How do I set my Cortana to the correct TimeZone?

[vEEP pEEP]

Cortana in Wrong TimeZone

Hello,

When I set a reminder via Cortana, it never appears on time. I set one for 10:30 am this morning and it went off around 5:30pm.


Any ideas why?

I ask Cortana what time it is and it shows Iceland (GST) - which is 7 hours off from where I am



I have date & time & time zone set to automatic. But switch it back just to show it is showing the correct time zone




So setting reminders via Cortana - the time is always wrong....

Help?

I tried setting it back to auto and restarting - no difference. Setting it to manual makes no difference either.

Thanks,

Mr.V

 

[Rgv9fHQ8wSCABtMIOz6z]

Re: Why aren't my reminders on Cortana on time?

Is Cortana allowed to run in the background? Did you disable anything required for Cortana to function, like Location?

 

[gpobernardo]

Re: reminders not on time....

Hello,

When I set a reminder via Cortana, it never appears on time. I set one for 10:30 am this morning and it went off around 5:30pm.

Any ideas why?

Thanks,

Mr.V

Is your timezone settings correct? Looks like it went off at 10:30AM in one of the states in the west coast of the US... when it was 5:30PM in your country (I'm presuming it's India).

 

[vEEP pEEP]

Re: reminders not on time....

Hello,

I am actually in Canada! Canada never got the Lumia 930! I have set my date and time to be automatic. When I do turn it off - it shows MST - which is correct. I have it set for a US voice.

Yet it is still off by a large number of hours....

 

[gpobernardo]

Re: reminders not on time....

Hello,

I am actually in Canada! Canada never got the Lumia 930! I have set my date and time to be automatic. When I do turn it off - it shows MST - which is correct. I have it set for a US voice.

Yet it is still off by a large number of hours....

Alright, now that's strange. Try performing a soft reset (hold the volume down and power button together until your phone restarts) and see if that does something. Soft reset includes resetting the calendar and time, but they should be synchronized automatically if you have set them to do so (Settings > date+time). Steps:
1. Set date and time automatically (Settings > date+time)
2. Same as #1 but for time zone.
3. Perform a soft reset.
4. When your phone starts up again, do NOT change the date and time - they would be off by many days and hours but let it synchronize automatically. This should happen less than 15 minutes after the phone starts up.
5. Once the date and time (and time zone) automatically synchronizes (once they change automatically), see if they are actually correct (they should be correct).

 

[vEEP pEEP]

Re: reminders not on time....

Hello,

I tried that - and still now luck. I posted some images on my original thread if that might give you more clues...

Thanks,

Mr. V

 

[gpobernardo]

Re: Cortana in Wrong TimeZone

I've seen the screenshots - thanks.

Now I'm not sure what's going on in Cortana's side. I tried asking "her" to tell me the time and it went well for my time zone in Asia (it's 3:51AM now). However, according to some feedback in the Cortana Uservoice pages here and here it seems that Cortana is having some trouble in telling the time for a select few number of users.

I won't advice you to perform a "hard reset" - I think that's just not worth the trouble of restoring everything back. In the meantime we can be assured that "back-end" improvements are always on their way for Cortana and "updates" are being pushed silently to her being. Take for example how her voice and manner of speaking has changed over time. Hopefully this bug would be addressed in the forthcoming updates.

Out of curiosity: could you check the location of your ip address through your phone (presuming your not using WiFi for data)? A good and straightforward website is www.whatismyip.com. Check if your ip address matches your current location. (Mine doesn't - it tells me I'm at least 700 km away from my house, but at least it's still in the same time zone. I'm suspecting your ip address is off (by 7 ridiculous hours!) from your actual location).

Let us know what you find.:angel:

 

[vEEP pEEP]

Re: Cortana in Wrong TimeZone

Hello,

My IP is in the correct country but off by province - so it should only be off by an hour maximum.

My biggest issue is, when I set a reminder - it goes off at totally the wrong time, which is not helpful at all.

I wonder how Cortana determines the timezone?

Thanks,

Mr. V

 

[vEEP pEEP]

Re: Cortana in Wrong TimeZone

Hello,

I tried some stuff and still have not managed to get Cortana to set a reminder in the right time zone.

I tried setting the date and time to manual - it made no difference. Even after a reboot - Cortana still uses GST time instead of Mountain Time (GMT or UTC -7:00)

I set my region to the Region to United States and the Regional format to English (United States) and now Cortana says "I'm afraid I'm not available to help you in your region with the language you've chosen."

I set it to Region Canada, and format to English (Canada) - and Cortana works, but still gives me the wrong time - GST.

Asking Cortana to change her timezone - does nothing.

Help me Cortana!!!!

 

[vEEP pEEP]

Re: Cortana in Wrong TimeZone

Ok, I am turning this into a blog - sorry.

The with the Cortana settings I have now (see above). Cortana still gives me the wrong time, but I set a reminder, and it worked - it went off at the right time.

Not 7 hours from when it should of.

Almost there....

Thanks,

Mr. V

 

[vEEP pEEP]

Re: Cortana in Wrong TimeZone

Hmm...

and the saga continues ...

I set some reminders -

"set a reminder at 4pm to check the mail"

"set a reminder in 5 minutes to check the mail"

Reminders are set, but nothing happened at the appropriate time. What is suppose to happen?

Oh boy...

 

[gpobernardo]

Re: Cortana in Wrong TimeZone

Hmm...

and the saga continues ...

I set some reminders -

"set a reminder at 4pm to check the mail"

"set a reminder in 5 minutes to check the mail"

Reminders are set, but nothing happened at the appropriate time. What is suppose to happen?

Oh boy...

Here's something you can try (not sure if you already did this). Try telling Cortana to wake you up in five minutes (or after n number of minutes where n = reasonable period of time when you can wait for the alarm to go off). This way, you can check the Alarm App and see what Cortana set as the time of your alarm... and this should not be affected by the actual time since you're not mentioning any specific time.

 

[vEEP pEEP]

Re: Cortana in Wrong TimeZone

Setting Alarms with Cortana works - always has for me! Luckily!

But reminders do not - that time is screwed up. Reminders have a message and time - which is handy - "check oven in 30 minutes", "call back client x in 2 hours", "take medication"

I tried a reminder - but said "in 5 minutes" and it appears on Cortana to be the right timezone...

Let's see if the reminder goes off... ok the alarm goes off. And yes, the reminder goes off!!!
and it did it when I set a specific time "set a reminder at 8PM"

Ok Cortana....why are you messing with me....
Mr. V

 

[gpobernardo]

Re: Cortana in Wrong TimeZone

Setting Alarms with Cortana works - always has for me! Luckily!

But reminders do not - that time is screwed up. Reminders have a message and time - which is handy - "check oven in 30 minutes", "call back client x in 2 hours", "take medication"

I tried a reminder - but said "in 5 minutes" and it appears on Cortana to be the right timezone...

Let's see if the reminder goes off... ok the alarm goes off. And yes, the reminder goes off!!!
and it did it when I set a specific time "set a reminder at 8PM"

Ok Cortana....why are you messing with me....
Mr. V

Glad at least that "she" works in that aspect. I'm not sure what to do right now since it seems to be an isolated case, but that indeed is strange. I'll let you know when something comes to mind. Let us know, too, when you find a solution/fix.

 

[vEEP pEEP]

Re: Cortana in Wrong TimeZone

Hoping Denim fixes it all. Just hoping.

Or I am going to be missing random appointments.....

 

[vEEP pEEP]

So I finally get the Denim update.

To get 'Hey Cortana' to work, I have to set it to the UK Region and Language - that's OK, I'm Canadian and live with it.

I tried an 'Hey Cortana, what time is it' Well now it it shows me the current time in Beed India (IST)!!!

I am in the MST zone. And my phone's clock shows it as correct.

How does Cortana calculate time? Why doesn't Cortana use my phone clock time?

Thanks,

Mr. V

 

[gMaesterUK]

I think it's a red herring. It's not a Cortana issue but a Bing issue. Cortana uses your phone's time, but if you ask "What time is it", it'll do a Bing search.

I've just tried in IE (on the PC) the same search term in Bing, guess what? It shows my time as Beed, India not the UK.

So Bing is at fault, NOT Cortana!

G.

 

[vEEP pEEP]

Hello gMasesterUK,

Thanks for that! I never realized that. I just tried it here on a desktop, and guess what - it shows: Current time in Iceland (GST)

Bizarre!!!!

So....how do we fix Bing.

Thanks for replying!!!!

 

[WPit]

Yep. Try Bing settings. General settings: Bing - Search Worldwide . Not sure on this. Maybe also your Microsoft account: https://login.live.com . ; ) Cortana working seamlessly here.

 

[gMaesterUK]

I double checked my Bing settings, and checked that I had Location set correctly (which it was), and when it asked "what time is it" it now shows Bīr, Maharashtra, India (IST). So it's a Bing issue!

G.