TIME ZONE SUPPORT SETTINGS?! What the what?

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Level 1

74 points

TIME ZONE SUPPORT SETTINGS?! What the what?

i am totally perplexed by the various documentation on time zone support and i would /simply/ like to walk through an example where i want to be able to enter a flight /out/ of Austin at 10:00 AM tomorrow (CST) and to enter a flight /back/ from Boston at 10:00 PM on Sunday (EST).

does anyone know if i can do this by SIMPLY entering 10:00 AM for tomorrow and 10:00 PM for sunday on the ACTUAL DAYS at the ACTUAL TIMES while i am sitting here on my laptop so that there won't be some muckabout when i expect to get an alert from my iPhone a HALF HOUR IN ADVANCE of my flight out of Boston?

are there settings that i need to check in iCloud to get this to happen? in iCal preferences on my MacBookPro? in iCal preferences on my Mac Pro? do i do one, two or all three? OTOH (i mean does this work differently on my laptop than on my iPhone or can it work the same if i check the right settings??!!). i mean, if i open my laptop while i am on the road do i have to change something to get things to read correctly or is there a way to get it to work correctly - like show me the actual times of the outgoing flight at the correct time and giving me a half hour advance alert at the actual Eastern Standard Time while i am in Boston! - without adjusting anything?

here is the documentation that seems to pertain but i am not following this and the last time i did it it got all screwed up with unhappy consequences.

TIA

iCloud: Change your calendar’s time zone

The default time zone for your calendars (and their events) is the time zone you set when you set up your iCloud account. However, by turning on time zone support, you can create events and view calendars in time zones other than your default time zone. If you’re in the Pacific time zone (Pacific daylight time), but you wish to create or view events for the eastern time zone (eastern standard time), time zone support lets you do so.

If time zone support is on, your calendar doesn’t update if you move between time zones. For example, if you have a meeting at 10 a.m. Pacific time in California, and you fly to New York, that meeting still appears at 10 a.m. in iCloud Calendar.

If time zone support is off, your calendar moves as you move; that is, the time zone settings update as you change time zones. For example, if you have a meeting at 10 a.m. Pacific time in California and fly to New York, your calendar items are shown in local (eastern) time. So your meeting at 10 a.m. Pacific time shows up at 1 p.m. eastern time.

Note: If you turned on iCloud Calendar on your devices, changes you make to the time zone for an event appear on every device. However, time zone support needs to be turned on individually for each device. Therefore, if your computer and iPhone, for example, don’t have the same time zone support setting, the events may show up at different times on these devices.

Use a time zone other than the default time zone

In iCloud Calendar, choose Preferences from the Action pop-up menu at the top of the window.
Click Advanced, select the “Enable time zone support” checkbox, then click Save.

With time zone support on, a “time zone” pop-up menu appears when you create an event, letting you set any time zone you want.

You can also reset the default time zone for your calendars (and their events) at any time.

Change an event’s time zone

You can change any event’s time zone. For example, if you’re traveling to another time zone for an event, you could change its time zone in Calendar.

In Calendar, choose Calendar > Preferences, click Advanced, and then select the “Turn on time zone support” checkbox.
Double-click the event and click Edit.
Choose a time zone from the Time Zone pop-up menu.
To pick a location that isn’t listed, choose Other. Click the time zone’s approximate location on the map, and then choose a city from the pop-up menu.

The time zone you set for an event affects where it appears on the calendar. For example, if you create an event at noon and set its time zone to France Time, but you have the Calendar time zone (in the top-right corner of the Calendar window) set to Pacific Time, the event appears 9 hours before noon. When you change the Calendar time zone to France Time, the event then appears at noon.

View all your events in a different time zone

By default, Calendar events are displayed in your computer’s current time zone (set in Date & Time preferences). However, you can choose to view all your events in a different time zone. For example, you might want to change the Calendar time zone if you’re traveling to a different time zone and want to see your events shifted to the new time.

Open Calendar

In Calendar, choose Calendar > Preferences, and then click Advanced.
Select “Turn on time zone support.”
A time zone pop-up menu appears in the top-right corner of Calendar.
Choose a time zone from the time zone pop-up menu.
If you don’t see the time zone you want, choose Other, and then click the map near the location. Choose the city nearest you from the pop-up menu below the map.

All events in Calendar are moved to the correct dates and times for the time zone. To see all your events shifted back to their original dates and times, choose the original time zone from the pop-up menu.

If you create any new events, the events take the time zone you set in Calendar. If you switch the time zone back to the time zone on your Mac, the events created in the shifted time zone retain the shifted time zone setting.

iPhone 4, iOS 6

Posted on Dec 13, 2012 8:44 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

jeannedes

Level 1

13 points

Jan 15, 2013 11:52 AM in response to hotwheels22

Yeah, this doesn't work very well in Calendar. For flights, I add info to the event title:

"UA486, lv SFO 3:50pm ar IAD 11:59pm".

It only took once for me to learn. Very tense from the moment of realization through panic packing, taxiing and (politely, of course) pushing my way to the front of security to actually making that plane.

Outlook has the time zone management down, though there was a learning curve for the programmers there, too. I love my 6-month old MBA, but this is one non-supportive piece of code. I should have a sign on my MBA that my other computer is Windows. Will figure this out after adding a Windows platform to my well-equipped MBA.

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Answer 2

hotwheels22 Author

Level 1

74 points

Jan 15, 2013 12:35 PM in response to jeannedes

hi j.

yeah, i do this too but if i am trained to get alerted to important events it is a major pain not to be able to rely on it when i am traveling. this is specifically when it would come in most useful.

it seems to me like there are about 4 or 5 different variables described in the technical documentation so this is 4 or 5 factorial which is going to be a lot to work through considering i can't even test it.

if anyone finds a url or some documentation that gives specific examples can you walk me through this please?

uber aggravating to want to get organized before a trip and not have iCal reliable...

may have to go back to my watch and my black datebook when i travel!

THANKS

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Answer 3

Jan 22, 2013 5:01 PM in response to hotwheels22

The only thing I can figure out to help fix this is to turn location services for iCal on, then anytime you set an appointment you have to change the calendar to whatever time zone you will be in at that time, then click the time zone drop down menu and make the event a floating event. That way the event time will not change as you change time zones and any alerts or reminders will happen when they are supposed to. Pretty stupid and complex way to do it, but it's the only way I can get it to work close enough.

But you have to make sure the event is created in the proper time zone. If not, your alerts will go off at the wrong time. This happened to me recently when I mistakenly set an event in Central time, made it a floating event and went to the Pacific time zone. My alert went off 2 hours before it should have because it was creaated in CST, so I set my phone alarm for the proper time to alert me when I really needed to be alerted.

To me, it would make more sense if the whole calendar was "floating" and/or there was no change in time zones on the calendar at all. My calendar should follow me, not a time zone.

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Answer 4

hotwheels22 Author

Level 1

74 points

Jan 22, 2013 7:58 PM in response to pinkfloyd1969

hi. thank you so much for the answer here.

can i please ask you to help me a little more here? i am finding this mind-bogglingly complicated and despite trying to test it, i seem to get it wrong every time. this has relatively significant consequences especially when i head EAST. i mean, i wouldn't mind getting an alert two hours in advance when i head west but if i head to the east coast or even to europe i have enough to deal with without having my calendar - that i rely on so heavily in normal daily life - is going to bite me in the ***.

i mean, we are talking about missing business meetings or plane flights or getting woken up in the middle of the night after a transcontinental flight.

do you mind walking me through step by step on what you are doing? i mean, with settings and telling me which pulldown item you are using etcetera? it seems like there are a whole host of settings and they are all over the place IMHO. for instance, i don't understand what you mean by "floating" or where to access this etc.

also. i have an iPhone. are there settings on the iPhone i need to change?

finally. are you /creating/ your appointments on your COMPUTER or on your PHONE and then /changing/ the TIME ZONE for this appointment? i mean, i am thinking this is the most straightforward way to do this - god knows why it is so complicated - but if you do this i /think/ that the meeting shows up as showing the actual time of the meeting in that time zone WHILE YOU ARE STILL WHERE YOU ARE before getting there so trying to make sure you actually entered the correct time seems difficult because my recollection is that it will show the CONVERTED TIME before you get to the new time zone (i think that makes some sense...).

- jon

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Answer 5

hotwheels22 Author

Level 1

74 points

Jan 22, 2013 7:59 PM in response to hotwheels22

can someone from mac get a link to a site that shows that this actually works and how to get it to work?! this seems inexcusably unworkable and maddeningly complicated at such a late date in the development of the OS...

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Answer 6

hotwheels22 Author

Level 1

74 points

Jan 22, 2013 8:01 PM in response to pinkfloyd1969

OK. thanks for the post here!

i found this: http://lifehacker.com/5782671/how-do-i-prevent-time-zone-mess+ups-while-travelin g

i will have to study it this week (have to go away next week actually).

i wonder if this is the method you are also using...?

jon

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Answer 7

Jan 22, 2013 9:41 PM in response to hotwheels22

Jon,

That link is close to what I'm doing. It mentions not to rely on that for timed events.

What I do is enter the event in iCal on my computer. Time Zone Support is on. My iPhone has location services turned on, which will make the calendar change time zones as I change zones. Your computer calendar will change if you have an internet connection. If not, it will stay on the default zone until you change it manually.

On your computer, change the time zone in the top right corner to whatever time zone you will be in when your event takes place. Have a flight in L.A., set calendar to Pacific. Then create your event. In the time zone section of your event, choose Floating.

Set whatever timers you want and click done.

Now, before you leave L.A. and go to N.Y. and you have a meeting or a return flight, set the time zone on your computer calendar to Eastern, create your event, set your time zone as floating and click done.

Now, this does 2 things. First, it displays your events at the actual time they take place regardless of what time zone you're in. So, when you look at your calendar a 10 am appointment shows as 10 am no matter what. Second, your alerts will go off when they are supposed to.

If you create your NY appointment in Pacific, your alert will be 3 hours early. If you create a Pacific appointment in Eastern your alert will be 3 hours late, so make sure you create events in the proper time zone. If you only set the time zone when creating the event and you don't change the time zone on the computer calendar to the same zone, your times will display + or - the time difference from that zone. In other words, when leaving your calendar in Pacific, then creating your 10 am NY meeting event, then selecting Eastern time zone your calendar will display as 7 am. Your alert will go off based on the 7 am time, not the 10 am time. When you change the computer calendar zone to Eastern it will display properly and when your iPhone enters the new time zone it will display properly but the alert will still be based off Pacific time since it was created in Pacific time.

It's confusing and give you a headache but so far it's worked for me.

Hope it helps you and works properly.

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Answer 8

Jan 22, 2013 9:55 PM in response to pinkfloyd1969

Time zone support should be on for both the iPhone and computer iCal.

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Answer 9

hotwheels22 Author

Level 1

74 points

Jan 23, 2013 8:01 AM in response to pinkfloyd1969

ok. thanks. i really need to solve this.

http://lifehacker.com/5782671/how-do-i-prevent-time-zone-mess+ups-while-travelin g

http://www.imore.com/daily-tip-set-alerts-time-zones-ical

http://lanyrd.com/help/timezones/

http://ipadacademy.com/2012/07/traveling-with-the-ipad-how-to-make-your-calendar -show-the-right-time-zone

so at this point my understanding is:

1. turn ON time zone support on iphone in Settings > Mail > Time Zone Support. then i have to make an ACTIVE SELECTION showing where i am in the world in this case this shows HOUSTON.

2. turn ON time zone support on my MBP and my Mac Pro in Calendar Preferenceds > Advanced.

3. when i enter an event in my time zone i siply make sure that the calendar in the top right on my computers shows the correct time and i simply enter the date and time.

4. when i am entering an event outside of my time zone - i have two options?

A. I can pulldown to the TIME ZONE of the DESTINATION EVENT in the top right corner of my computers and set this for the correct time zone and then set the event to TIME ZONE FLOATING?! or is this incorrect and i HAVE TO select the correct time zone for this event i think...? or

B. I can leave the Calendar in the Time Zone I am in and set the EVENT to a pulldown in "TIme Zone" that shows the correct TIME ZONE of the destination event (instead of putting it in as "floating"?)?

then when traveling if i am on the plane with no WIFI and i don't know what time an event is but i want to check i would have to pulldown the CALENDAR to the destination event to see the correct time in that time zone and i would have to be sure to set it back to the original time zone - well - so that when the CALENDAR UPDATES with Wifi to know it is in the NEW TIME ZONE it will automatically adjust the Events to that time zone even though you have not manually pulled down to adjust this??!!

and then the iPhone will do this automatically as well once it updates to the new time zone via cellular or wifi??

TWO THINGS:

1. the lanyrd article specifically says to turn OFF time zone support and i don't understand why. you would think they would have a good method for dealing with this. they specifically state that "which will insure that events in your calendar are displayed using the current time zone settings for the phone. This means that provided you remember to alter your time zone when you arrive at the event you'll see the correct times for the sessions. Alternatively you can manually set the time zone of your calendar to the place you are visiting. Watch out though, this global setting which will affect all the events in your calendar"

does anyone understand this?

2. does anyone know why i am not seeing options for TIME ZONES when i enter an event on my iPhone 5 with IOS6.02? the iphone/ipad article specifically shows a little world icon when entering events and it specifically shows a row for TIME ZONE when entering an event which i do not see...

THANKS

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Answer 10

Jan 23, 2013 9:49 AM in response to hotwheels22

1. turn ON time zone support on iphone in Settings > Mail > Time Zone Support. then i have to make an ACTIVE SELECTION showing where i am in the world in this case this shows HOUSTON.

YES

2. turn ON time zone support on my MBP and my Mac Pro in Calendar Preferenceds > Advanced.

YES

3. when i enter an event in my time zone i siply make sure that the calendar in the top right on my computers shows the correct time and i simply enter the date and time.

YES

4. when i am entering an event outside of my time zone - i have two options?

YES

A. I can pulldown to the TIME ZONE of the DESTINATION EVENT in the top right corner of my computers and set this for the correct time zone and then set the event to TIME ZONE FLOATING?! or is this incorrect and i HAVE TO select the correct time zone for this event i think...? or

If you select the time zone on the computer calendar and set the event as floating, your calendar will display the event time as that time no matter where you are. So when you look at your event and you need to tell someone you have a 10 am flight leaving NY your calendar will not show a different time in a different zone. A 10 am event in NY will show as 10 am in Houston and your alert will go off when scheduled. Setting the time zone for the zone of the actual event will show as 9 am in Houston. However, this will screw up the alert time because it's alerting you in the zone you're in, not in the zone you will be in later.

B. I can leave the Calendar in the Time Zone I am in and set the EVENT to a pulldown in "TIme Zone" that shows the correct TIME ZONE of the destination event (instead of putting it in as "floating"?)?

Doing this will change the event time in the time zone you are currently in. As mentioned above, the time displayed will be your event time + or - the zone difference for your current location. Your alerts will also be off.

then when traveling if i am on the plane with no WIFI and i don't know what time an event is but i want to check i would have to pulldown the CALENDAR to the destination event to see the correct time in that time zone and i would have to be sure to set it back to the original time zone - well - so that when the CALENDAR UPDATES with Wifi to know it is in the NEW TIME ZONE it will automatically adjust the Events to that time zone even though you have not manually pulled down to adjust this??!!

YES

and then the iPhone will do this automatically as well once it updates to the new time zone via cellular or wifi??

YES

TWO THINGS:

1. the lanyrd article specifically says to turn OFF time zone support and i don't understand why. you would think they would have a good method for dealing with this. they specifically state that "which will insure that events in your calendar are displayed using the current time zone settings for the phone. This means that provided you remember to alter your time zone when you arrive at the event you'll see the correct times for the sessions. Alternatively you can manually set the time zone of your calendar to the place you are visiting. Watch out though, this global setting which will affect all the events in your calendar"

does anyone understand this?

Even with TZS turned off, if Location Services are turned on your calendar will still update to the correct zone, which screwed me up when I was trying to check in for a flight.

2. does anyone know why i am not seeing options for TIME ZONES when i enter an event on my iPhone 5 with IOS6.02? the iphone/ipad article specifically shows a little world icon when entering events and it specifically shows a row for TIME ZONE when entering an event which i do not see...

I have an iPhone 4S. When setting a caledar event the time zone option is not a drop down menu. You have to enter a city to set the time zone. Floating is not an option.

Now, there is another issue that I've figured out from some other posts. If you live in Houston and you're traveling to NY and you have a conference call in Houston at 10 am, it's 11 am in NY. So, having your calendar update works because you need to be alerted for an event that takes place in one time zone while you are in another time zone.

Using the floating zone and setting it in the zone you will be in at the time of the event will display that time no matter where you are and your alerts will be accurate.

It's all very confusing and it all depends on where you are at that point in time and if your calendar updates on your computer and iPhone.

THANKS

Hope this helps.

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Answer 11

hotwheels22 Author

Level 1

74 points

Jan 27, 2013 10:28 AM in response to pinkfloyd1969

THANK YOU!

oh my god. i feel like i need to write a dissertation on this and i am doing research with other PhD candidates.

so, i am undelining and highlighting your answer and i have my laptop and iphone here (not the desktop computer at the moment). and i just ran some tests here to try to see if i can clear the fog a bit (i know it will not completely lift until they give this functionality a much needed overhaul. anyway).

so, i have pretty much three ways to ENTER an event.

1. pulldown the Calendar to the ACTUAL TIME ZONE that the event is in and enter the event at the actual time of the event.

2. leave the Calendar in the time zone you are /currently/ in and create the event. then pulldown THE EVENT to be in the time zone that the event is actually in at the time the event is actually at.

3. leave the Calendar in the time zone you are /currently/ in and create the event. then pulldown to FLOATING.

if i follow the settings you described - and i use OPTION 3 - then am i correct in thinking that as long as i have wifi access on my laptop and as long as i have a phone /connection/ OR wifi access then the event will show up AND ALERT at the correct time in the time zone that i am in? i mean, if the event is "floating" then ostensibly i could be in a totally different time zone and it would /still/ alert me at that time??!!

and then - assuming i am traveling but i want to be alerted in advance of a FIXED TIME at the time zone i just left, well i would CREATE THE EVENT in the time zone i am currently in and i would just leave it like that. then, at that FIXED TIME in my original time zone i will be alerted to this upcoming event even if i am in Timbuktu and it is 4:30 AM in the morning over there??!!

finally, if i use OPTION 1 or OPTION 2 to create an event in a time zone other than the one that i am currently in - this has the rather unfortunate consequence of showing me the event at some odd time adjusted at all time except when i am actually hooked up via wifi in the ACTUAL TIME ZONE or unless i actively pulldown the Calendar to show me that actual time zone (which of course butchers all my other events in other times zones)

have i got it?

THANKS!!!!

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Answer 12

hotwheels22 Author

Level 1

74 points

Mar 9, 2013 8:15 PM in response to pinkfloyd1969

hey man. i am following up here as i am flying next week and need to get this together. apologies for this but i am still finding it confusing. anyway, i have posted what i have done and what i have tested so i will see how it goes.

one thought on this part below which you nicely pointed out:

my feeling on this one (not totally sure) is that you would set this particular event to 10 AM HOUSTON time zone (it doesn't matter where you actually are at the time you set this event) and given the settings we have talked about - and since the phone will /automatically/ update to EST when you are in New York the phone will show you the event is at 11 AM New York Time and you will be updated at the /correct/ time when you are in New York which is what i really need anyway. Presumably the Event could say that it was a "10 AM Houston Conference Call".

i mean, my number one priority is getting updated at the correct time and being shown the CORRECT TIME when i am in the actual time zone.

i mean, i guess i am saying that i can see how this is a different and special case but it seems to me that - i guess as you are indicating - this would be a case where entering the actual time zone would be the exception as this would be a case where you would specifically not want floating and where the it is actually not an inconvenience to have the event show at the "wrong" time since a conference call in a different time zone is something you wouldn't want to show at that time anyway (if that makes sense and wasn't totally butchered...).

> Now, there is another issue that I've figured out from some other posts. If you live in Houston and you're traveling to NY and you have a conference call in Houston at 10 am, it's 11 am in NY. So, having your calendar update works because you need to be alerted for an event that takes place in one time zone while you are in another time zone.

Using the floating zone and setting it in the zone you will be in at the time of the event will display that time no matter where you are and your alerts will be accurate.

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Answer 13

hotwheels22 Author

Level 1

74 points

Mar 21, 2013 7:37 PM in response to hotwheels22

back from my trip.

this seems to have all gone swimmingly with the exception that i noticed that my MacBook Pro time did not get reset even when i had access to Wifi. so on the laptop it showed 8:15 AM for instance instead of 9:15 AM which it should have shown.

i suppose if anyone knows if there is a setting that i can change to fix this and not screw everything else up it would be great to hear.

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Answer 14

hotwheels22 Author

Level 1

74 points

Mar 21, 2013 7:46 PM in response to hotwheels22

hmmm. i thought i had posted all my settings that i made before taking this trip so i could report how things worked or didn't work.

for some reason i am not seeing this information here and for some reason i can't find it in another post...

anyway, seems to be working decently...

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Answer 15

Mar 25, 2013 11:02 AM in response to hotwheels22

hotwheels,

Your laptop calendar should update automatically but you have to have it set that way to do so. Go to system preferrences, then system, date and time. Click date and time and check the box to set time automatically using current location.

As long as you have an internet connection it should update.

Be careful not to confuse a wifi signal with actually being connected. Staying at a hotel or another location that requires you to purchase access or log in first will not update if you have not done so. However, I was just in San Francisco and with a connection my time did not update. That's the first time I've seen that happen. If it does, uncheck the update box and manually select your current time zone.

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