How to Change Time Format (AM/PM or 24-Hour) on The Simulator

This is an issue or bug that has occurred before.

Real device (Left), and Simulator (Right)

In my team, there was a bug where some iPhone users were using the 12-hour format while others were using the 24-hour format when displaying dates.

I tried to help solve this issue, but in the Simulator, there was no option to switch the time format between 12-hour and 24-hour — it’s only available on a real iPhone device.

After some research, I discovered the solution changing the region settings, as each country uses different date and time formats.

Go to Simulator > Settings App > General > Language & Region > Region > Select the Region

Japan for 24-hour time

Regions Using the 24-Hour Format

• Europe: Most European countries (e.g., France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, etc.).
• Asia: Many Asian countries (e.g., Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, etc.).

United States for 24-hour time

Regions Use the 12-Hour Format

• United States, United Kingdom, United Kingdom, Hong Kong

To check whether the iPhone is using AM/PM or 24-hour format, you can use the Locale and DateFormatter in Swift. Here's an example:

class ViewController: UIViewController {
    
    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        if isUsing24HourFormat() {
            print("The device is using a 24-hour format.")
        } else {
            print("The device is using AM/PM format.")
        }
    }
    
    func isUsing24HourFormat() -> Bool {
        let formatter = DateFormatter()
        formatter.locale = Locale.current
        formatter.dateStyle = .none
        formatter.timeStyle = .short
        
        let dateString = formatter.string(from: Date())
        return !dateString.contains("AM") && !dateString.contains("PM")
    }
}

By using this, you can check whether the user is using the 12-hour or 24-hour format. From there, you can adjust the date or time data according to your needs.

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