Is Android using NTP to sync time?

Question

Do Android Devices use the network time protocol (NTP) to synchronize the time?

In my Device-Settings I see a checkbox with the following text "synchronize with network", but I don't know if they are using NTP.

I need this for my Bachelor Thesis for which I use GPS. To get an accurate GPS-signal the receiver should have an exact clock.

I have found this blog-entry on the web, but I'm not sure if he tells the truth: Speeding up NTP, GPS Lock in Android

Answer 1

I know about Android ICS that it uses a custom service called: NetworkTimeUpdateService. This service also implements a NTP time synchronization via the NtpTrustedTime singleton.

In NtpTrustedTime the default NTP server is requested from the Android system string source:

final Resources res = context.getResources();  final String defaultServer = res.getString(                                 com.android.internal.R.string.config_ntpServer); 

If the automatic time sync option in the system settings is checked and no NITZ time service is available then the time will be synchronized with the NTP server from com.android.internal.R.string.config_ntpServer.

To get the value of com.android.internal.R.string.config_ntpServer you can use the following method:

    final Resources res = this.getResources();     final int id = Resources.getSystem().getIdentifier(                        "config_ntpServer", "string","android");     final String defaultServer = res.getString(id); 

Answer 2

i wanted to ask if Android Devices uses the network time protocol (ntp) to synchronize the time.

For general time synchronization, devices with telephony capability, where the wireless provider provides NITZ information, will use NITZ. My understanding is that NTP is used in other circumstances: NITZ-free wireless providers, WiFi-only, etc.

Your cited blog post suggests another circumstance: on-demand time synchronization in support of GPS. That is certainly conceivable, though I do not know whether it is used or not.