====== Clocks and Time-keeping ====== 

Most computers, mobile devices and tablets will synchronize time automatically via internet using NTP servers or by other means. Pixilab Player kiosks must be configured to use a NTP server to keep the computer clock on time. [[blocks:porteus_kiosk#automatic_configuration|See this section for details.]] 

Hardware RTC clocks will drift away substantially over time if it does not get sync from the internet. 

In the case of a offline installation with no or very limited access to the internet there are still methods to get perfect syncronised time in the system. Setup a [[https://www.gude.info/en/radio-time-systems/dcf77-time-server/emc-professional-3011.html|dedicated hardware NTP server]] on the local network that synchronises its built-in clock via radio or GPS. Even without any means to synchronise such device to a reference clock it has a high-quality temperature compensated machine clock that outperforms any PC clock in terms of stability and can easily be manually maintained from a web browser or the front panel. 

We have two application notes available using two different method to show time.  

[[blocks:app-note:currenttime|The animated wall clock]] will work even if the Player device is not correct or synchronized as it is fetching the time from a script property the server once every hour to keep the clock on time. This assumes that the server time is maintained manually or automatically.  

[[blocks:app-note:world_clock|The world clock]] example requires that the Player device is configured to maintain its own local clock.  

:!:Both Android and iOS devices are designed for constant internet access and generally there are no configuration settings to get the time from a local server. In this scenario it may be most straight forward to use the method in [[blocks:app-note:currenttime|The animated wall clock]].  

It may be possible to use a DNS server entry they direct any request to a local NTP server. Wireshark may be the tool to find out what NTP server a particular device uses.