iOS 8 Calendar on iPhone showing GMT times for new events.

Kid Dynamic...I have a theory but my setup is different than yours so maybe you can test this out....

1. Create an appointment on your iPhone (call it "iPhone Appointment").
2. As soon as you create it and save it on your iPhone, check to see if the "(GMT)" thing is on it.......I suspect it won't be.
3. Create a different appointment in Google Calendar directly on the Google server by using the web browser access to your calendarfrom any non iOS device (call it "Web Appointment"). We want an appointment that is "sterile"......having never existed on an iOS device until it later syncs to your iPhone.
4. Check your iPhone to see as soon as the Web Appointment syncs to it and see if the "(GMT)" thing is on it.......I suspect it won't be.
5. Wait a few hours and then look at both "iPhone Appointment" and "Web Appointment" on your iPhone again and see if the ("GMT") thing is there....I suspect it WILL BE there on both appointments.

If you could do this test and report back that would be awesome. I may be totally wrong about what shows up but whatever shows up in this structured test can help to further isolate the factor(s) that generate the problem. I have a theory about why you are seeing this on your device even though you are only using that single device. The cause is exactly the same as what I described above....but it may manifest differently due to the manner in which Google Calendar synchronizes data vs. the way Exchange does it. The test above can help to confirm this.....or not. Either is useful info to have.

Thanks in advance.

@Gator5000e: That makes sense..because what is happening when you toggle "All Day" on is that on your local iOS device, it clears out all start and end times and substitutes 12:00 AM to 12:00 AM the next day. But when you then go and toggle "All Day" back off again, and re-enter the correct times, you are just editing the appointment....same as if you never touched the "All Day" setting. And the appointment will look correct on the iOS device you just edited it on. But if you check any other iOS devices that the newly "corrected" appointment syncs to, it will be transposed to GMT.

I am still waiting to hear the final results from Kid Dynamic's testing....but if you sync using Google Calendar I predict that the GMT thing will show back up on the appointment after some time passes. This will happen even if you are only using a single iOS device but you sync to Google Calendar. I have a pretty good idea why this happens to Google users...and I can be a lot more certain about it after Kid Dynamic finishes the testing he is doing (BTW THANKS for doing that Kid Dynamic). Google calendar appears to handle synchronization tasks differently than Microsoft Exchange does...and the way this bug shows up on devices of Google users is related to this difference.

Let us know if the GMT thing pops back up in those recently fixed appointments and/or shows up for the same appointments on your other iOS devices.

having exactly the same issue syncing google calendar with iphone.

obviously IOS8 related:

1) never had this problem with IOS7

2) all old events created before are fine. no matter account deleted on iphone, re-added, re-synced, etc...

3) only new ones created from iPhone have this problem.

4) new events created from google calendar website do NOT have this problem.

guess IOS8 calendar is trying to be smart on where user is located. As I only allow map apps to access location, it has to fall back to the default value of GMT?

time schedule is still correct w.r.t. my time zone, just that the default GMT mode not so cute.

Apple please fix the bug. IOS8 and Yosemite... what else do i have to say? you can do better.

This is NOT a Google problem and from what I've read on several forums, Apple is trying to say it IS a Google issue and therefore not addressing it.

I had this problem briefly when I update to iOS 8 on my iPhone 5. However, after rebooting several times, the problem magically went away and never came back.

I received an iPhone 6 for Christmas and GUESS WHAT?? The same problem is back. If I add a calendar event in Google, NO PROBLEM. Event is in the correct time zone.

If I add the event from my iPhone 6, it has the GMT issue. And, it seems to be permanent.

I've tried every possible fix: Time Zone Support off then back on then off again, rebooting multiple times, resetting calendar in iCloud, I don't use iCal so that can't be it, checked Google Calendar settings, etc etc etc.

I'm about ready to scream because I add events to my calendar from my phone about 50% of the time and ALL of those are jacked up. SO annoying!

Please let me know if you hear of a fix for this. Thank you! 🙂

QUICK UPDATE: As I was writing this, it occurred to me to try a different sequence and see if that worked. I went to Settings-Mail, Contacts, Calendars-TURNED OFF the calendar for my Gmail account, rebooted, then turned it back on and turned the toggle switch back on in the same Gmail account. That appears to have worked (for now). I will report back if it reverts. I fully expect it to. LOL.

@bdomer: Yup. You aren't going to see this (in nearly all cases) in iOS 7.x or earlier. I say "in almost all cases" because there have been one or two users who have seen something similar in earlier versions of iOS. People need to remember this: just because something looks the same, doesn't mean that it is the same.

There were some isolated reports of a bug that looked like this current bug back in 2009. Apparently that one only affected Google calendar users. Most of us never heard about it. There is not a discussion thread with 100k+ views about the previous bug turning up in any searches on this issue. It isn't the same bug folks. It's different and affected/affects almost no-one. The current one is far more widespread, and affects more than just Google Calendar users.

This new one showed up, with a vengeance, when iOS 8.x came out in September. Then several new waves of users have showed up reporting it each couple weeks when Google servers go through their periodic load balancing operations and those users' accounts get moved to a new server that is in a different time zone than their iOS device is set to.

And BTW, yes, you correctly identified your temporary solution as a "work-around" rather than a "fix." Noted and appreciated. That's the correct terminology 🙂

JG and bdomer: well heck that sorta works but it is hatefully boring task.... plus I suspect will get adjusted at some point.

So to be clear what I have done. Steps wise it seems not exactly what you outlined above.

I tried a simple fix for an existing appt. SO

Open Calendar App on iPad.

See a "12 AM (GMT) " appt.

tap it, then tap edit word, Edit Event box comes up.

tap start time.... dates and time wheel thing opens with GMT in time zone.

Then ( and this differs from bdomer steps), I toggle All-day on then off.

Now Seattle shows in time zone.

Then I tap Done.

No GMT BUT the times are off by 8 hours now...so have to remember and edit those.

GAD this is nuts...I actually just spent like 20 minutes writing this accurately and am about 80% sure of what I typed.

And of course I realize doing this is basically stupid and should not be my problem. Hopefully most of you have stopped reading.

I will get back here if and when the GMT reappears on my edited appts.

YIKES.

"So as screwed up as this is you are telling me that as soon as I assign my event to a calendar server not housed in my time zone the GMT virus will rear its ugly head?"

Yes, that is precisely what will happen. This bug is present on every single device running iOS 8.x but not everyone will see it depending upon the time zone that is set on their server's clock. As soon as either: 1) they go into a different time zone than their server is set to and the iOS device updates its clock; or 2) their account gets migrated to a server with a different time zone setting, the GMT thing (or whatever the server's clock is set to) will show up.

This has been extremely frustrating because many people can't grasp the concept of a bug that was present all along but didn't show up all along. Many people think that the fact they were just fine on iOS 8.x for a few weeks after the September update and then this showed up "without them changing anything" is "proof" that it isn't a bug in iOS, but is due to Google etc. Not so. The bug was there all along and they just didn't see it. In order to see the bug you need to be on iOS 8 AND sync through a server that is set to a different time zone than your iOS device is set to.

If your company IT guys are willing to test it out, you can make any time zone you want show up on your Exchange synced calendars. Have them set the clock of the hardware on which Exchange is running to EAT and you'll get your appointments automatically transposed to Somalia time courtesy of iOS. Or if you prefer to have all your appointments transposed to Kuala Lampur time have them set the server's time clock to ICT. Or Houston pick CST. Really useful "feature" of iOS huh?

Levantus,

My read on this is that when you create a new event, it is created at the "default" time zone. The bug makes this "default" time zone the time zone your server is set to, rather than the time zone your phone is set to.

Once you go back in to edit the event, you are modifying the time zone of an event that has already been created, which is a different action than creating a new event. It seems that the bug mainly affects the creation of new events. (I say mainly because there are some folks on the thread who have had problems even when they modify existing events - so there may be other variables that I'm not aware of)

I have been going through that cumbersome process for more than a month now - nothing compared to those who have been suffering since September, but Apple can't release a fix for this a moment too soon for me....

@keyhole: Your "riddle" is answered multiple times in the preceding thread. What happened in your case, and in many other similar cases, is this: previously, your synced account was hosted on a server that had its time clock set to the same time zone your iOS device is set to. The server's time clock was set to the same time zone as your devices, and the bug still picked up the time zone of the server clock and transposes your appointment to that, but since it was the same as your device time zone you didn't see anything weird. Then either 1) the admin of your server changed its time clock setting to GMT; or much more likely, 2) your account was automatically migrated to a different physical server as part of a standard load-balancing operation and the new server's time clock is set to GMT.

The bug is present, and was present, on your devices and on all devices running iOS 8 since the original update in September. You won't see the bug unless the time clock of the server you sync with is set to a different time zone than your device is set to. Here's a simple analogy I used to explain this before: there is a small hole in your roof that has been there for months and everything was "fine"......then one day the weather changes....it starts to rain and you notice a leak. You didn't make any changes to your roof yet all of a sudden now you have a problem you can see that didn't appear to exist before. The noticeable leak, just like this bug, requires the second external variable for you to be aware that it is present.

It's hard to tell if you are being sarcastic or not......

This is not a "feature," it is not "by design," and there is no way to turn it off.

What you heard is a stock answer Apple techs are instructed to give anyone that calls in with a problem.

#1 appears to be "This is the first time we have ever heard of this problem."

#2 is "that problem can only be caused by something you did to your device as a user."

#3 is "that's not a bug, that is a 'feature' and it is 'by design'"

Do you, or anyone else, truly believe that Apple intentionally "designed" the Calendar app to change appointments to different times than the times entered by the user when they set them up?

Apple has confirmed multiple times at this point, that the GMT thing is a BUG in iOS and that they are working on a fix for it. It is flabbergasting that this information is not being shared to their tech support staff....and that those staff continue to inform people that this is a "feature" and/or that they have never heard of this before. What an utter failure of corporate management.

I've discovered a temporary workaround for Google Calendar users until Apple fixes the bug...

Go to http://www.google.com/calendar in the Safari browser on your iDevice and add appointments on the web interface. When transferred over to the iOS calendar app, it does not include the GMT time zone.

Unfortunately kcf316 the GMT bug occurs on phones where the user does not use Gmail or a Google calendar at all. The exact same problem happens to people using only Outlook. I also use Gmail and uninstalling gmail from my phone and reinstalling Gmail fixed the problem for me --- for about 3 days and "the bug" reappeared again. This time uninstalling gmail and reinstalling it ... or trying your fix ... did not work. For some reason IOS starts using the time of the server (whatever time the server for your particular email service uses (London time for some, EST for some and GMT time for others). At this point Apple has acknowledge they have a problem and we are expecting a software update that MAY address this issue within a week or so. Apparently they have already pushed the update out to some Beta testers as reported in other threads discussing this issue. I'm glad changing your calendar settings fixed your phone -- for the moment -- but that is not the permanent solution we need. Only Apple can fix the core problem ....

I just spent the last hour on the phone with Apple troubleshooting. After 52 minutes, they told me they were aware of the problem and that it is not an Apple problem but a Google problem and that, on the one hand, Apple cannot do anything about it, but on the other hand, they are working with Google to come out with a bug fix. Was very frustrated that I was jacked around for nearly an hour troubleshooting something that they KNEW had no resolution. He said the resolution is to stop using Google and move all my calendar events over to iCloud. I then asked, what about my Facebook events, and my calendar events from Outlook that are also showing GMT? He only said that they must use a Google server as well. This is such a headache for someone who depends on their calendar for work on a daily basis. Ugh!

JG in SB wrote:

I'm optimistic that when Apple eventually fixes this, the fix will "fix" it on all platforms (Google, Exchange, etc.). The bug is doing the same thing on both Google and Exchange: picking up the time zone setting from the hosted account server clock and then transposing you r appointments to that time zone. So if Apple removes the code that does that, it should fix it on all platforms.

It's actually something that both Apple & Google/Exchange are going to have to adjust. All you can do is submit feedback to each of them.

Wanted to provide an update on this. I was having this issue on my 5S for a few months, starting in late 2014. I upgraded a 5S to a 6 recently, and both are running iOS 8.1.2.

I backed up the 5S to my computer directly, and then restored it on the new 6, and I'm glad to announce that the GMT problem IS GONE!!! Thank goodness. If this thing comes back, I'm going to cry. I have no idea if backing up your iPhone and restoring it will help or not, but just reporting what has worked for me. Good luck... this is a terrible bug.