Some Android phones and Google Calendar events could soon be an hour off

The biannual tradition of changing clocks is coming to an end for a subset of the Canadian population, though with that convenience comes an added side of initial headaches. Permanent daylight saving time for British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and the Northwest Territories starts on November 1, and with the date just a little over a week away at this point, Google wants to help Android users in those regions — or anyone traveling through them — make the transition.

If the new rule hadn’t gone into effect, clocks in those regions would automatically turn back by an hour. Starting November 1, however, that won’t happen. While that sounds like a seamless transition, there’s a big catch here, especially for users who haven’t updated their Android devices.

Android phones rely on time-zone rules to determine when clocks should move forward or backward. If you haven’t updated your phone for some time now, there’s no way for the system to know that the rules have changed. This means your phone might turn back its clock by one hour on November 1, even though it doesn’t need to.

To ensure that doesn’t happen, Google suggests applying any pending Android updates or updates from your phone’s manufacturer. Those with older devices that don’t receive updates may have to manually adjust the time after the transition. To do so, open Settings > search for Date and Time > disable Automatic time zone >  Time Zone > Region > choose Canada > choose a time zone with the right offset.

There’s a separate warning for Google Calendar users

Apart from your phone, Canadian users might also need to watch out for an entirely separate complication involving Google Calendar. In a recently updated support document, Google explains that Calendar events scheduled for November 1 or later could appear an hour later than originally intended. And that’s not just for those in Canada — if you’re in the US (or anywhere else in the world, for that matter) and have a meeting that was scheduled by someone in one of the affected Canadian regions, your Calendar listing might also be impacted.

Google Calendar will automatically shift most affected events back by one hour to their original scheduled local times. Once moved, participants will need to RSVP again. Google Calendar, however, won’t be able to update all affected events, including invitations from Outlook users.

These events will now appear with a warning badge (⚠️) on your calendar grid. If you organized the event, you’ll also have the option to move it one hour earlier, as seen in the image below.

There’s a catch worth noting here, too. These warning badges will only appear on Google Calendar’s web version. You won’t see them in the Android or iOS apps. You’ll ultimately need to open Google Calendar in a browser to check if any of your meetings require attention.

After this small hiccup, the new rules should make life a little easier, at least for those living in the affected regions.