On the night of March 30 to 31, 2024, the clocks will go forward another hour, because daylight saving time will start again. But does your iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, HomePod or Mac actually automatically participate? Is the time on your iPhone correct in the morning or does the alarm go off on time?
The solution is quite simple, by default the time will automatically adjust and you don’t have to worry about it. Please note that several options must be activated. We explain what you should pay attention to.
Automatically adjust winter time or summer time
- Open Settings
- Navigate to General
- Tap ‘Date & Time’
- Enable the ‘Set automatically’ option
- If necessary, select your own time zone under ‘Time zone’
In addition, you must also enable the ‘Set time zone’ option in Settings ▸ Privacy & security ▸ Location Services ▸ System ▸.
If you have an Apple Watch, the time will also be automatically adjusted, because the Apple Watch uses the iPhone as a data source, so also for the time.
Set winter and summer time on Mac and HomePod
Just like the iPhone and iPad, the Mac and HomePod will use the internet and your location to correctly set daylight saving time. For the HomePod, you do this via the Home app ▸ Home ▸ open the settings for HomePod ▸ Details ▸ enable ‘Location Services’.
On a Mac you can activate this from macOS Ventura settings via ▸ System Settings ▸ General ▸ Date & Time. Do you have macOS Monterey or older installed? This can be done via ▸ System Preferences ▸ Date and Time. Then check the option ‘Set date and time automatically’ and choose Apple Europe. Then choose ‘Time zone’ and enable the option ‘Set time zone automatically based on current location’.
Be safe, use timers
If you have to get up on Sunday and you use the alarm clock on your iPhone, it might be better to go for a timer. In the past, iOS has often had problems with winter and summer time. That’s why it’s best to set a timer just before you go to sleep. Count the hours and minutes (including summer or winter time) until the hour you have to get up and start the timer. This way you can be sure that you will be woken up, you can set timers via the Clock app.
Video: Automatically setting winter time and summer time
