iPhone 6 Clock Running Fast Under iOS 9 & 9.0.1

Clocks are set from the time of your cell provider.

Why was everything ok under iOS 8 and the problem started with iOS 9? Could iOS 9 not be querying for the time stamp correctly?

That I do not know. I have never entered a time in any iPhone, even when changing time zones, even when in different countries with different providers. The phone has set the time from the phone network.

Do you have the time to set automatically (Settings -> General -> Date & Time) and set to the correct time zone? If you are manually setting the time then that option is not set. Setting to automatic and you cannot change the date and time.

it's definitely iOS 9.

No, it's not. I have IOS 9.01 and my time is spot on and has been since I have been on IOS 9. My time is set automatically. I currently have a 6s and the time has been spot on since Friday when I received the device.

I know quite a few folks who are seeing this problem. There also is a thread for developers about this problem. Many folks have had the problem so your experience may not be typical.

Oh, I think my experience is typical. Your experience is what is not typical. With millions of devices (13 million) sold with IOS 9, another few million updated to IOS 9, a problem such as yours would be much more widespread and Apple would be jumping on a fix. Thus I think the issue lies somewhere else that is perhaps unique to your situation.

The trick is to find the solution. As I have indicated I have never set the time in any IOS device. Phone gets the time from the cell network of that I am certain. When I cross a time zone the time changes a few minutes after I cross, basically enough time to switch towers.

You indicate that you have the time set to automatic (just confirming). There should be nothing else to set except the time zone. Change the time zone and see if the time stays correct, although off by the time zone that you chose. Also have you done a force restart on your device by holding the home and power button until the Apple logo appears. This step seems to solve a lot of ills with devices. Lastly, check the time in your WIFI router as the phone may be getting the time from that device when on WIFI.

I also have an iPhone 6 ios 9 that no longer updates its system time. I also see in this page at the bottom of this page a thread "date and time set auto is completely broken".

ios 8, iPhone 6 performance accurate to <0.01" NTP verified against other time sources. That stopped at the loading of iOS 9. Currently my iPhone 6 is free running. (My iPhone 3GS iOS 6 updates its clock, although not as well as iOS 8.)

And searching around I see it's not unique to a few.

iOS 9.0.1 "date & time", "set automatically" is completely broken.

To be clear, the issue is accurate time, not nearest minute. Have you checked your iPhone system clock against an NTP source, or a GPS reciever time display? My phone's time offset to UTC increases at a daily rate. Apparently free running. A new behavior.

14 days, 15.5".

Have you checked your iPhone system clock against an NTP source, or a GPS reciever time display?

Yes, I have checked against a clock that I use in a TV broadcast studio that gets it's time from satellite. I have a clock app that displays time to the second. The time on my phone is within three seconds of what the satellite clock displays. I am guessing the error is from the cell network. The time has stayed this way since Friday (09/25) when I got my device. I also checked the phone against my servers at work which all get their time from a standard time source. Again less then three seconds difference.

Have you tried just setting the time to manual, set the time, and see what happens? Basically let the clock on phone just run free.

Apparently free running. A new behavior.

14 days, 15.5".

So why yours and not mine? I have offered what I know and it is apparently not enough.

That's question at hand. Is it purely an iOS issue? Or a combination hardware build version and iOS? Definitely not a tower/wifi related problem.

most readers on this site are experienced enough to have tried all of the usual toggles, boots, settings. And it's not time zone, or daylight savings.

good to know that you have verified your instrument, as have I. So, it's a bug that I hope will be addressed. And just how many, or few, user' iphones are effected? That's the point of the discussion.

The hit or miss is always a problem to trouble shoot.

BTW, 3 seconds is a significant timing error against satellite time source by my experience with iOS 8. so something changed and 3" seconds is poor quartz performance, nowhere near NTP precision. 3" doesn't appear to be synced NTP time, a bit approximate.

My iPhone 3GS iOS 5 is never that far off. More like 0.5" - 1.5"

15 days, 16.5" and climbing.

most readers on this site are experienced enough to have tried all of the usual toggles, boots, settings.

Surely you jest? I would say that a large portion of people that come to this site have not tried some of the settings and the usual trouble shooting steps. There are exceptions of course. I assume the lowest level so if I offended your intelligence in this regard it was most certainly not intentional.

So, it's a bug that I hope will be addressed. And just how many, or few, user' iphones are effected? That's the point of the discussion.

Indeed. Why some phones are affected, such as yours, but mine hums right along, using what should be identical hardware and software, is a mystery. Something is different but I have no idea what would be different.

BTW, 3 seconds is a significant timing error against satellite time source by my experience with iOS 8.

I said less than three seconds because that is what I remember. I did not hold the phone up next to the clock and observe both displays. It may have been less than three seconds. What I had done is look at the satellite clock, noticed the minute changed, looked at a video graphic display, then looked at the iPhone and noticed the minute had just changed. I cannot say how long I looked at the graphic display but it was certainly less than three seconds.

I am still not 100% certain where the phone gets it's time when the time is set to auto. Cell network or WIFI or both? I would also think that as long as quartz clocks have been around that accuracy should be a non-issue. Does the iPhone use quartz or some sort of other timing. Quartz would seem the obvious choice as the long term reliability and technology is well known and solid.

I do know that when I change time zones the phone will update it's time without any action on my part. This is when driving so WIFI is not in the equation. This leads me to believe the cell time is used. But when on WIFI does the phone use some other mechanism to acquire the proper time?

Or maybe you're trapped in a Delorean, your flux capacitor is buckling your warp drive, and you are short 0.01 gigawatts in the fusion reactor leaving only 1.20 gigawatts thus causing a slowdown in the time circuits.