iPad date and time wildly incorrect - causing error message

My son has an iPad mini and has recently been getting an error message from chrome saying that his connection may not be private and/or there is suspected hacking activity. This prevents him from using chrome. I read on forums that other people with this error had successfully fixed it by checking that the iPad was displaying the right date and time. When we went into settings to check this, the date and time was showing as 2nd May 1970 (?!?) It is currently 23rd April 2016 so I'd say this is a tad out of sync... When we try to manually set the date and time it skips back and forth between 1970 and 2038 but will NOT allow us to set the correct date. We've tried every possible way to get around this but the problem still persists. We are not technically proficient, just frustrated end-users. Anyone have any insight? Thank you.

Posted on Apr 23, 2016 6:24 AM

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2 replies

Apr 24, 2016 6:22 AM in response to Nurse Tiggy

There was this problem going around some weeks ago where user intentionally set their date to January 1, 1970 which bricked their devices. That does not sound like what happened to your son, though.

If you changed the date to May 1970 or earlier and can’t restart your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support


Have you tried changing the date slowly moving up a few years at a time? I know that can take some time, but it might help. A forced restart might help as well.

To force restart your device, press and hold both the Sleep/Wake and Home buttons for at least ten seconds, until you see the Apple logo. After the restart you might be able to change the date to get into Chrome.


IF and when you can get back into Chrome, clear the cookies and website data. Tap the 3 dots in the up right corner of the browser toolbar and the. Select settings at the bottom of the window. From there, tap on Privacy in the next window, then you will be able to clear the data.


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iPad date and time wildly incorrect - causing error message

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