Date and time of logs when logged from iPhone

[+abcdmCachers]

In another topic, Chysalides made the following statement. I thought it would be better to start a new thread rather than reply in that one.

Groundspeak has lots of issues with time and date. Part of it is due to legacy issues that don't adapt well to global time zones.

 

- The log time for publish (and other admin) types is the actual time the log is entered.

- The log time for all notes, finds and DNFs is hard coded to 12 noon Pacific time (or 19:00 UTC during daylight saving).

Does anyone know about logging from the iPhone App? I have heard (but don't know for sure) that when you log a find from the iPhone, it uses the actual time, not 19:00 as stated above. If so, is the time converted to UTC equivalent, or is it local time without any conversion? More precisely, my question is: how will the time be represented in the My Finds PQ?

 

I ask because it's been challenging for CacheStats to report the actual date of the log. If it's true that the log date/time for iPhone logs is actual and not 19:00Z, then should I convert what's given in the GPX file to local, or take the date as given? I would hope what's in the GPX file represents local time. Unless I'm totally confused (which is probable because my head hurts when trying to sort this all out), if it gets converted to UTC, I would first have to determine the timezone of the cache location, and then convert UTC to that timezone to find the date of the log. But what if they log it a day later, but they correct the date as you can do when logging on the web (is that doable on an iPhone?). What time will be shown in the GPX file for that scenario?

 

If what I heard isn't true and the iPhone logs the same way as when logging on the web, then I guess the above is moot. Hoping someone can straighten me out and give a definitive statement about how it currently works (and if it's likely to change in the near future).

 

Thanks!

[Skippermark]

There have been some issues with users logging field notes (not sure about logging finds live) with the iPhone app and the log posting with the next day's date. The general consensus is a 6 hour time difference.