Filed under: iPod Family, Cool tools, iPhone
TUAW Responds: NTP for the iPhone
TUAW reader Gert S. writes "Are you aware of any NTP application that could set the system time on an iPhone or Touch ? I was browsing through the bin directories and no NTP client was found. I sure could use this util, even on the command line, to ensure my clock is running on time."
iPhone developer extraordinaire "core" to the rescue! In response to Gert's letter, core dashed off this iPhone-based NTP tool--because that's the kind of insanely wonderful guy he is. If you like core's development work and feel like droping a thank you note, you can contact him here.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Josh said 6:20PM on 1-23-2008
Install Boss Prefs. In addition to it being a fantastic, *extensible* replacement for the Services/NetServices.app (and also allowing you to hide Preferences.app, Summerboard, Customize and more from the main Springboard) -- it has an NTP plug-in. It's a wonderful "swiss-army knife" of Preference tools for the iPhone/touch jailbreaker.
http://code.google.com/p/bossprefs/
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Barry said 6:23PM on 1-23-2008
The iPhone's clock is already synchronized with AT&T's clock. Having both NTP and AT&T independently resetting the clock might lead to unexpected behaviors.
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Martin said 6:23PM on 1-23-2008
Isn't NTP redundant on the iPhone since it updates its time from the cell towers? Not to belittle the work done here which is very impressive, just making an observation.
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Josh said 7:48PM on 1-23-2008
Well, it could come in handy for the (jailbroken) iPod touch regardless...
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dTondro said 5:39AM on 1-24-2008
Hmmm.... me thinks this could be used for the new movie downloads? Setting the clock back would extend the amount of time you have to watch the movie? Isn't that how it's working on the Mac Pro's... wouldn't it also work for the portables?
I wonder....
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Stefan Bethke said 7:53AM on 1-24-2008
The only entry in /etc/ntp.conf that's necessary is the "server" line.
Also, please do not use random NTP server addresses you might have found somewhere. The http://www.pool.ntp.org/ NTP pool server project provides over 1500 NTP servers world-wide for individuals to use. Just use one of the CC.pool.ntp.org host names (where CC is your two-letter ISO county code, i. e. us for the States), and the pool system will automatically select a server close to you for optimal performance. If you want redundancy, use 0.CC.pool.ntp.org, 1.CC.pool.ntp.org, etc. with multiple server lines. If you don't know where in the world you are, or if you're travelling a lot, you can leave out the country code.
Example /etc/ntp.conf:
server 0.pool.ntp.org
server 1.pool.ntp.org
server 2.pool.ntp.org
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namtastic said 12:31PM on 1-24-2008
The iPhone should sync to network provider time, as all GSM phones do (pseudo-NTP).
The iPod touch should sync to the desktop computer's time, which can be set to use NTP. I can't imagine the drift between when you sync would be so dramatic that it'd ever matter.
So this is a solution looking for a problem. But a clever solution it is!
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Tinman said 3:22PM on 1-24-2008
For those dismissing this since the iPhone syncs time via the network, those of us living near time-zone borders don't, or cant, always use this feature. I live on the MST/PST border and my iPhone, if left configured to grab time from the network has a 50:50 chance of picking up the wrong time. So I set the time manually, and it does drift a bit.
So an NTP app is nice, or Boss Prefs (hadn't seen that option in Boss Prefs).
--
Mike
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