How to Add a World Clock on Your Phone (iPhone & Android)
If you work with people in different time zones, constantly doing mental math to figure out if it's a reasonable hour to send a message gets old fast. The good news: both iPhone and Android have a built-in world clock feature that takes 30 seconds to set up.
Adding a World Clock on iPhone
The Clock app on every iPhone includes a World Clock tab. Here's how to use it:
- Open the Clock app
- Tap World Clock at the bottom
- Tap the + button in the top right
- Search for a city (e.g., "Tokyo" or "New York")
- Tap the city to add it
You can add as many cities as you want. They'll show up in a list with the current time for each, plus how many hours ahead or behind they are compared to your local time.
Pro tip: swipe left on any city to delete it. Long-press and drag to reorder.
Adding a World Clock on Android
Most Android phones ship with Google's Clock app, which also has a world clock built in:
- Open the Clock app
- Tap the World Clock tab (globe icon)
- Tap the + button at the bottom
- Search for a city and tap it to add
Samsung phones have a similar flow through their own Clock app. The steps are nearly identical.
Using Widgets for Quick Glance
Both platforms let you put a world clock widget on your home screen:
- iPhone: Long-press the home screen → tap + → find Clock → choose the Analog or Digital world clock widget
- Android: Long-press the home screen → Widgets → Clock → pick the world clock widget
This way you see the time in your key cities without even opening an app.
What If Your Phone Doesn't Have a Clock App?
Some minimal Android builds skip the clock app. In that case, any third-party world clock app from the Play Store will do. Look for ones with good reviews and no ads — "World Clock by timeanddate.com" is a solid free option.
Which Cities Should You Add?
Start with the cities where your colleagues, clients, or family live. If you're not sure what time it is there right now, check our homepage — just type any city name and you'll get the exact current time.
Most people end up with 3-5 cities on their world clock. Any more than that and the list gets hard to scan quickly.