iCal Time Zone Problems

[PaperQueen]

But, here's the real bummer, and this is where iCal is missing a feature. Start and end time timezones!

And therein lies the problem.

Since I fly weekly for work, the times need to be accurate. Also, I don't manually enter the flight info--that's a subscription from TripIt, which means I can't edit the times without also screwing up the online version my office and family rely on for updates.

Like you, I've been using iCal since it's inception, and until iCloud stepped into the picture, never had a problem. TripIt would register the correct departure (in the departure time zone) and arrival (in the arrival time zone) so that regardless of where I was and when the iPhone updated to the local zone, the times made sense.

Now, iOS? iCloud? is converting both ends of each flight so that neither is correct. The whole things slides 1-2-3 hours off of the correct time being reported by TripIt.

Major pain that I can't quite find a solution for.

 

[frido]

And therein lies the problem.

Now, iOS? iCloud? is converting both ends of each flight so that neither is correct. The whole things slides 1-2-3 hours off of the correct time being reported by TripIt.

That does sound weird. So, in iCal, do you get the correct times and start timezone? And when you go to iCloud on the web, the times are wrong? Have you set your time zone in the Account window (click the cloud in the corner, then click on your name)?

The next thing I would check: In the iCloud Calendar, in preferences (under the gear icon), select the Advanced tab. Check the box "Enable Time Zone Support". Then, see if your events in the calendar are still a few hours off.

If all is good there, your iOS devices should display the same data, provided you've set your own time zone correctly in Preferences>General>Date and Time. Good Luck!

 

[chaseinger]

seriously now

apple MUST be aware of this. i wouldn't be surprised if this was the longest lasting thread on macrumors.

all i want, and this can't be so hard, is an option in my ical that prevents it from changing times in events by itself.

i travel all the time, all over the world, and i'll do the math, thankyouverymuch.

if i have a flight off FRA at 7:00am, i don't care what time that would be in abu Dhabi. i know that the time reflects frankfurt time, and i want to see it as such, at all times. and the connecting flight from JFK in east coast time. always. stop changing my times, ical. i have to always copy the event time into the notes, to be sure. and don't get me started on iphone sync. yes, floating events. sure. first, easy to overlook. second, ever got those lovely event invitations from the travel agency? or from checkmytrip? good luck. no changing there.

i'll go back to the paper calender. filofax, remember those? they were a bit bulky, but at least they didn't change my entries without my permission.

apple, seriously. give me the option "behave like a paper calender". i have been traveling before ical, and i never missed a plane. the "time zone support" [sic] pulldown? gimme a floating there. one click.

and to all those lovely nerds out there: can't someone pretty please come up with a terminal hack? by now i'm willing to pay for one.

oh, and: busycal? same thing. good stuff i did a trial before buying (although it's quite cool).

ideas? please and thank you.

 

[ubercool]

Well, I have gotten used to how it works:

1. In iCal or BusyCal, which I prefer, you enter your appt. in local time. This is a bit of a pain because you would prefer to see it in the actual time in the time zone you plan to visit, but it does actually work.

2. On your iPhone in Date & Time you turn on "Set Automatically" and then all your appts. will be set to the correct local time.

But you're right, it should really be able to be more intuitive, like "Hi Siri is this the correct local time?"

 

[PaperQueen]

Well, I have gotten used to how it works:

1. In iCal or BusyCal, which I prefer, you enter your appt. in local time. This is a bit of a pain because you would prefer to see it in the actual time in the time zone you plan to visit, but it does actually work.

The problem is that a lot of us travel for work, using services (like TripIt) that automatically "report" flight times to iCal via subscription, showing the accurate times for the zone you'll be in (ex: MSP > ATL > LGA shows the Minneapolis departure in CST, then the connecting departure from Atlanta to LaGuardia in EST). As is the case with every airline on earth, they've already adjusted the time zones, not crazy enough to think all travelers would otherwise know to do it on their own.

When devices try to outsmart the already accurate times---shoving airline departures forward and backward without realizing that work has already been done---we're in trouble. Seriously screws things up, and risks missing flights because your phone told you the plane took off at 1:00 p.m. when it really left the gate an hour earlier.

I'm with chaseinger; given the number of people who fly (for work or play), there needs to be an on/off toggle. So far, none of the options listed here have done the trick; I'm still seeing inaccurate flight times because my phone thinks it's smarter than the airlines.

(Okay, so it really IS smarter than most airlines, but you get the point.)

 

[albanmews]

Solution for iPhone

I've had this problem off and on over the past 5 years. It recurred with Lion and caused me great frustration, being from the East and now traveling in California. I found this: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4504
It says to turn Time Zone Support ON on my iPhone. That worked! My iPhone now shows my calendar entries in the time I entered yet registers the local time on the phone.

It doesn't seem to work for iCal on my MacBook Pro, however; there, the calendar entries still show 3 hours off.

 

[PaperQueen]

It says to turn Time Zone Support ON on my iPhone. That worked! My iPhone now shows my calendar entries in the time I entered yet registers the local time on the phone.

It doesn't seem to work for iCal on my MacBook Pro, however; there, the calendar entries still show 3 hours off.

I'm willing to try this (again) since it seems last time I toggled Time Zone Support "on" on my phone, it was in conjunction with another off/on on iCloud, iCal, or something like that...and didn't work. We'll see if it holds when I fly to Atlanta on Thursday.

I've given up all hope of iCal working properly. :::sigh:::

Thanks for chiming in with the suggestion.

 

[MovingWater]

Some ideas?

the "time zone support" [sic] pulldown? gimme a floating there. one click.

...

oh, and: busycal? same thing. good stuff i did a trial before buying (although it's quite cool).

ideas? please and thank you.

Hi chaseinger, I am probably misreading your posting, but BusyCal supports floating. In "Info Panel Preferences," I have set "Start time zero" and "End time zone" to be shown in the info panel. When I need floats, I choose floating, and when it is time zone specific, I choose the time zone. I also fly between time zones and haven't had a problem. Maybe I misunderstood your request, or my use is simpler than yours.

I have also set my macbook air to NOT "set time zone automatically using current location." I hate that option with a passion since it also messes with email and file stamping. My laptop always uses home time. To get local time, I run a small free Lion-compatible menubar app called "Lovers Clock." Don't ask me why -- that is what it is called!

RIM's blackberry time zone implementation is such much better than Apple's! It distinguishes perfectly between local time, home time, and network time.

 

[chaseinger]

i'd like the floating to be had in the time zone pulldown (ical top right corner above the search bar.

i'd like a floating, system wide. ical should not consider timezones, at least as an option i'd like to be able to turn its (malfunctioning) brain off.

just: off. busycal taps into the exact same engine, and for real: it's expensive, but i'd buy it if it did the trick.

in short:
i'm putting in a time, and a date. make ical never, ever change it, in whatever timezone i am in, in whatever timezone the event is localized, in whatever timezone i'm viewing my calender, or set the entire system to. do not change my times. ever. please and thank you.

 

[betman]

I thought I could get around the time zone problem by inputting things as "all-day" events, and then disguising the actual time in the event description.

The problem is that some events, when viewed from my iPhone, are now showing up as it they are a 2-day event. Is there any way to at least change this so that a daily event will show up as only taking place on a single day?