Fast Clock!?

Question

Level 1

133 points

Fast Clock!?

The time setting on my iPad keeps gaining! A while back I noticed that my iPad time was about a minute ahead of my cable box (and other time sources). So I set the iPad. Now in less than a couple of weeks I just noticed that the iPad is over 2 minutes ahead!!! Any idea what's going on? Anybody else notice this? Any thing to do?

Thanks!

Rick

MacBook Pro 2.6Ghz (Penryn) 4GB 17" LED HS HD LCD 7200rpm HD, Mac OS X (10.6.2), iMac 20" 2.4Ghz, iPhone3GS,iPad AppleTV, Video iPod, 1GB Shuffle, Time Capsule

Posted on Jun 14, 2010 9:04 AM

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Answer 1

lllaass

Level 10

210,519 points

Jun 14, 2010 12:02 PM in response to Evangelist

There have been many threads with iPad loosing time but I think yours is the first on gaining time. I myself would not be concerned with two minutes over a couple of weeks.

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Answer 2

Evangelist Author

Level 1

133 points

Jun 14, 2010 2:43 PM in response to lllaass

Thanks for the reply! I didn't know about the iPads losing time but mine definitely has gained 2 minutes but is holding steady for the past week! Strange. Right I am not really concerned, just think it should be able to display the correct time. Apparently there is not a time download function or sync function like a MacBook Pro. Not a big deal, I guess, just a little disappointing! 😉

Blessings, Rick

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Answer 3

Evangelist Author

Level 1

133 points

Jun 14, 2010 4:41 PM in response to lllaass

I don't think the time sync when syncing the iPad to my MacBook Pro, not sure? But I don't sync very often anyway. You must have a different iPad or OS than I do! 😉 under Settings/General/Date and time I don't have a slider at all. Only a button for 24 hr time on/off and then sext the date and time option which brings up a box to set the time. No slider here!

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Answer 4

Evangelist Author

Level 1

133 points

Jun 14, 2010 5:24 PM in response to lllaass

Yeah I have the 64GB WiFi so...guess that's it: you can set it to auto check time via celluar. Still seems strange to me that even the WiFi iPad wouldn't have a setting to automatically sync time when connected! I mean my MacBook Pro does and it's not 3G!!! Come on! May seem trivial (and prob is) but still kinda disappointing given it's Apple! Thanks for you input!

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Answer 5

Nov 14, 2010 2:33 AM in response to Evangelist

Yep - I've noticed gain as well. My MacBook Pro went down, so I haven't been able to sync for a few weeks. I have an iPhone 4, an older iPod Touch and an iPad, and they all show different times. The iPhone seems to be on the money, the iPod's a minute out, and the iPad's 3 minutes fast. Not a big thing in the grand scheme of things, but it's a little irritating.

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Answer 6

Nov 17, 2010 12:58 PM in response to Jacob Sam-La Rose

I've also experienced a fast clock. After a month it is now about ten minutes fast. It's been quite a while since I've synced with my computer, that may be it. Since I usually connect to WiFi, I just assumed it would be like my computer and check with the "apple clock". Guess not.

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Answer 7

Feb 6, 2011 3:04 PM in response to Evangelist

I was having a similar problem with my iPad WiFi+3G, but thought of a recent "Settings" change I had made... which turned out to be the culprit:

I went back into Settings, Cellular Data, and turned Cellular Data back to "On". My clock corrected itself in about 5 seconds... to within 1-second of NNTP.

To be clear: I don't pay for cellular data, and never have. I'm guessing the wifi+3g model gets the correct time from local cell towers passively.

Hope that helps.

Dan

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Answer 8

Philly_Phan

Level 7

20,737 points

Feb 6, 2011 3:41 PM in response to Dan Hofferth

Actually, it gets the time from the GPS satellites. The WiFi-only version has no GPS circuitry and the clock syncs to NOTHING. Adding insult to injury, the internal oscillator is not as accurate as the Timex watch that I bought forty years ago!

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Answer 9

Feb 9, 2011 11:17 AM in response to Philly_Phan

Philly_Phan wrote:
Actually, it gets the time from the GPS satellites. The WiFi-only version has no GPS circuitry and the clock syncs to NOTHING. Adding insult to injury, the internal oscillator is not as accurate as the Timex watch that I bought forty years ago!

Actually, it gets it from the cell towers. GPS is working in 3G models even with cellular turned off, and the correction to the time occurs simultaneously with getting connected to the network.

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Answer 10

Mar 13, 2011 7:30 AM in response to Michael Morgan1

My iPad time was 7 min fast. I checked the settings and it was on manual, so I switched to automatic.

Now it is 10m fast! I switched back to manual, set the correct time, switched to automatic and AGAIN it's 10 minutes fast.

I do not have the cell plan turned on so I assume it is getting the time from GPS. Could it be getting faulty time information?

I will try putting it on auto, then syncing to see if that makes any difference...

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Answer 11

pvonk

Level 6

13,857 points

Mar 13, 2011 7:43 AM in response to Evangelist

As mentioned above, the wifi only iPad doesn't get it's time from any source, you have to manually set it. I have a 3G and have it set to off for now. I just checked it's time using the Emerald Time app and it was 4 sec fast. I then went to Settings and turned on 3G (I currently don't have a plan) for a few seconds then turned it off. Went back to Emerald Time and found the iPad is now 0.5 sec slow. I periodically do this to reset the time.

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Answer 12

gwforeman

Level 2

422 points

Mar 13, 2011 8:03 AM in response to Evangelist

I have a WiFi only iPad 1, and I have never had to set the clock. Maybe it is getting it from my PC when it Sync's, but again, never a change on my part. It also just made the DST jump with no intervention.

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Answer 13

W8wsj

Level 1

4 points

Apr 26, 2011 3:47 AM in response to lllaass

Mine is really fast too. 10 min a month or so. Come on Apple, everything that touches the net has a NTP server setting. Big oversight on your part. Get it fixes for the next release... I expect my next stove to have it...

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Answer 14

Kookies

Level 1

0 points

May 10, 2011 12:00 AM in response to Evangelist

In non-automatic mode mine sits at 2 minutes fast. If I enable automatic time setting it immediately jumps to 10 minutes fast!

After a TV show I watched last week I'm guessing the cause is not a dodgy GPS satellite setting. GPS satellites use an atomic clock and the whole system relies on incredibly accurate timings.

I don't believe it can be related to cell towers either. Whilst I do have a 3G iPad, I don't have a cell service, and I leave it in airplane mode 100% of the time to conserve battery life (yes, you can run wireless with airplane mode on). And if it was a cell tower time setting then I'd expect the same problem on my cell phones.

Does that mean it's finding an Internet time service somewhere that's 10 minutes ahead? I'm not so sure now as I just switched off wireless (so I wasn't connected to anything), switched on automatic time, and it still jumps 10 minutes!

Maybe it has a 'secret' connection method that works when everything else is switched off? That could be fun on an airplane! ;o)

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Answer 15

Jun 12, 2011 1:23 PM in response to Kookies

I've noticed this fast time thing on my iPad Wifi+3G for months. After reading this thread, I turned Cellular Data to ON and the clock corrected itself in about 10 seconds. Apparently not from GPS, but from cell system. If I'm not paying for 3G this month, can I leave this on? Or, should I leave it off and turn it on now and then?

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