settings».

Find the item " Date and time» and briefly tap on it to open this tab. In some gadgets, the settings menu may look different, and time and date settings should be found in the “ Options».

Manual setting of time and date will be available if the checkbox is unchecked. Automatic time detection" or " Network date and time» is in the off position (depending on Android versions).

• To change the date, select “ Date" or " Set date", where we select the date, month and year and confirm by tapping the "Ok" button.
• To change the time, you need to select " Time" or " Setting the time", where we install right time and confirm by tapping the “Ok” button. Here you can set the time format – 12 hour or 24 hour.

Automatic date and time setting

Android can set the time and date to automatic mode. In this mode, information is synchronized from the operator's network. Naturally, a SIM card must be installed in the device. For automatic installation time and date, you need to check the box “ Automatic time detection». Manual installation will become unavailable.

The article will tell you how to set the time on smartphones and iPhones.

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Many users who purchased mobile devices under the control of “ iOS" or " Android", sometimes they encounter a problem related to the date and time being lost. Sometimes the clock gets lost if you remove the battery from the phone to replace the SIM card and insert it back.

In this article we will talk about how to correctly set the clock in gadgets with operating systems “iOS" And " Android».

How to set the time in Android?

Set the time in devices with OS " Android" quite simple:

• Go to the gadget settings, on the “ tab System and device» click on « Additionally».

Why does the time and date get lost on phones, tablets, iPhones, iOS, Android?

• Next, go to “ Date and time»

Why does the time and date get lost on phones, tablets, iPhones, iOS, Android?

• Now you can configure the date and time, as well as some other settings related to the time zone and clock display format.

Why does the time and date get lost on phones, tablets, iPhones, iOS, Android?

Set time in " Android"It is possible in other ways, for example, using the program " Watch»:

• Go to the program " Watch»

Why does the time and date get lost on phones, tablets, iPhones, iOS, Android?

• Next, go to the parameters (three vertical dots)

Why does the time and date get lost on phones, tablets, iPhones, iOS, Android?

• Then adjust the time and date according to your time zone

Why does the time and date get lost on phones, tablets, iPhones, iOS, Android?

For what reason does the time and date get lost in phones and tablets running Android?

Time and date in gadgets with OS " Android» may not synchronize correctly, leading to settings failure. To resolve this issue, you need to reset your date, time, and time zone settings:

Why does the time and date get lost on phones, tablets, iPhones, iOS, Android?

Simply disable these options and re-enable them.

How to set the time in iOS?

Now let's look at how to set the time on iPhones running " iOS»:

• In your iPhone settings, go to " Basic»

Why does the time and date get lost on phones, tablets, iPhones, iOS, Android?

• Then go to " Date and time»

Why does the time and date get lost on phones, tablets, iPhones, iOS, Android?

• You will see the following picture

Why does the time and date get lost on phones, tablets, iPhones, iOS, Android?

• Here you can set the time format ( mechanical watch, electronic watch). By default, a mechanical watch is set here, that is, when the dial displays twelve divisions. But not everyone likes this option; many people find it more convenient to use a watch that displays all 24 hours in a day. In the screenshot above, this is exactly the format included.
• Disable the option " Automatically" You need to turn it on when you want to configure the gadget to automatic detection dates and times according to time zone. This requires the Internet. But below we will give a number of reasons why this option should be disabled.
• Next, you will need to set the time zone to which your place of residence belongs. First, click on the appropriate option.

Why does the time and date get lost on phones, tablets, iPhones, iOS, Android?

• Then enter your country at the top in the search bar, followed by the city. The screenshot below shows an example of setting Moscow time on the gadget.

Why does the time and date get lost on phones, tablets, iPhones, iOS, Android?

• Now you can set the date. Click on the item shown in the screenshot and set the desired values. Here you can see the day of the week, date and time.

Why does the time and date get lost on phones, tablets, iPhones, iOS, Android?

Above we talked about why you should disable the “ Automatically" This must be done for the following reasons:

• Firstly, in in this case The time is taken from the Internet and corresponds to the time zone of a particular country. The fact is that many countries can move their clocks forward or back an hour when there is a transition, for example, from winter time to summer time and back. For this reason, the time on your gadget may be confused and rush/lag by one hour.
• Secondly, the time may be lost, for example, if you are on a tourist trip. On the road, you can be transferred from one time zone to another, which confuses the gadget.
• Thirdly, your gadget will consume a little more battery resources

For what reason does the date get lost on iPhones and gadgets running iOS?

Sometimes it happens that the user’s gadget is set to a completely different year from the year in which he lives:

Why does the time and date get lost on phones, tablets, iPhones, iOS, Android?

This is due to the fact that the iPhone settings are set to a completely different calendar than the one used in your country. The standard calendar for most countries is Gregorian. But your phone may have some Arabic installed. To fix everything, go to the main settings and click on “ Language and text»:

Why does the time and date get lost on phones, tablets, iPhones, iOS, Android?

Why does the time and date get lost on phones, tablets, iPhones, iOS, Android?

Video: How to set the date and time on your smartphone?

Problems with time and time zones in Android and ways to solve them

• System administration

• Tutorial

Let's say you've been using Android for a long time, and therefore it may seem that it copes perfectly with time synchronization tasks - alarms go off on time, there are no obvious time deviations, etc. However, are you completely sure where Android comes from? actually receives data about the exact time and time zones? If you have any doubts about how this works, welcome to cat.

Android has two problems with time: its unpredictable synchronization and the need to update time zone data even in the latest version of the OS.

Background: Android is a mobile OS based on Linux kernel, it easily connects to the Internet and, of course, one can assume that time synchronization is carried out using NTP, however, this is not the case. Historically, Android was intended to be used exclusively in mobile phones(remember version 1.6). At the same time, only by the 3rd major version did it acquire an interface for tablets and other progress began towards unifying the interface and OS hardware. However, even versions 4.4 and Android L receive time signals using the same methods that the Nokia 3310 and other earlier GSM/3GPP phones received them, i.e. from towers cellular communication when registering on the network (when connecting to a tower). At the same time, tablets or other devices without a communication module, in principle, do not have the ability to synchronize time automatically.

Unfortunately, to teach Android to synchronize time completely automatically using NTP we need root access because there is currently no API for accurately setting the time in Android.

Let's get started. The first thing you need to do is turn off time synchronization with mobile network. At the same time, I recommend leaving the time zone setting in automatic mode, and turning it off only if there is a guarantee that the device will operate in stationary mode.

Screenshot of the settings window “Settings -> Date and time” of Android 4.x version:

Next, you need to install the ClockSync application, which will act as an alternative to the time synchronization daemon using NTP.

Screenshots of the ClockSync program window before synchronization (left) and after (right):

The screenshots show that the difference with exact time turned out to be quite small, however, there are different situations, for some the time on the device can even float back and forth because the operator did not bother to put things in order on his BS.

After making sure that everything works, we’ll set up automatic synchronization in the ClockSync program. To improve accuracy, I recommend enabling the “High Accuracy Mode” and “Only via WI-FI” options. If everything is clear with the first option from the description in the program (see screenshot below), then I recommend enabling the second option first of all, not for reasons of economy mobile traffic, but due to the fact that mobile internet is not able to guarantee any stable delays.

A little more about accuracy:

The still widespread mobile Internet of the 2nd (GPRS/EDGE) is, in principle, unable to provide stable transmission delays. Even the Internet of the 3rd (3G) and, to some extent, 4th (LTE/LTE-advanced) generations, when the network or communication channels between BS are heavily loaded, which is a typical situation for large populated areas, cannot guarantee stable delays. Therefore, even with approximation, the final accuracy of time setting can be worse than a fraction of a second and can even easily reach several seconds.

Screenshot of automatic synchronization settings in ClockSync:

In connection with large-scale changes in time zones in the Russian Federation in the fall of this year, it is necessary to think now about updating information about them on all devices, and if there are no problems with supported desktop OSes, then in Android even the most latest version The OS contains outdated data. To make sure of this, install TimeZone Fixer and observe an unsightly picture.

A screenshot of the TimeZone Fixer program running on Android 4.4.4 (Cyanogenmod firmware dated August 4, 2014), which clearly shows that the data in the firmware is out of date:

A little bit of common sense and concern for users:

The author of the TimeZone Fixer program warns us that updating time zone data files can completely “break” the device and even gives recommendations on how to protect yourself from additional problems, although cases of problems are isolated and very specific - this is true good care about ordinary users.

That’s the only reason I included this piece in the article; although it is not directly related to the problem, it is really good example care about users. At the same time, the warning about versions 4.3+ is caused by only a small number of reviews about the program for devices with new OS versions, so please be sure to write a review about this application after use.

I will be happy to answer any questions or make additions that the community deems necessary, however, I would like to avoid overloading the article additional information, in order to adhere to the format of a compact guide to solving a specific problem.

UPD: This instruction completely solves the problem of time zones only for versions younger than 4.4. From version 4.4, additional patching is needed, while the issue is at the stage of exploring the possibilities for creating a user-friendly solution.

There are several reasons for this “temporal anomaly” to appear in the tablet. And believe me, if the time is lost, it’s unlikely that the tablet has forgotten how to count.

List of main reasons why this happens and solutions

1. You turn off the tablet at night, for example, to save battery. A very common reason, and the only way to get the time to work correctly is to stop turning off the tablet without a good reason. This is not a laptop or a TV.
2. If your tablet is equipped with a 3G module and a SIM card is inserted into it, remember where you bought the SIM card. Perhaps you bought a card in another region, where there is a different time zone. And if you have a checkmark in your settings “Network date and time”, this means that the tablet is set to the time specified by the operator settings in the region where the SIM card was purchased. The solution is to uncheck this box and set the time manually.

1. “Bad” firmware. If you have dabbled with flashing your tablet, it is quite possible that the firmware you installed contains some kind of bug. Solution - flash with official software.
2. The problem may be the device itself. They say that Chinese tablets swirling over time is quite common. The ClockSync application will help in the fight against this disease (requires ROOT rights for work). This program will allow you to set up automatic time synchronization via the Internet, the main thing is in the date and time settings, uncheck the “Network time zone” item, and set the correct time zone that corresponds to your region.