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I need to convert the UTC time stamp that I get from the server to local device time. Currently, I get 5 hrs difference in my time. For example, when I post to the server, the post time says 5 hours ago instead of a second ago. How could I fix this issue?
Below is the code that I do:
long timestamp = cursor.getLong(columnIndex);
CharSequence relTime = DateUtils
.getRelativeTimeSpanString(timestamp * 1000
+ TimeZone.getDefault().getRawOffset(),
System.currentTimeMillis(),
DateUtils.MINUTE_IN_MILLIS);
((TextView) view).setText(relTime);
Java:
int offset = TimeZone.getDefault().getRawOffset() + TimeZone.getDefault().getDSTSavings();
long now = System.currentTimeMillis() - offset;
Kotlin:
val offset: Int = TimeZone.getDefault().rawOffset + TimeZone.getDefault().dstSavings
val now: Long = System.currentTimeMillis() - offset
–
–
Converting a date String of the format "2011-06-23T15:11:32" to our time zone.
private String getDate(String ourDate)
SimpleDateFormat formatter = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss");
formatter.setTimeZone(TimeZone.getTimeZone("UTC"));
Date value = formatter.parse(ourDate);
SimpleDateFormat dateFormatter = new SimpleDateFormat("MM-dd-yyyy HH:mm"); //this format changeable
dateFormatter.setTimeZone(TimeZone.getDefault());
ourDate = dateFormatter.format(value);
//Log.d("ourDate", ourDate);
catch (Exception e)
ourDate = "00-00-0000 00:00";
return ourDate;
–
The code in your example looks fine at first glance. BTW, if the server timestamp is in UTC (i.e. it's an epoch timestamp) then you should not have to apply the current timezone offset. In other words if the server timestamp is in UTC then you can simply get the difference between the server timestamp and the system time (System.currentTimeMillis()) as the system time is in UTC (epoch).
I would check that the timestamp coming from your server is what you expect. If the timestamp from the server does not convert into the date you expect (in the local timezone) then the difference between the timestamp and the current system time will not be what you expect.
Use Calendar to get the current timezone. Initialize a SimpleDateFormatter with the current timezone; then log the server timestamp and verify if it's the date you expect:
Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance();
TimeZone tz = cal.getTimeZone();
/* debug: is it local time? */
Log.d("Time zone: ", tz.getDisplayName());
/* date formatter in local timezone */
SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("dd/MM/yyyy HH:mm:ss");
sdf.setTimeZone(tz);
/* print your timestamp and double check it's the date you expect */
long timestamp = cursor.getLong(columnIndex);
String localTime = sdf.format(new Date(timestamp * 1000)); // I assume your timestamp is in seconds and you're converting to milliseconds?
Log.d("Time: ", localTime);
If the server time that is printed is not what you expect then your server time is not in UTC.
If the server time that is printed is the date that you expect then you should not have to apply the rawoffset to it. So your code would be simpler (minus all the debug logging):
long timestamp = cursor.getLong(columnIndex);
Log.d("Server time: ", timestamp);
/* log the device timezone */
Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance();
TimeZone tz = cal.getTimeZone();
Log.d("Time zone: ", tz.getDisplayName());
/* log the system time */
Log.d("System time: ", System.currentTimeMillis());
CharSequence relTime = DateUtils.getRelativeTimeSpanString(
timestamp * 1000,
System.currentTimeMillis(),
DateUtils.MINUTE_IN_MILLIS);
((TextView) view).setText(relTime);
–
–
–
–
I did it using Extension Functions in kotlin
fun String.toDate(dateFormat: String = "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss", timeZone: TimeZone = TimeZone.getTimeZone("UTC")): Date {
val parser = SimpleDateFormat(dateFormat, Locale.getDefault())
parser.timeZone = timeZone
return parser.parse(this)
fun Date.formatTo(dateFormat: String, timeZone: TimeZone = TimeZone.getDefault()): String {
val formatter = SimpleDateFormat(dateFormat, Locale.getDefault())
formatter.timeZone = timeZone
return formatter.format(this)
Usage:
"2018-09-10 22:01:00".toDate().formatTo("dd MMM yyyy")
Output: "11 Sep 2018"
Note:
Ensure the proper validation.
I have do something like this to get date in local device timezone from UTC time stamp.
private long UTC_TIMEZONE=1470960000;
private String OUTPUT_DATE_FORMATE="dd-MM-yyyy - hh:mm a"
getDateFromUTCTimestamp(UTC_TIMEZONE,OUTPUT_DATE_FORMATE);
Here is the function
public String getDateFromUTCTimestamp(long mTimestamp, String mDateFormate) {
String date = null;
try {
Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance(TimeZone.getTimeZone("UTC"));
cal.setTimeInMillis(mTimestamp * 1000L);
date = DateFormat.format(mDateFormate, cal.getTimeInMillis()).toString();
SimpleDateFormat formatter = new SimpleDateFormat(mDateFormate);
formatter.setTimeZone(TimeZone.getTimeZone("UTC"));
Date value = formatter.parse(date);
SimpleDateFormat dateFormatter = new SimpleDateFormat(mDateFormate);
dateFormatter.setTimeZone(TimeZone.getDefault());
date = dateFormatter.format(value);
return date;
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
return date;
Result :
12-08-2016 - 04:30 PM
Hope this will work for others.
java.time
The java.util Date-Time API and their formatting API, SimpleDateFormat are outdated and error-prone. It is recommended to stop using them completely and switch to the modern Date-Time API*.
Solution using java.time, the modern Date-Time API:
import java.time.Instant;
import java.time.LocalDateTime;
import java.time.ZoneId;
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// A sample timestamp as Unix epoch (i.e. seconds from 01-01-1970T00:00:00 GMT)
long epochSeconds = 1632131465L;
// Note: Use Instant#ofEpochMilli in case you have timestamp in milliseconds
Instant instant = Instant.ofEpochSecond(epochSeconds);
System.out.println(instant);
LocalDateTime ldt = LocalDateTime.ofInstant(instant, ZoneId.systemDefault());
System.out.println(ldt);
Output in my timezone, Europe/London:
2021-09-20T09:51:05Z
2021-09-20T10:51:05
ONLINE DEMO
An Instant represents an instantaneous point on the timeline, normally represented in UTC time. The Z in the output is the timezone designator for a zero-timezone offset. It stands for Zulu and specifies the Etc/UTC timezone (which has the timezone offset of +00:00 hours).
Learn more about the modern Date-Time API from Trail: Date Time.
* For any reason, if you have to stick to Java 6 or Java 7, you can use ThreeTen-Backport which backports most of the java.time functionality to Java 6 & 7. If you are working for an Android project and your Android API level is still not compliant with Java-8, check Java 8+ APIs available through desugaring and How to use ThreeTenABP in Android Project.
DateTime dateTimeNew = new DateTime(date.getTime(),
DateTimeZone.forID("Asia/Calcutta"));
SimpleDateFormat simpleDateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss");
simpleDateFormat.setTimeZone(TimeZone.getTimeZone("UTC"));
String datetimeString = dateTimeNew.toString("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss");
long milis = 0;
try {
milis = simpleDateFormat.parse(datetimeString).getTime();
} catch (ParseException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
The answer from @prgDevelop returns 0 on my Android Marsmallow. Must return 7200000. These changes make it work fine:
int offset = TimeZone.getTimeZone(Time.getCurrentTimezone()).getRawOffset() + TimeZone.getTimeZone(Time.getCurrentTimezone()).getDSTSavings();
private String getDate(long time){
SimpleDateFormat formatter = new SimpleDateFormat("dd/MM/yyyy hh:mm a");
String dateString = formatter.format(new Date(time));
String date = ""+dateString;
return date;
I had a similar problem. Simply set your utc timestamp to your timezone calendar and format the date. Timestamp is still the same no matter timezone.
val local = Calendar.getInstance() // get your device timezone calendar
local.timeInMillis = <timestamp>
val sdf = SimpleDateFormat("dd/MM/yyyy HH:mm:ss")
val formatted = sdf.format(Date(local.timeInMillis))
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