It’s that time of the year again. On Sunday, November 5, at 2:00 a.m., the majority of people in the U.S. will revert to standard time by setting their clocks behind by an hour. This also means that you get an extra hour of sleep. However, it raises an important question: will your phone automatically change to standard time, or do you need to do it manually?
It’s a question that applies regardless of which phone you have. Whether you’re rocking an iPhone 15 Pro, a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, or any other smartphone, it’s important to know whether or not you need to change it for the new time.
Before the advent of smart devices, we used to manually change the clocks to adjust for either daylight saving time or standard time. However, some clocks like wall clocks, oven clocks, and some car clocks are still non-internet-connected and require manual adjustment.
If your smartphone’s software is up to date, its clock should automatically adjust. But if you had previously customized the date or time settings, you might have to update your clock manually to ensure it’s DST-ready.
How to update your iPhone when daylight saving ends
First, let’s look at how to update the time for standard time on the iPhone. If you have an iPhone, like the iPhone 15, go to the Settings app, select General, then Date & Time, and toggle on Set Automatically.
Once that’s done, your iPhone time will automatically update — no extra work from you is required! When daylight saving ends and we go back to standard time, your iPhone should do so without skipping a beat.
How to update your Android phone when daylight saving ends
The process for Android is mostly the same, though it follows a slightly different process. On an Android phone like the Google Pixel 8, go to Settings > System >Date & Time, and toggle on Set Automatically.
On a Samsung phone, like the Samsung Galaxy S23, you’ll need to follow a slightly different path. Go to Settings > General Management > Date and Time, and make sure Automatic Date and Time is turned on.
With these settings configured, your Android phone is prepped and ready to automatically change the time once daylight saving time is over.
Other daylight-saving phone tips
Although the above steps should be all you need to worry about, there are some other things you can do to be extra sure your phone changes when it should for standard time.
If you haven’t updated your phone in a while, it’s worth checking to make sure it’s running the latest available software. On an iPhone, open the Settings app, tap General, and then Software Update. If you have an Android phone, go to the Settings app, scroll down the page, and tap on Software update or System update (the wording will be slightly different depending on which Android phone you have).
Outdated software shouldn’t impact your phone automatically changing for standard time, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to install an update if one is available.
If you have any alarms set on your phone, they’ll also automatically update to the new standard time without any extra work required from you.
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