Why doe Apple Calendar have TWO "Eastern Time" Zones?

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37 points

Why doe Apple Calendar have TWO "Eastern Time" Zones?

I travel all the time. I've enjoyed the way Apple Calendar adapts to my location to show me events in the time zone I'm in.

What I don't understand is why there are TWO time zones for "Eastern Time".

"Eastern Time (America/New_York)"

"Eastern Time (America/Indiana/Indianapolis)"

What is the point of having two? It's a bit irritating, as I now get the time zone reference (such as "EST") when I travel away from New York... say, in Florida. Florida and New York are in the same time zone, but calendar now displays the "EST" at the end of my times to indicate I'm no longer in the same time zone of when the event was created. So, I need to go into those events and change from the New York "Eastern Time" to the Indiana/Indianapolis "Eastern Time" in order for that "EST" to go away. I point this out, not because It's a huge pain -- but just to show that Apple Calendar absolutely sees these as two different time zones.

What gives? What is the purpose? I can't find anything online about it.

Posted on Feb 26, 2023 6:57 AM

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Answer 1

sibeliusDLG Author

Level 1

37 points

Feb 26, 2023 8:52 AM in response to muguy

Indiana enacted the statute, officially placing northwest and southwest Indiana in the Central Time Zone, in observance of daylight saving time, and the rest of the state in the Eastern Standard Time throughout the year.

So... parts of Indiana recognize daylight savings; other parts do not. The 18 counties in Indiana that are not respecting the Daylight Saving switch are:

Northwest Indiana: Jasper, Lake, LaPorte, Newton, Porter, Pulaski, and Starke

Southwest Indiana: Daviess, Dubois, Gibson, Knox, Martin, Perry, Pike, Posey, Spencer, Vanderburgh, and Warrick

But Indianapolis isn't in any of those counties, and still operates on the Daylight Savings schedule and has the same time as New York city -- Eastern Time.

So, while the reminder that parts of the state do not respect the Daylight Saving change (I wish that were the case for us all), my original question is still unanswered. Unless Apple is simply using this option in anticipation of the entire state of Indiana switching?

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