signalapp / signalapp/Signal-iOS

Incoming messages display the sender's incorrect device time

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Dominant language
Swift
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Description

  • I have searched open and closed issues for duplicates
  • I am submitting a bug report for existing functionality that does not work as intended
  • This isn't a feature request or a discussion topic

Bug description

When the sender's iOS system clock is incorrect, an incoming message is
displayed on the recipient's device using the sender's incorrect local time.

For example, if the sender's clock is two minutes behind, a message that is sent
and received immediately appears to the recipient as if it were sent two minutes
ago.

This is reproducible with clock offsets smaller than the current excessive
clock-skew threshold.

Steps to reproduce
  • Use two Signal accounts on two devices: Device A as the sender and Device B as the recipient.
  • On Device A, disable “Set Automatically” under iOS Settings > General > Date & Time.
  • Set Device A's clock approximately two minutes behind the actual time.
  • Open Signal on Device A and send a message to Device B.
  • Immediately open the conversation on Device B.
  • Observe the timestamp displayed below the incoming message.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reproducing the two-device scenario described in the issue, then trace how an incoming message's timestamp is selected and displayed in Signal-iOS. No file or test is named, so read around the incoming-message timestamp path first. Done means a sender clock offset of about two minutes no longer makes the recipient see the message as older than it is.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
swift
Domain
mobile
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Active
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
64/100

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