# Smart watches' fundamental flaw: setting the time



## Bill Adler (Oct 4, 2013)

I have owned three smart watches: the original Pebble, a Moto 360 and an LG Watch R. They are fun and serve a purpose in life for me. (I wear my smart watch when I'm outdoors in bad weather, wearing a coat, and either need to be able to quickly see information without taking out my phone or need to be able to take a quick note by voice.)

All of my smart watches, though, have the same fundamental problem, a problem that the Apple smart watch seems to have, too: You can't adjust the time directly on your watch. I first discovered this while I was somewhere over the Pacific. I wanted to set my LG watch to my destination's time zone, but I couldn't do that without reconnecting it to my phone. My watch and phone were both in airplane mode. Even if I had connected my watch to my phone, my phone was still on Eastern Standard Time.

I used to fly with a Casio G-Shock radio controlled watch. It's a great watch for what it does best: being virtually indestructible. But changing the watch's time without the instruction manual is impossible. The first time I flew across time zones with my G-Shock I was stymied until I could get to a computer and look up the instructions online. If you've ever owned a G-Shock and tried to change time zones on the watch, you know what I mean. You have to travel with the instruction manual. Casio G-Shocks aren't smart watches by any means, but they still suffer from a time setting problem. 

A watch that won't let you change the time without connecting to the mother ship or having the instructions handy will always be fundamentally flawed.


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## cedargrove (Mar 10, 2011)

I agree, a flaw for a watch. 

However I consider the Apple watch to more of an iPhone strapped to the wrist than I consider it to be a watch. I will never rely on an Apple watch to perform as a watch any more than I'd rely on my phone to perform as a watch.


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## Quartersawn (Nov 20, 2008)

I thought having to plug it in and charge it would be the biggest flaw. I had no idea you have to plug it in to change the time.

Whoda thunk it?


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## little big feather (Mar 6, 2013)

And this is why I have a Dumb Rolex GMT....;-)
It doesn't try to be smarter, just better...:-!


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## Memphis1 (Feb 19, 2011)

Wrong forum 


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## mpalmer (Dec 30, 2011)

I agree that this seems like an unnecessary hassle. I am guessing, however, that many owners don't primary see their smart watches as devices that tell time, but gadgets strapped to their wrist that can be easily accessed... In this sense, going through steps to reset the time is just part of the techy experience...


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## jbg7474 (Sep 6, 2012)

Bill Adler said:


> I used to fly with a Casio G-Shock radio controlled watch. It's a great watch for what it does best: being virtually indestructible. But changing the watch's time without the instruction manual is impossible. The first time I flew across time zones with my G-Shock I was stymied until I could get to a computer and look up the instructions online. If you've ever owned a G-Shock and tried to change time zones on the watch, you know what I mean. You have to travel with the instruction manual. Casio G-Shocks aren't smart watches by any means, but they still suffer from a time setting problem.


As an atomic G-Shock owner, I would totally disagree with that. It could not be easier to change the time zone on my GW6900. In fact, it is my go to watch for traveling because it is so easy, and doesn't lose its accuracy in the process like a typical three-hander would.


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## jbg7474 (Sep 6, 2012)

And I might be wrong, but I think the Apple watch loads whatever time zones you use in the clock app on the iPhone. So I believe you can change the time zone without a connection to the phone if you plan in advance.


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## Bill Adler (Oct 4, 2013)

jbg7474 said:


> As an atomic G-Shock owner, I would totally disagree with that. It could not be easier to change the time zone on my GW6900. In fact, it is my go to watch for traveling because it is so easy, and doesn't lose its accuracy in the process like a typical three-hander would.


I hope that Casio's G-Shocks have become simpler to operate. Here are the instructions on how to change the time on my G-Shock, model 4765. Fortunately, I like puzzles:


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## jbg7474 (Sep 6, 2012)

Bill Adler said:


> I hope that Casio's G-Shocks have become simpler to operate. Here are the instructions on how to change the time on my G-Shock, model 4765. Fortunately, I like puzzles:
> 
> View attachment 3816402


It only looks complicated if you don't read the words and try it out on your watch. All Gs use pretty much the same logic, with minor differences, and while you might not figure it out on your own without reading the manual, it makes sense once you try it. But it is pretty hard to pack functionality in a small space and make it totally user friendly. John Gruber has a nice post on Daring Fireball about this today. http://daringfireball.net/2015/04/watch_apple_watch If you honestly can't figure this out and see a sort of logic to it, sir, then I don't know what to say. Maybe digital watches and smart watches are not for everyone. For what it's worth, I'm a gadgety kind of guy, so these things come easier to me than they do to most people.


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## Wongsky (Jan 19, 2012)

For any of my atomic Casios, I tend to always have the manual PDF on my smart phone when I travel. Yes, I could probably work it out, but I tend to just take a quick peek at the PDF.

Have to say there's similarities, but also a rather non-intuitive lack of consistency between various models (ie I have an atomic G, Pro-Trek, several wave-ceptors, Lineage models, and an Oceanus). That's one thing I think Casio could well address - yes I know the newer smart-crown watches may have some consistency - and if so, that's all well and good, but none of mine have smart crowns.


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## cobrapa (Mar 15, 2012)

Bill Adler said:


> All of my smart watches, though, have the same fundamental problem, a problem that the Apple smart watch seems to have, too: You can't adjust the time directly on your watch.


Interesting point. I'm curious what options the Apple Watch has for this. Is there a reason you don't display two time zones on the watch and use them that way until the watch switches to the new time zone on the main face?

I think that is how the Apple Watch will work. You can add a second zone on the face, with your home time on the main watch. The disadvantage I see is that the main watch face will automatically adjust to local time when your phone connects at your new location. Some watches allow you to turn that automatic adjust off. There are also some Casio's that have a swap time zones function, so you can pick 'home time' and another zone, then when your plane lands you swap them so the main time display is showing local time and the other zone is your home time.

I was surprised to find the Apple Watch has a option to tweak your local watch display by up to 59 minutes. So you can push the watch ahead of local time by 15 min, if you like to do that, and only the watch face will be adjusted. All your other reminders and alerts will use normal time.


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## BarracksSi (Feb 13, 2013)

I expect this to be addressed in the next .x revision of the Watch's OS. It would be nice to leave the phone in airplane mode in the pocket, purse, or bag when landing and still get the correct time on the watch.


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## cobrapa (Mar 15, 2012)

BarracksSi said:


> I expect this to be addressed in the next .x revision of the Watch's OS. It would be nice to leave the phone in airplane mode in the pocket, purse, or bag when landing and still get the correct time on the watch.


Other than manual adjustment, there's no way for the watch to do that. It doesn't have gps or another way to get a time update on it's own. You'd need to add another time zone display yourself.


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## BarracksSi (Feb 13, 2013)

cobrapa said:


> Other than manual adjustment, there's no way for the watch to do that. It doesn't have gps or another way to get a time update on it's own. You'd need to add another time zone display yourself.


Right, and I'd be happy for a manual adjustment as long as it's not buried five menus deep.


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## maramshrias (Apr 13, 2021)

you can get a smart watch like that of huawei or apple from a website it is beter to set the time on them


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## jar (Dec 24, 2013)

My smart watches set the time and date before connecting to the phone and set them based on the local cellular connection by default.


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## utzelu (Aug 17, 2015)

cedargrove said:


> I agree, a flaw for a watch.
> 
> However I consider the Apple watch to more of an iPhone strapped to the wrist than I consider it to be a watch. I will never rely on an Apple watch to perform as a watch any more than I'd rely on my phone to perform as a watch.


Interesting. I never rely on a mechanical watch to tell the time when travelling. I am fully relying on the smartwatch or quartz though.


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## Rocket1991 (Mar 15, 2018)

Thread is 6 years old....


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## myltz400 (Feb 7, 2008)

Lol, probably suckered in by the suggested reading page... I've done it 😉


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## G-Shocky (Apr 13, 2013)

Every Garmin watch has a “set time using GPS” function.


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## lvt (Sep 15, 2009)

What is the point of wearing a smartwatch if you have to manually adjust the time?


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## clockworksynergy (Oct 3, 2013)




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## Nemo_Sandman (Oct 28, 2014)

Sorry to disagree.

Changing to destination timezone on G Shock (and I wear them since 1983) is easy as just pushing one button on my models.
Been travelling a lot and many G's got world time switching function A'd push a button for 3 secondes.
It worked on my analog and digital models.
Very handy.
And fun to see the hours hand moving.
Any of my Gravitymasters has it.

On the digital models it is as easy.
It is swicth in a matter of seconds.

About smart watch.
Same thing.
On my Garmin Fenix 6 it is done in 10 seconds.





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fēnix 6 Pro Series - Time Settings







www8.garmin.com





Or the GPS sync too.

Envoyé de mon SM-G985F en utilisant Tapatalk


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