It’s Daylight Saving Time again (ugh) but do you have to do anything?

Best answer: Yes, your phone should change to or from daylight savings time automatically. Unless you have a really old Android phone or if you have previously meddled with the time and date settings, you shouldn’t have to do anything.

What is Daylight Saving Time?

Twice a year, the clocks change (for most of us). We “spring forward” an hour and then “fall back” the hour later in the year, and depending on where we live, that happens on a different day. It’s all sort of convoluted. This inevitably leads to folks wondering what they have to do to their Android phone so things work right after the switch. If this sounds like you, we’ve got good news:

This is the best thing you’ll never have to do for your phone!

Unless you went into your phone’s settings and switched away from the automatic network time (in which case you already know what to do), you won’t have to do a thing. Your Android phone will check the network for the correct date and time and switch itself on its own overnight, changing the system time so that things like calendars and alarms will still be right. The same thing applies when other parts of the world move an hour forward or back on their schedule, or if you travel to those places, and still apply in six months when we change again. More practically, it also lets our phones know the correct local time when we fly or drive to a different time zone.

How to check your Daylight Saving Time settings

If you’re worried about your phone’s ability to automatically switch the time, it’s easy to check to see if your settings are correct.

1. Open up your Settings app.
2. Scroll down and tap on System.

3. Tap on Date & time.

   

4. Tap to toggle on the Use network-provided time setting.

5. Tap to toggle on the Use network-provided time zone setting.

   

As long as these features are turned on, and you have a cellular connection, the network and phone will handle the rest while you sleep. If you experience any problems with your phone settings, we encourage you to follow up with your carrier.