How to format date and time in Android?
AndroidDateTimeFormattingFormatAndroid Problem Overview
How to format correctly according to the device configuration date and time when having a year, month, day, hour and minute?
Android Solutions
Solution 1 - Android
Use the standard Java DateFormat class.
For example to display the current date and time do the following:
Date date = new Date(location.getTime());
DateFormat dateFormat = android.text.format.DateFormat.getDateFormat(getApplicationContext());
mTimeText.setText("Time: " + dateFormat.format(date));
You can initialise a Date object with your own values, however you should be aware that the constructors have been deprecated and you should really be using a Java Calendar object.
Solution 2 - Android
In my opinion, android.text.format.DateFormat.getDateFormat(context) makes me confused because this method returns java.text.DateFormat rather than android.text.format.DateFormat - -".
So, I use the fragment code as below to get the current date/time in my format.
android.text.format.DateFormat df = new android.text.format.DateFormat();
df.format("yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss a", new java.util.Date());
or
android.text.format.DateFormat.format("yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss a", new java.util.Date());
In addition, you can use others formats. Follow DateFormat.
Solution 3 - Android
You can use DateFormat. Result depends on default Locale of the phone, but you can specify Locale too :
https://developer.android.com/reference/java/text/DateFormat.html
This is results on a
DateFormat.getDateInstance().format(date)
FR Locale : 3 nov. 2017
US/En Locale : Jan 12, 1952
DateFormat.getDateInstance(DateFormat.SHORT).format(date)
FR Locale : 03/11/2017
US/En Locale : 12.13.52
DateFormat.getDateInstance(DateFormat.MEDIUM).format(date)
FR Locale : 3 nov. 2017
US/En Locale : Jan 12, 1952
DateFormat.getDateInstance(DateFormat.LONG).format(date)
FR Locale : 3 novembre 2017
US/En Locale : January 12, 1952
DateFormat.getDateInstance(DateFormat.FULL).format(date)
FR Locale : vendredi 3 novembre 2017
US/En Locale : Tuesday, April 12, 1952
DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance().format(date)
FR Locale : 3 nov. 2017 16:04:58
DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance(DateFormat.SHORT, DateFormat.SHORT).format(date)
FR Locale : 03/11/2017 16:04
DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance(DateFormat.SHORT, DateFormat.MEDIUM).format(date)
FR Locale : 03/11/2017 16:04:58
DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance(DateFormat.SHORT, DateFormat.LONG).format(date)
FR Locale : 03/11/2017 16:04:58 GMT+01:00
DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance(DateFormat.SHORT, DateFormat.FULL).format(date)
FR Locale : 03/11/2017 16:04:58 heure normale d’Europe centrale
DateFormat.getTimeInstance().format(date)
FR Locale : 16:04:58
DateFormat.getTimeInstance(DateFormat.SHORT).format(date)
FR Locale : 16:04
DateFormat.getTimeInstance(DateFormat.MEDIUM).format(date)
FR Locale : 16:04:58
DateFormat.getTimeInstance(DateFormat.LONG).format(date)
FR Locale : 16:04:58 GMT+01:00
DateFormat.getTimeInstance(DateFormat.FULL).format(date)
FR Locale : 16:04:58 heure normale d’Europe centrale
Solution 4 - Android
Date to Locale date string:
Date date = new Date();
String stringDate = DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance().format(date);
Options:
DateFormat.getDateInstance()
-
> Dec 31, 1969
DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance()
-> Dec 31, 1969 4:00:00 PM
DateFormat.getTimeInstance()
-> 4:00:00 PM
Solution 5 - Android
This will do it:
Date date = new Date();
java.text.DateFormat dateFormat = android.text.format.DateFormat.getDateFormat(getApplicationContext());
mTimeText.setText("Time: " + dateFormat.format(date));
Solution 6 - Android
Use SimpleDateFormat
Like this:
event.putExtra("starttime", "12/18/2012");
SimpleDateFormat format = new SimpleDateFormat("MM/dd/yyyy");
Date date = format.parse(bundle.getString("starttime"));
Solution 7 - Android
Here is the simplest way:
SimpleDateFormat df = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss a", Locale.US);
String time = df.format(new Date());
and If you are looking for patterns, check this https://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/text/SimpleDateFormat.html
Solution 8 - Android
Following this: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/text/format/Time.html
Is better to use Android native Time class:
Time now = new Time();
now.setToNow();
Then format:
Log.d("DEBUG", "Time "+now.format("%d.%m.%Y %H.%M.%S"));
Solution 9 - Android
Date and Time format explanation
EEE : Day ( Mon )
MMMM : Full month name ( December ) // MMMM February
MMM : Month in words ( Dec )
MM : Month ( 12 )
dd : Day in 2 chars ( 03 )
d: Day in 1 char (3)
HH : Hours ( 12 )
mm : Minutes ( 50 )
ss : Seconds ( 34 )
yyyy: Year ( 2020 ) //both yyyy and YYYY are same
YYYY: Year ( 2020 )
zzz : GMT+05:30
a : ( AM / PM )
aa : ( AM / PM )
aaa : ( AM / PM )
aaaa : ( AM / PM )
Solution 10 - Android
Use these two as a class variables:
public java.text.DateFormat dateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("dd/MM/yyyy");
private Calendar mDate = null;
And use it like this:
mDate = Calendar.getInstance();
mDate.set(year,months,day);
dateFormat.format(mDate.getTime());
Solution 11 - Android
This is my method, you can define and input and output format.
public static String formattedDateFromString(String inputFormat, String outputFormat, String inputDate){
if(inputFormat.equals("")){ // if inputFormat = "", set a default input format.
inputFormat = "yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss";
}
if(outputFormat.equals("")){
outputFormat = "EEEE d 'de' MMMM 'del' yyyy"; // if inputFormat = "", set a default output format.
}
Date parsed = null;
String outputDate = "";
SimpleDateFormat df_input = new SimpleDateFormat(inputFormat, java.util.Locale.getDefault());
SimpleDateFormat df_output = new SimpleDateFormat(outputFormat, java.util.Locale.getDefault());
// You can set a different Locale, This example set a locale of Country Mexico.
//SimpleDateFormat df_input = new SimpleDateFormat(inputFormat, new Locale("es", "MX"));
//SimpleDateFormat df_output = new SimpleDateFormat(outputFormat, new Locale("es", "MX"));
try {
parsed = df_input.parse(inputDate);
outputDate = df_output.format(parsed);
} catch (Exception e) {
Log.e("formattedDateFromString", "Exception in formateDateFromstring(): " + e.getMessage());
}
return outputDate;
}
Solution 12 - Android
SimpleDateFormat
I use SimpleDateFormat without custom pattern to get actual date and time from the system in the device's preselected format:
public static String getFormattedDate() {
//SimpleDateFormat called without pattern
return new SimpleDateFormat().format(Calendar.getInstance().getTime());
}
returns:
- 13.01.15 11:45
- 1/13/15 10:45 AM
- ...
Solution 13 - Android
Use build in Time class!
Time time = new Time();
time.set(0, 0, 17, 4, 5, 1999);
Log.i("DateTime", time.format("%d.%m.%Y %H:%M:%S"));
Solution 14 - Android
Shortest way:
// 2019-03-29 16:11
String.format("%1$tY-%<tm-%<td %<tR", Calendar.getInstance())
%tR is short for %tH:%tM, < means to reuse last parameter(1$).
It is equivalent to String.format("%1$tY-%1$tm-%1$td %1$tH:%1$tM", Calendar.getInstance())
https://developer.android.com/reference/java/util/Formatter.html
Solution 15 - Android
Date format class work with cheat code to make date. Like
- M -> 7, MM -> 07, MMM -> Jul , MMMM -> July
- EEE -> Tue , EEEE -> Tuesday
- z -> EST , zzz -> EST , zzzz -> Eastern Standard Time
You can check more cheats here.
Solution 16 - Android
This code work for me!
Date d = new Date();
CharSequence s = android.text.format.DateFormat.format("MM-dd-yy hh-mm-ss",d.getTime());
Toast.makeText(this,s.toString(),Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
Solution 17 - Android
The other answers are generally correct. I should like to contribute the modern answer. The classes Date, DateFormat and SimpleDateFormat used in most of the other answers, are long outdated and have caused trouble for many programmers over many years. Today we have so much better in java.time, AKA JSR-310, the modern Java date & time API. Can you use this on Android yet? Most certainly! The modern classes have been backported to Android in the ThreeTenABP project. See this question: How to use ThreeTenABP in Android Project for all the details.
This snippet should get you started:
int year = 2017, month = 9, day = 28, hour = 22, minute = 45;
LocalDateTime dateTime = LocalDateTime.of(year, month, day, hour, minute);
DateTimeFormatter formatter = DateTimeFormatter.ofLocalizedDateTime(FormatStyle.MEDIUM);
System.out.println(dateTime.format(formatter));
When I set my computer’s preferred language to US English or UK English, this prints:
Sep 28, 2017 10:45:00 PM
When instead I set it to Danish, I get:
28-09-2017 22:45:00
So it does follow the configuration. I am unsure exactly to what detail it follows your device’s date and time settings, though, and this may vary from phone to phone.
Solution 18 - Android
This code would return the current date and time:
public String getCurrDate()
{
String dt;
Date cal = Calendar.getInstance().getTime();
dt = cal.toLocaleString();
return dt;
}
Solution 19 - Android
Locale
To get date or time in locale format from milliseconds I used this:
Date and time
Date date = new Date(milliseconds);
DateFormat dateFormat = DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance(DateFormat.MEDIUM, DateFormat.SHORT, Locale.getDefault());
dateFormat.format(date);
Date
Date date = new Date(milliseconds);
DateFormat dateFormat = DateFormat.getDateInstance(DateFormat.MEDIUM, Locale.getDefault());
dateFormat.format(date);
Time
Date date = new Date(milliseconds);
DateFormat dateFormat = DateFormat.getTimeInstance(DateFormat.SHORT, Locale.getDefault());
dateFormat.format(date);
You can use other date style and time style. More info about styles here.
Solution 20 - Android
I use it like this:
public class DateUtils {
static DateUtils instance;
private final DateFormat dateFormat;
private final DateFormat timeFormat;
private DateUtils() {
dateFormat = android.text.format.DateFormat.getDateFormat(MainApplication.context);
timeFormat = android.text.format.DateFormat.getTimeFormat(MainApplication.context);
}
public static DateUtils getInstance() {
if (instance == null) {
instance = new DateUtils();
}
return instance;
}
public synchronized static String formatDateTime(long timestamp) {
long milliseconds = timestamp * 1000;
Date dateTime = new Date(milliseconds);
String date = getInstance().dateFormat.format(dateTime);
String time = getInstance().timeFormat.format(dateTime);
return date + " " + time;
}
}
Solution 21 - Android
Try:
event.putExtra("startTime", "10/05/2012");
And when you are accessing passed variables:
SimpleDateFormat formatter = new SimpleDateFormat("dd/MM/yyyy");
Date date = formatter.parse(bundle.getString("startTime"));
Solution 22 - Android
Avoid j.u.Date
The Java.util.Date and .Calendar and SimpleDateFormat in Java (and Android) are notoriously troublesome. Avoid them. They are so bad that Sun/Oracle gave up on them, supplanting them with the new java.time package in Java 8 (not in Android as of 2014). The new java.time was inspired by the Joda-Time library.
Joda-Time
Joda-Time does work in Android.
Search StackOverflow for "Joda" to find many examples and much discussion.
A tidbit of source code using Joda-Time 2.4.
Standard format.
String output = DateTime.now().toString();
// Current date-time in user's default time zone with a String representation formatted to the ISO 8601 standard.
Localized format.
String output = DateTimeFormat.forStyle( "FF" ).print( DateTime.now() );
// Full (long) format localized for this user's language and culture.
Solution 23 - Android
Back to 2016, When I want to customize the format (not according to the device configuration, as you ask...) I usually use the string resource file:
in strings.xml:
<string name="myDateFormat"><xliff:g id="myDateFormat">%1$td/%1$tm/%1$tY</xliff:g></string>
In Activity:
Log.d(TAG, "my custom date format: "+getString(R.string.myDateFormat, new Date()));
This is also useful with the release of the new Date Binding Library.
So I can have something like this in layout file:
<TextView
android:id="@+id/text_release_date"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="0dp"
android:layout_weight="1"
android:padding="2dp"
android:text="@{@string/myDateFormat(vm.releaseDate)}"
tools:text="0000"
/>
And in java class:
MovieDetailViewModel vm = new MovieDetailViewModel();
vm.setReleaseDate(new Date());
Solution 24 - Android
The android Time class provides 3 formatting methods http://developer.android.com/reference/android/text/format/Time.html
This is how I did it:
/**
* This method will format the data from the android Time class (eg. myTime.setToNow()) into the format
* Date: dd.mm.yy Time: hh.mm.ss
*/
private String formatTime(String time)
{
String fullTime= "";
String[] sa = new String[2];
if(time.length()>1)
{
Time t = new Time(Time.getCurrentTimezone());
t.parse(time);
// or t.setToNow();
String formattedTime = t.format("%d.%m.%Y %H.%M.%S");
int x = 0;
for(String s : formattedTime.split("\\s",2))
{
System.out.println("Value = " + s);
sa[x] = s;
x++;
}
fullTime = "Date: " + sa[0] + " Time: " + sa[1];
}
else{
fullTime = "No time data";
}
return fullTime;
}
I hope thats helpful :-)
Solution 25 - Android
It's too late but it may help to someone
DateFormat.format(format, timeInMillis);
here format is what format you need
ex: "HH:mm" returns 15:30
Solution 26 - Android
Date from type
EEE : Day ( Mon )
MMMM : Full month name ( December ) // MMMM February
MMM : Month in words ( Dec )
MM : Month ( 12 )
dd : Day in 2 chars ( 03 )
d: Day in 1 char (3)
HH : Hours ( 12 )
mm : Minutes ( 50 )
ss : Seconds ( 34 )
yyyy: Year ( 2020 ) //both yyyy and YYYY are same
YYYY: Year ( 2020 )
zzz : GMT+05:30
a : ( AM / PM )
aa : ( AM / PM )
aaa : ( AM / PM )
aaaa : ( AM / PM )