Question Can the Android system clock be forcibly set beyond 2037?

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Hendrix7

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Nov 18, 2023
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Android only lets you set the system clock until 2037, so smartphones released nowadays will not be able to be set to the correct date in 12 years, meaning by the time today's smartphones will be as old as the Galaxy S4 is today, the date range will end.

In comparison, cordless landline telephones and digital cameras from the 2000s commonly let you set the date up to 2099.

This means today's high-end smartphones have a lower date limit than cordless telephones from 20 years ago. This is embarrassing for Android. A few years ago I thought it would be fixed but Google hasn't done it.

Android used ext4 as its default file system, which is unaffected by the year-2038 bug. Perhaps Google was afraid some apps would not work properly.

Is there any way to get around the date picker and forcibly set a date beyond 2037 for testing purposes? Can it also be done on older Android versions like 6 or 7?
 
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hankEU

hankEU

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May 24, 2025
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@Hendrix7
Android system clocks can be forcibly set beyond 2037, but this depends on the device architecture and operating system version. Devices using 32-bit processors are limited by the Year 2038 problem, while 64-bit systems can handle dates beyond that.

If 64-bit device is rooted, you can set the clock using ADB commands
Code: 
adb devices
adb root
adb shell "date -s 20500101.120000"
for example, to set the date to January 1, 2050 at 12:00:00 PM
 
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Hendrix7

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Nov 18, 2023
258
77
Thanks. It seems, however, that older Android versions don't support this syntax but date 010112002050.00 (month, day, hour, minute, year, seconds).

Another benefit of using the command line is the ability to set seconds. Android's settings only allow minutes, so you would have to depend on network time, GPS time, or wait for a minute to finish.
 
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    hankEU
    hankEU
    @Hendrix7
    Android system clocks can be forcibly set beyond 2037, but this depends on the device architecture and operating system version. Devices using 32-bit processors are limited by the Year 2038 problem, while 64-bit systems can handle dates beyond that.

    If 64-bit device is rooted, you can set the clock using ADB commands
    Code: 
    adb devices
adb root
adb shell "date -s 20500101.120000"
    for example, to set the date to January 1, 2050 at 12:00:00 PM
    View

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