DateTime.Now returns UTC Time if we build Xamarin.Android app with azure pipeline.

Shingala A 25

Hi, Team,

We have currently one project associated with Xamarin.Android. DateTime.Now returns UTC Time instead of returning local time only when we build Xamarin.Android app with azure pipeline. It is working fine if we create build using visual studio 2022. Our device time and time zone is also properly set. Issue is coming in android 14 devices only.

Looking forward to your response.

Thank you!

Yonglun Liu (Shanghai Wicresoft Co,.Ltd.) 44,171 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2023-09-14T03:17:22.2233333+00:00
For this issue, does this issue still occur if you use the following JAVA native way to get time from Android?

public string GetTime() { SimpleDateFormat formatter = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy/MM/dd/ HH:mm:ss"); Date curDate = new Date(JavaSystem.CurrentTimeMillis()); string str = formatter.Format(curDate); return str; }

Your prompt reply will be highly appreciated.
Shingala A 25 Reputation points

2023-09-14T05:18:04.4633333+00:00

We cannot access Java name space in our code which is a PCL solution(Common business logic which we used in both Xamarin.Android and Xamarin.iOS solution), the above solution won't work for us, can u plz help with other solution with respect to c sharp.
Yonglun Liu (Shanghai Wicresoft Co,.Ltd.) 44,171 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2023-09-15T01:23:13.9066667+00:00

Issue is coming in android 14 devices only.

According to documentation from .NET MAUI and Xamarin End of Support, Android 13 is the last supported version. On Android 14, this should be a compatibility issue.

Xamarin support will end on May 1, 2024 for all Xamarin SDKs. Android 13 and Xcode 14 SDKs (iOS and iPadOS 16, macOS 13) will be the final versions Xamarin will target. For more information about upgrading Xamarin projects to .NET, see the Migrating from Xamarin.Forms (Preview) wiki and the Migrate your app from Xamarin.Forms article.
Victor Chelaru 20 Reputation points

2023-11-21T18:52:27.2166667+00:00

This answer is unsatisfactory. Assuming we have created a Xamarin app that uses DateTime.Now, it will effectively be broken in Android 14.0. We are experiencing this problem and this will effectively break our apps going forward. I am shocked that this isn't being fixed and the advice is to upgrade to MAUI or try Java times.
Chris Willis 30 Reputation points

2023-11-27T16:02:36.6166667+00:00

We're also experiencing this issue specifically on Google Pixel devices running droid 14. DateTime.Now is one of the most basic functions you can do in coding so a work around needs to be provided.
Chris Willis 30 Reputation points

2023-11-27T16:11:01.76+00:00

Completely agree with Victor above. This is base functionality.
Rob Caplan - MSFT 5,537 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2023-12-01T02:28:19.1466667+00:00

@Victor Chelaru , @Chris Willis : this is a configuration issue on the Azure Pipeline, not a Xamarin issue. The problem appears to be that the build is using an old version of Xamarin that wasn't updated for Android 14's new version of the tzdata file. As noted by @Shingala A , DateTime was correct when build with VS and up-to-date versions of Xamarin and Mono.

See Xamarin Android DateTimeOffset.Now is giving wrong time ( not per System time) in Android 14 beta. #8175, which was closed/fixed in July.

If you need help updating your ADO pipeline you can find ADO support options at Azure Dev Ops - Get support and provide feedback

Also please note that the Xamarin Support Policy has been updated to include targeting Android 14.
Chris Willis 30 Reputation points

2023-12-01T14:37:37.7166667+00:00

@Rob Caplan - MSFT

Thank you for replying.

However I just found this yesterday as well. It's not a pipelines issue, its the Xamarin Android version that you need. This was fixed in 13.2.1.2 found here:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/xamarin/android/release-notes/13/13.2

Xamarin.Android version 13.2.1.2

Released August 8, 2023, and included in Visual Studio 2022 version 17.7, Visual Studio 17.8 Preview 1, and Visual Studio for Mac 17.6.

We recommend that all users upgrade to Xamarin.Android 13.2.1.2, rebuild, and resubmit their apps to the Google Play Store and other stores before Android 14 is released in late 2023.

We use AppCenter which shows the latest version is 13.2, but I confirmed the minor version with them and it's the correct one.
Nidhi 0 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2023-12-14T17:12:14.4133333+00:00

How can we update Xamarin.Android version on Azure pipeline Microsoft-hosted Windows agent?

1 answer

Graham McKechnie 416 Reputation points

2023-12-01T22:59:13.3166667+00:00

Why not raise this issue at https://github.com/xamarin/xamarin-android/issues. At least then you can get a resolution regarding the pipeline problem. For what it is worth I have several Xamarin.Android apps published using VS 2022 that are upgraded to Android 14 and none have a problem with DateTime.Now returning incorrect values on Android 14 devices.

Please note, that there is no advice to convert to Maui for Android-only apps. It is correct that support is going to be dropped for Xamarin. Android in May '24, but Android-only apps can be produced with Net8, they just need to be converted to Net8.
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DateTime.Now returns UTC Time if we build Xamarin.Android app with azure pipeline.

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