Timezone issues for appointment scheduling app

robbie4 · 2024-08-14T07:38:04.625Z

Hi All

I have an appointment scheduling app that is now being used across several states (the business is in Australia).

I have built a custom time picker to make it easier for users to select the time (we have had a lot of feedback about the bubble time picker from customers).

The issue I am experiencing is when a user schedules an appointment in another state the appointment times are not reflective of the booking.

Using Perth and Sydney for the example (2 hours difference), a user schedules an appointment in Perth, but is in Sydney when they make the appointment.

The following video highlights the issue: Little Lovelies App - 14 August 2024 | Loom

They schedule the appointment for 12pm.

But bubble updates this to 10am as this would be the time in Perth.

So even though I am setting the timezone for Perth, Bubble recognises the timzone the user is in and then updates the input to that time.

What i expected, and what happens with the bubble date time picker, is the time set as 12pm perth time as expected.

Using bubble’s date time picker, the issue does not occur.

I am using dynamic timezones, and setting the timezone using the address of the appointment.

If anyone has got any thoughts it would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks
Robbie

jawadkhan200197 · 2024-08-14T08:43:01.847Z

The issue seems to be that the custom time picker isn’t correctly handling timezone conversions. When a user in Sydney schedules an appointment for 12pm in Perth, the time should stay consistent with Perth’s timezone. However, it’s showing Sydney time when they check back in Perth.

To fix this, ensure that your custom time picker accounts for the appointment’s timezone both when scheduling and when displaying the time. Double-check that the timezone is set based on the appointment’s location, not the user’s current location.

Using Bubble’s built-in date-time picker handles this correctly because it automatically adjusts for timezones. Implementing similar logic in your custom picker should resolve the issue.

Thanks
Robbie😊

mattblake · 2024-08-14T11:14:09.634Z

Have you tried enabling the timezone overrides in Settings > General?

robbie4 · 2024-08-14T19:25:45.724Z

Hi Matt

I have the timezone overrides on.

I explained the issue incorrectly above.

When the user chooses 12pm, the field updates immediately to 10am as that would be the time in Perth (you can see this and my set up in the screen recording - Little Lovelies App - 14 August 2024 | Loom).

What I expected was for the time to be set as 12pm and displayed as 12pm.

It might be that bubble is recognising the timezone the user is in and then converting the time to the dynamic timezone the user sets.

This must be an issue in the US too with the different timezones. Any ideas?

Thanks
Robbie

sem · 2024-08-14T19:39:46.040Z

I would think about setting all moment in times to unix timestamp. Setting it always in Unix you have a fixed base. From there you present the time to the user with the timezone applied.

So user sets time (refactor from user timezone to Unix time) users request time (extract time and refactor to timezone of the user)

system · 2024-10-23T07:38:19.221Z

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