ClockSync

Tue, 25 May 2010 18:10:25 +0000

☆ ROOT is REQUIRED for automatic synchronization ☆

ClockSync synchronizes device system clock with atomic time from Internet via NTP (Network Time Protocol).
Useful if provider doesn't support NITZ, sends incorrect time or if your device/ROM has heavy clock drift.

There are 2 modes: automatic for root users and assisted manual mode for users without root (rootless mode).

Rootless mode features:
- automatic atomic time retrieval with configurable interval
- notification when offset exceeds user set threshold
- assisted manual synchronization with the hint what time/date to set
- precision between 1 and 30 seconds (because Android doesn't allow to set seconds)
- 1 second precision if your device resets seconds on Set (most Samsung and some HTC devices)
- Greenwich Time Signal assisted sync if device resets seconds

Root mode features:
- automatic sync with configurable interval
- accuracy is ~1-20ms depending on your connection and NTP server
- statistics (average drift per day, total time corrected)

Root is required because of Android security restrictions, vote for http://bit.ly/set_time_without_root if you want it to work without root, however Google has declined to fix it with the following comment:
"Hi, it is by design that applications can not change the time. There are many subtle aspects of security that can rely on the current time, such as certificate expiration, license management, etc. We do not want to allow third party applications to globally disrupt the system in this way." © some Google employee

Other features:
- customizable NTP/SNTP server and timeout
- displays current date or time since last sync
- NTP server details dialog
- 3 color schemes (dark, light, default)
- 12-hour or 24-hour clock format
- time zone detection and adjustment based on geo location
- system time zone override with custom offset
- time zone management based on latest Olson tz database (zoneinfo)
- optional haptic feedback and sync notification
- clean and easy to use interface (tap screen values or use menu)

Don't have root? See http://bit.ly/phoneroot for the detailed instructions.

Don't want or can't root your device? You can still use ClockSync as your precise time source to adjust your watch or other clocks, or to verify how accurate your cell time is, or set time manually in rootless mode.

Move to SD is disabled because automatic synchronization (timers) will not work when app is moved, also app size is very small and since not all files are moved to SD in any case, it would not save you more than 50Kb.

If you get wrong time after synchronization, your phone time zone data is out of date, use http://bit.ly/tzupdate to fix it.

Issues, questions or suggestions? Please e-mail me, developers have no way to respond to Market comments.
I reply to every e-mail within one day maximum (usually instantly).

See http://bit.ly/clocksync for more information.
Google+ page: http://bit.ly/clocksync-plus

Permissions explained for paranoid users:
- RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED: used only for "Sync on boot" option
- VIBRATE: optional haptic feedback on tap and sync
- INTERNET: to get time from NTP servers, to get time zone from web services
- WAKE_LOCK: to perform background synchronization without being killed in the middle by the OS
- ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE: to sync only when network is available
- ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION: to get best location for time zone from location feature when GPS is on
- ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION: if GPS is off, network location is used
- SET_TIME_ZONE: to automatically set time zone depending on location or for manual override
- SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW: new permission since 1.1.5, used for transparent overlay in rootless mode to show countdown updated every second

Recent changes:
- AskGeo demanded to stop using their service. I've added Yahoo! PlaceFinder instead, but it doesn't provide zone offset. In case you were using offset from the web service, you need to verify that your system time zone has the same offset or enable "Use database offset" option, otherwise you may get incorrect time. I'm very sorry for this change, but I can't pay $2000 for their library and host it on my servers (check http://bit.ly/clocksync-plus for details)

TimeZoneDB for ClockSync

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 19:17:04 +0000

Time zone database for ClockSync.

This application is only usable from ClockSync 1.1.6 and later, it has no launcher icon or any user interface. Don't install unless instructed to do so by ClockSync.

Based on Joda Time 2.0 library and Olson tz database this app provides up to date information on time zones, offsets and daylight time saving transition rules to ClockSync. It works as a service started on demand and queried by ClockSync.

Most Android devices have outdated 2010k version of this data used by the system. In some countries time zone offsets and daylight saving time to standard time transition rules have changed recently, it means that your phone may show incorrect time or switch to incorrect offset making you late for some important event. Russia, Belorussia and some other countries are suffering from the outdated zoneinfo on Android phones. This database is intended to solve the problem.

Since not all ClockSync users can benefit from it and because the size of the data is more than 2x times the size of ClockSync itself, I made it a separate application, keeping ClockSync distribution size small and making it possible to install the database on demand and to the SD card.

To use this database you need to enable "Offline database" option in ClockSync time zone settings and select your time zone from the suggested list of ~400 canonical time zone identifiers. When this option is enabled, ClockSync will set time zone according to the rules from the database instead of your system, it also includes transitions from daylight saving time to standard time and back if applicable for the selected time zone.

I plan to keep this database updated and synchronized with the upcoming Olson tz database releases, so that you can be sure that your device is always using up to date time zones.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please don't hesitate to contact me by e-mail.

NOTE: may take 10-15 seconds till ClockSync recognizes that the database is installed.

Recent changes:
- tzdata2013c

Changes affecting current and future time stamps:

Palestine observed DST starting March 29, 2013. (Thanks to
Steffen Thorsen.) From 2013 on, Gaza and Hebron both observe DST,
with the predicted rules being the last Thursday in March at 24:00
to the first Friday on or after September 21 at 01:00.

Assume that the recent change to Paraguay's DST rules is permanent,
by moving the end of DST to the 4th Sunday in March every year.
(Thanks to Carlos Raúl Perasso.)

Android apps by Sergey Baranov

ClockSync

TimeZoneDB for ClockSync