Flutter How to get network DateTime.Now()?

Question

Actually in flutter DateTime.now() is returns device date and time. Users sometimes change their internal clock and using DateTime.now() can give wrong result.

1. How can i get Network/Server Current DateTime in flutter ?
2. Is it possible to get Network/Server Current DateTime Without using any packages ?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

It's not possible without any api call.

There is a plugin that allows you to get precise time from Network Time Protocol (NTP). It implements the whole NTP protocol in dart.

This is useful for time-based events since DateTime.now() returns the time of the device. Users sometimes change their internal clock and using DateTime.now() can give the wrong result. You can just get clock offset [NTP.getNtpTime] and apply it manually to DateTime.now() object when needed (just add offset as milliseconds duration), or you can get already formatted [DateTime] object from [NTP.now].

Add this to your package's pubspec.yaml file:

dependencies:
  ntp: ^1.0.7

Then add the code like this:

import 'package:ntp/ntp.dart';

Future<void> main() async {
  DateTime _myTime;
  DateTime _ntpTime;

  /// Or you could get NTP current (It will call DateTime.now() and add NTP offset to it)
  _myTime = await NTP.now();

  /// Or get NTP offset (in milliseconds) and add it yourself
  final int offset = await NTP.getNtpOffset(localTime: DateTime.now());
  _ntpTime = _myTime.add(Duration(milliseconds: offset));

  print('My time: $_myTime');
  print('NTP time: $_ntpTime');
  print('Difference: ${_myTime.difference(_ntpTime).inMilliseconds}ms');
}