The Factory Timezone

14 todsacerdoti 4 8/13/2025, 8:03:14 AM data.iana.org ↗

Comments (4)

willvarfar · 8m ago
Trivia: a long time ago when an sqlite file was found on the iphone that has a full location history, some random HNer connected with me to make a web app that let the user see their location history if they uploaded their file.

And IIRC all iphones had a first test GPS fix from somewhere in the mid US. We speculated that it was part of a factory quality check or something.

codingminds · 39m ago
Explanation from https://lists.iana.org/hyperkitty/list/tz@iana.org/thread/EX...

> It is intended for use as a factory default, to clearly indicate an unconfigured system rather than one that is intentionally configured to run on UTC.

wodenokoto · 26m ago
So its a valid time zone used to indicate that the clock is off?
jon-wood · 24m ago
A valid time zone used to indicate that the clock isn't configured yet. It may be accurate to UTC, but the offset shouldn't be trusted.