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https://github.com/instacart/truetime-android

Android NTP time library. Get the true current time impervious to device clock time changes
https://github.com/instacart/truetime-android

android clock mobile ntp ntp-server rxjava sntp time truetime

Last synced: 20 days ago
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Android NTP time library. Get the true current time impervious to device clock time changes

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README 

        
# TrueTime for Android



![TrueTime](truetime.png "TrueTime for Android")



*⚠️ See work in progress section below. TrueTime is undergoing some changes*



----------------------------------------



*Make sure to check out our counterpart too: [TrueTime](https://github.com/instacart/TrueTime.swift)

, an NTP library for Swift.*



# What is TrueTime?



TrueTime is an (S)NTP client for Android. It helps you calculate the date and time "now" impervious

to manual changes to device clock time.



## Why do I need TrueTime?



In certain applications it becomes important to get the real or "true" date and time. On most

devices, if the clock has been changed manually, then a `Date()` instance gives you a time impacted

by local settings.



Users may do this for a variety of reasons, like being in different timezones, trying to be punctual

by setting their clocks 5 – 10 minutes early, etc. Your application or service may want a date that

is unaffected by these changes and reliable as a source of truth. TrueTime gives you that.



You can read more about the use case in

our [intro blog post](https://tech.instacart.com/offline-first-introducing-truetime-for-swift-and-android-15e5d968df96)

.



# How does TrueTime work?



In a [conference talk](https://vimeo.com/190922794), we explained how the full NTP implementation

works. Check the [video](https://vimeo.com/190922794#t=1466s)

and [slides](https://speakerdeck.com/kaushikgopal/learning-rx-by-example-2?slide=31) out for

implementation details.



TrueTime has since been migrated to Kotlin & Coroutines and no longer requires the additional Rx

dependency. The concept hasn't changed but the above video is still a good explainer on the concept.



# How do I use TrueTime?



## Installation



We use [JitPack](https://jitpack.io) to host the library.



[![](https://jitpack.io/v/instacart/truetime-android.svg)](https://jitpack.io/#instacart/truetime-android)



Add this to your application's `build.gradle` file:



```groovy

repositories {

    maven {

        url "https://jitpack.io"

    }

}



dependencies {

    // ...

    implementation 'com.github.instacart:truetime-android:'

}

```



## Usage



In your application class start the TrueTime sync-er like so:



```kt

// App.kt

class App : Application() {



    val trueTime = TrueTimeImpl()



    override fun onCreate() {

        super.onCreate()

        trueTime.sync()

    }

}

```



Once TrueTime gets a fix with an NTP time server, you can simply use:



```kt

(application as App).trueTime.now()

```



_Btw don't do ↑, inject TrueTime into your app and then just call `trueTime.now()`_



# Installation



## Usage



```kt

val trueTime = TrueTimeImpl()

trueTime.sync()

trueTime.now()

```



💥



# ⚠️ Work in Progress 4.0



With the move to Kotlin & Coroutines TrueTime 4 was

a [major overhaul](https://github.com/instacart/truetime-android/pull/129). We still haven't ported

some of the additional bells & whistles. This section keeps track of those features (that will come

in the near future). TrueTime is completely functional without these additional features, so feel

free to start using it.



Most of these todos should have corresponding "TODO" comments within the code.



- [ ] Introduce a Cache provider



* Add an `interface CacheProvider` so folks can inject in their preferred caching mechanisms

* Provide a default cache implementation (probably using the non-android version

  of [DataStore](https://developer.android.com/topic/libraries/architecture/datastore#kts))

* ? Provide example of using this with a Database like Realm



- [ ] Algorithmic improvements



There are some exciting improvements that we have planned and use internally. Will have to upstream

these changes (with a cleaner api + implementation)



- [ ] Move android dependency to separate package



There's no reason for TrueTime (with the move to coroutines) to be an "android" library. It can be a

pure kotlin lib.



The only remaining dependency is `SystemClock` (which we should just have a provider for).



- [ ] Utilize all ntp pool addresses from `TrueTimeParameters.ntpHostPool`



We currently only take the first ntp host pool address from the supplied parameters. In the future,

it would be nice to provide multiple ntp "pool" addresses like `time.google.com`, `time.apple.com`

and utilize all of those to get the "best" value.



- [ ] BootCompletedBroadcastReceiver sample



Everytime a device is rebooted, the Truetime info is invalid. Previous libraries included an

actual `BroadcastReceiver` but this is better handled by the application than the library. For safe

measure, I'll include an example of how this can be done in case folks are curious.



# License



```

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");

you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.

You may obtain a copy of the License at



   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0



Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software

distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,

WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.

See the License for the specific language governing permissions and

limitations under the License.

```