When you first set up your Android phone, you probably entered the correct date, time, and time zone. However, over time, your device’s internal clock can get confused and the date and time may stop updating automatically. This is especially likely to happen if you use your device in areas with poor reception or often travel between different time zones. If this happens, you might notice weird things happening in apps like Google Assistant or WhatsApp where the dates of events don’t make sense or see times in the notification bar that are slightly off. Depending on how frequently your device connects to a Wi-Fi network or mobile data, it might not update its date and time for days at a time. To fix these problems, we’ll show you how to set up automatic updates for date and time so that your Android never gets confused again. Let’s dive in!
Why Is My Automatic Date And Time Wrong Android?
1. Set up automatic timezone updates
The first thing you should do is set up automatic updates for your device’s timezone. If you travel a lot, you may have noticed that your phone’s clock was always wrong whenever you came back to a new timezone. To fix this, head to Settings > System > Time & Language > Date & Time and select “Automatic date & time” and “Automatic time zone.” You can also choose to set the date and time manually if you want, but we recommend using automatic updates since they’re much more reliable.
2. Set up automatic data updates
While setting up automatic date updates is similar to setting up automatic time zone updates, there are a few key differences that will help us make sure everything works properly later on. First, head to Settings > System > Date & Time and select “Automatic date & time” and “Automatic week numbers.” Once again, make sure these options are enabled and disable the option for entering manual dates in case you need it later on. Next, scroll down until you find the option for “Set date automatically based on network availability” and enable it by tapping the switch at the top of the screen. This will ensure your device uses an internet connection (such as Wi-Fi or mobile data) to automatically update its internal clock when possible instead of relying on its own hardware clock which might not be as accurate. The last thing you need to do is set up automatic time zone updates. Head back to Settings > System > Time & Language > Date & Time and select “Automatic date & time” and “Automatic time zone.” Then, choose the option for updating your device’s timezone based on network availability instead of manually selecting it every time you travel to a new area.
3. Set up automatic time updates
Now that we have our date and time properly set up, we need to make sure they automatically update whenever they change so that your device doesn’t get confused again in the future. First, head to Settings > System > Date & Time and select “Automatic date & time” and disable the option for entering manual dates in case you need it later on. Next, scroll down until you find the option for “Automatic date & time updates” and enable it by tapping the switch at the top of the screen. This will ensure your device uses an internet connection (such as Wi-Fi or mobile data) to automatically update its internal clock when possible instead of relying on its own hardware clock which might not be as accurate. The last thing you need to do is set up automatic week number updates if you enabled them earlier in step 2 above. Head back to Settings > System > Date & Time and select “Automatic week numbers” from under the “Automatic date & time” menu. Then, choose the option for updating your device’s timezone based on network availability instead of manually selecting it every time you travel to a new area.
4. Use your voice to set an alarm
If you’re not a morning person, this tip is going to save your life! All you need to do is head into the Clock app in Settings and select Alarms > Add Alarm and then tap and hold the “+” button in the top right corner until a list of commands pops up at the bottom of the screen. From here, choose “Set alarm for 7 AM tomorrow.” Once you do that, just tap “Done” and then speak into your device as if you were setting an alarm using Siri or Google Assistant. You can use phrases like “Set an alarm for 7:00 AM tomorrow,” “Wake me up at 7:00 AM tomorrow,” or even just say something like “My alarm is at 7:00 AM tomorrow.” If you have any trouble with this method, check out our video demonstration below for a visual walkthrough of how it works:
5. Set up automatic alarms with IFTTT recipes
If you don’t want to use voice commands but still want automatic alarms that automatically adjust when Daylight Saving Time begins or ends each year, there are several IFTTT recipes that can help. The first one we recommend is called “Automatic Alarm Clock” and it will automatically adjust your alarms on the weekend when Daylight Saving Time begins or ends.
How To Fix Your Android’s Automatic Date And Time?
Set Your Android To Automatically Sync The Date And Time
The first thing you should check is whether your device is automatically updating its date and time. You can check this in your device’s settings. You can also manually change the date and time to see if it corrects any issues you may be experiencing. If you checked and found that your device’s date and time are incorrectly set, there are a few ways you can get it back on track. The easiest way is to set up automatic date and time sync so that your device always stays current.
Change The Automatic Date And Time Sync Frequency
If your device is automatically updating the date and time but you notice a discrepancy between that and other devices you have, you may want to change the frequency of the updates. You can do this in your device’s date and time settings. The date and time settings can be a bit confusing, but the Date and Time section is where you’ll find options to change the frequency of automatic date and time updates. Depending on your device, you may be able to choose between daily, weekly, or monthly updates. Try setting up your device to update every week or two so that it stays more consistent with other devices in your life.
Reset The Android Clock
Depending on the severity of the problem, you may want to completely reset your device’s clock. If you notice that your device’s date and time are way off compared to other devices, or the problem persists after you’ve changed the automatic update settings, you can reset your device’s clock. This process varies from device to device, but you can typically do this by going to your device’s settings, selecting “General” or “Date and Time”, tapping “Automatic” and then “Reset” or “Erase”. This will reset your device’s date and time to the current date and time as set by a government-controlled time source, which is usually accurate within a few milliseconds.
Force An Immediate Date And Time Update
If your device’s date and time are way off or you notice weird behavior in apps, you can force an immediate date and time update by going to “Settings”, “Wi-Fi”, “Advanced” and “Update Time Zone”. Tap “Automatic”, then “OK” to confirm and your device will immediately update its date and time from the Wi-Fi network. This may be a bit drastic, but it’s an easy way to deal with a serious date and time problem if your device’s clock is way off.
Conclusion
If your Android isn’t getting the date and time automatically, it can cause a lot of problems. However, it’s easy to check and fix an Android device’s date and time. You can check whether your Android device is automatically updating the date and time by checking the date and time settings, and you can also manually update it to see if that fixes any problems you may have. If your device’s date and time are off, you can reset the clock to the current date and time, or force an update by connecting to a Wi-Fi network. When it comes to keeping your Android device running smoothly, date and time problems are thankfully one of the easier issues to fix.
