Time Zone Orbit
Getting Started
First launch and tutorial
Time Zone Orbit shows the time of up to four cities on a single interactive dial, together with the events in your phone's calendar. The first time you open the app it asks for calendar access and then shows a short guided tutorial.
Where to find it
This page covers what you see right after installing the app and opening it for the first time. You can replay the tutorial at any moment from Settings → Watch tutorial.
1. Allow access to your calendar
Right after the splash screen, Android asks whether Time Zone Orbit can access your calendar. The app only reads your events to show them on the dial and in each city's details; it does not need an account of its own.
The calendar permission request shown on first launch. Tap Allow to see your events in the app.
If you tap Don't allow, the dial and the city list still work, but no events are shown. You can check the permission status later in Settings → Calendar.
2. Follow the guided tutorial
After you answer the permission request, a short tutorial introduces the main parts of the app. It darkens the screen and highlights one control at a time, with a short text explaining what it is for. To move on, just tap the highlighted control. The tutorial goes through the dial, the list of cities and the dial settings, and then leaves you on the home screen.
A tutorial step: the highlighted control is explained in a short text. The SKIP button in the bottom-right corner is always available.
You do not have to go through every step. Tap SKIP at any moment to close the tutorial, and it will not be shown again the next time you open the app.
Note: To see the tutorial again, go to Settings → Sync and time zone → Watch tutorial and tap the item: the app goes back to the home screen and starts the tutorial straight away.
Related pages
Home screen
The home screen is where you spend most of your time in Time Zone Orbit: the orbit dial at the top, your cities below it, and quick access to settings and to adding cities.
Where to find it
The home screen opens every time you start the app. From any other screen, go back with the arrow in the top-left corner until you reach it.
The home screen with Madrid, New York, London and Tokyo added. The numbers mark the controls described below.
1. Settings
The gear icon in the top-right corner opens Settings, where you change the dial precision, the time zone, the calendar, the colors and the language.
2. Your base time on the dial
The marker with a house icon shows your own time on the dial, and the large time in the centre is that same time. Drag the house marker around the ring to try out another time: every city updates at once. Tap Local time under the central time to jump back to the current time.
3. Your cities
Each card shows a city with its color, its name (or the alias you gave it), its time zone, the time there and its UTC offset. The same color is used for the city's marker on the dial. Tap a card to open the city's details and calendar; swipe it to the right to remove it.
The line just above the list shows the title of the event that takes place at the time selected on the dial. If no timed event is happening at that time, it shows the title of an all-day event of the day instead.
4. Add city
Note: The text in the bottom-left corner (for example Coordinated Universal Time (UTC +2)) shows the UTC offset the app uses as your base time. You can change it in Settings → Time zone.
Related pages
Core Features
The Orbit dial
The orbit dial is a 24-hour clock that places all your cities around the same ring. Moving the dial changes the time for every city at once, so you can quickly find an hour that works for everyone, and your calendar events are drawn on the ring so you can see when you are busy.
Where to find it
The dial is at the top of the home screen. It is always visible while you use the app.
Reading the dial
The outer ring shows the 24 hours of the day, with 0 at the top. Each city appears as a colored marker pointing at its current hour, with its time written just inside the ring.
The dial at 14:39 in Madrid. The red numbered circles mark the four city markers.
The numbers in the picture match the cities as follows. Each marker is placed on the ring at the hour it is in that city, and its time is written next to it:
- Tokyo: the orange marker, at 21:39.
- Madrid: the green marker next to the house marker, at 14:39.
- London: the purple marker, at 13:39.
- New York: the second green marker, at 08:39.
City markers can be tapped and dragged. Tap one to show its time in a bubble (see Showing a city's time outside the dial below), or drag it to move the dial.
The rest of the elements of the dial are:
- Central time: your base time, shown in large digits, with Local time underneath.
- House marker: your base time on the ring. It sits on the outer edge and has small arrows on both sides to show it can be dragged.
- Segments: the hours when you have events in your calendar today, including events that repeat, such as a daily meeting. You can change their color in Settings → Events color.
- All-day events: when you have all-day events today, the whole ring is tinted with a light color and a small marker with a calendar icon and the number of events appears above the 0. The line above the city list shows the title of an all-day event when no timed event is happening at the selected time.
- Red line: the current time of day. It stays in place while you move the dial, so you always know where "now" is.
All-day events
Events that last all day are not drawn as segments. When you have any today, the whole ring is tinted with a light color and a small marker with a calendar icon and the number of events appears above the 0. Tap the marker to see them.
The All-day events sheet, opened by tapping the marker above the 0. Tap a card to open the full details of the event.
Changing the time
To check what time it will be in each city at another moment, move the dial. The central time, the time next to every marker and the times in the city list all update while you drag.
The house marker dragged to 10:23. That time falls inside a calendar event, so its title, "Sprint planning", appears just above the city list.
- Touch the house marker and drag it around the ring to the time you want.
- You can also touch a city's marker and drag it: the dial then moves so that this city shows the hour you point at.
- Let go to keep the new time on screen.
Note: How smoothly the dial moves depends on Settings → Precise minutes. With the ✕ option it moves freely; with 15", 30" or 60" it snaps to steps of 15 minutes, 30 minutes or one hour.
Showing a city's time outside the dial
Tap a city's marker to show its time in a bubble outside the ring, linked to the marker by a line. This makes the time easier to read when several cities are close together. In the picture, the circle numbered 1 marks the Tokyo marker that was tapped.
After tapping the Tokyo marker (1), its time, 17:23, is shown in a bubble outside the dial. Tap the marker again to hide it.
Going back to the current time
After moving the dial you can return to the present with one tap. Tap Local time, under the central time, and the dial jumps back to the current time of your device.
The dial after tapping Local time: every city shows its current time again.
Note: When Settings → Sync with system clock is on, the dial also starts at the current time every time you open the app.
Related pages
Managing cities
You can follow up to four cities at the same time. This page explains how to add a city, how the city list works, and how to remove a city you no longer need.
Where to find it
Cities are managed from the home screen: the + button in the bottom-right corner adds cities, and the list under the dial shows the ones you have.
Adding a city
Tap + to open the Add cities sheet. You can browse the list of regions or search for the city you want.
The Add cities sheet. The first group, Added, lists the cities you already have; the rest are world regions that you can expand.
The quickest way is to search:
- Tap the search field and type part of the city name, for example York.
- Tap the city in the results. Its pin icon turns solid to show it has been added.
- Repeat for other cities, or close the sheet by swiping it down.
Searching for "York". Each result shows the city, its region, the time there and its time zone.
Once added, the cities appear in the Added group at the top of the sheet, so you can see at a glance which ones you already follow.
The Added group with the four cities: Madrid, New York, London and Tokyo.
City limits
To keep the dial readable, the app limits how many cities you can follow. If you go over a limit, a message appears at the bottom of the screen and the city is not added.
- Up to 4 cities in total.
- Up to 3 cities in the same time zone.
The message shown when trying to add a fifth city.
The city list
The cities you follow are listed under the dial, in the order you added them. Each card shows the city's color, its name or alias, its time zone, the time there and its UTC offset.
The city list. The times change as you move the dial.
Tap a card to open that city's details and calendar events. See City details and events.
Removing a city
To remove a city, swipe its card to the right. A red Delete area appears behind the card; keep swiping until the card leaves the screen.
The New York card half swiped. If you let go before the end, the card goes back to its place and nothing is deleted.
You can also remove a city from the Add cities sheet by tapping its solid pin icon.
Note: When you remove a city, the remaining cities take the colors of the current palette again, in order. If you remove all your cities, the app adds Madrid back the next time it starts.
Related pages
City details and events
Each city has its own details screen. From there you can give the city an alias, check your calendar events day by day, join a call from an event, and start scheduling a new meeting.
Where to find it
On the home screen, tap a city's card in the list under the dial. To go back, tap the arrow in the top-left corner.
The details screen
The top of the screen shows the city with its color, name, time zone and the time currently selected on the dial. Under it you see the selected date and a strip of days, starting today and going up to one year ahead.
The details screen for Madrid. Tap a day in the strip to see the events of that day.
The two icons in the header are:
- Refresh (top-right corner): reloads the events from your calendar and goes back to today.
- Pencil (next to the time): edits the city's alias. See Giving a city an alias below.
All-day events
If you have events that last all day, they are listed first, in a section called ALL-DAY EVENT above the timeline. Only the all-day events of the selected day are shown.
The all-day section for the selected day. Tap the card to open the event's details.
Your events for the day
Below the days, a timeline lists the events in your phone's calendars for the selected day, from midnight to midnight. Free periods are shown as No events, so you can spot the gaps at a glance.
The timeline: the "Daily stand-up" event at 9:00, a free period until 10:00 and then "Sprint planning". Each card shows the title, time, description, number of participants and the Join button.
Events that repeat, such as a daily meeting, appear on every day they take place.
Each event card shows the title, the start and end time, the start of the description and the number of participants. When the description contains a video call link, the card shows a Join button; when it contains a phone number, it also shows a Call button. The Call button only appears if the event has a phone number.
The "Call with London partners" card only has a video call link, so it shows Join. The "Product demo for New York client" card also has a phone number, so it shows Join and Call.
Note: The times in the timeline and in the event cards are shown in your own local time, not in the city's time. The city's time is the one shown in the header and on the dial.
Compact and comfortable view
The event cards can be shown in two sizes. Comfortable (the default) shows more lines of the description, the participants and the buttons; compact shows only the title, the time and a short description. Pinch outwards on the timeline to switch to comfortable, or pinch inwards to switch to compact. You can also choose the view in Settings → Event view mode.
Event details
Tap an event card to open all its details in a sheet: the time, the location (if any) and three sections you can expand or collapse.
The details of "Sprint planning" with the Description section expanded.
The sections are:
- Description: the full text of the event, including any links.
- Participants: the people invited to the event, with their email addresses.
- Documents: links found in the description to Google Drive, Google Docs, Dropbox, OneDrive/SharePoint or PDF files. Tap one to open it.
The Participants section expanded, with the number of participants next to the title. Names are shown with a capital letter on each word.
An event with a phone number and a video call link: the Documents section shows the Google Drive link found in the description, and the Join and Call buttons are at the bottom.
- Join opens the video call link found in the description (Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex or Jitsi).
- Call opens your phone app with the number found in the description.
Giving a city an alias
An alias is a short name that replaces the city name in the list, for example the name of an office or a client. It is useful when you follow a city because of the people you work with there.
The Edit Alias dialog. The alias can be up to 14 characters long.
- In the city's details screen, tap the pencil icon.
- Type the alias and tap Save.
- To remove the alias, open the dialog again, delete the text and tap Save: the city name is shown again.
Back on the home screen, Madrid appears as "Madrid office". The time zone under the name does not change.
Scheduling a new meeting
The Schedule new meeting button, in the bottom-right corner of the details screen, helps you create an event at the time you picked on the dial.
The Schedule new meeting button.
On Android, the button opens Google Calendar with a new event already filled in: it starts at the time selected on the dial and lasts one hour. Add the title and guests there and save it. On iPhone, the button opens the Calendar app.
The screen that opens in Google Calendar after tapping Schedule new meeting: a new event that starts at the time selected on the dial and ends one hour later. Change the title, add guests and tap Save.
Related pages
Settings & Customization
Settings
Settings let you adapt Time Zone Orbit to the way you work: how the dial moves, which time zone is your base, how events are shown, which colors the app uses and in which language it is displayed.
Where to find it
On the home screen, tap the gear icon in the top-right corner. The options are grouped in sections, from the dial at the top to the app information at the bottom.
Dial, time zone and sync
The first sections control how the dial behaves and which time it uses as your base.
The top of the Settings screen.
- Precise minutes: how the dial snaps while you drag it. ✕ moves freely, minute by minute; 15" and 30" snap to steps of 15 or 30 minutes; 60" snaps to whole hours.
- Time zone: the UTC offset used as your base time. By default it is the one of your device.
- Sync with system clock: when on, the dial starts at the current time every time you open the app. When off, it starts at 00:00.
- Watch tutorial: tap it to go back to the home screen and replay the guided tutorial.
- Event view mode: choose between the compact and comfortable views for event cards.
Choosing your time zone
Tap Time zone to open the list of UTC offsets, from UTC -12:00 to UTC +14:00. The first option is the offset currently in use; your device's offset is marked with (Device).
The list of UTC offsets. Select one to use it as your base time.
The section title in Settings and the text at the bottom of the home screen show the offset you chose, for example Coordinated Universal Time (UTC +2).
Choosing the event view mode
Tap Event view mode to choose how much information each event card shows in a city's details.
The two view modes. Comfortable is the default.
The difference between the two options is how much each card shows:
- Comfortable: larger cards, with up to four lines of the description, the number of participants written out (for example 3 participants) and the Join and Call buttons when the event has a video call link or a phone number. The strip of days at the top is also taller.
- Compact: smaller cards, with up to two lines of the description, only a small participants counter next to the time and no buttons, so more events fit on the screen. Tap a card to open the event's details, where the buttons are available.
The same event in comfortable view.
The same event in compact view: less text and no buttons.
You can also switch between the two views by pinching the event timeline. See City details and events.
Calendar
The Calendar section shows whether the app can read your calendar and lets you pick your default calendar.
The Calendar section. The green dot means calendar access is granted.
If the permission shows Denied with a red dot, a settings icon appears next to it: tap it to open the app's Android settings and allow calendar access.
Tap Default calendar to see the calendars available on your phone and choose one.
The list of calendars on the phone, with the account each one belongs to.
Note: The events shown on the dial and in the city details come from all the calendars on your phone, not only from the default one.
Colors
The Color palette section changes the colors used for your cities and for your events on the dial.
This section has two options: Color palette, for the colors of your cities, and Events color, for the color of your events on the dial.
The Color palette section, with Events color below Color palette.
Tap Color palette to choose one of the three ready-made palettes or your own custom palette. Each city takes the colors of the palette in order.
The palettes, each with a preview of its first four colors. Tap the pencil next to Custom to edit your own palette.
The custom palette has one color per city. Tap a city to pick its color, then tap Save in the top-right corner. Reset to defaults brings back the colors of Palette 1.
The custom palette, with one color for each of your cities.
Tap Events color to choose the color used to show your calendar events on the dial: the segments on the ring and the ring of all-day events.
The color picker for events. Choose a color, then its shade, and tap OK.
Language
The app is available in English, Spanish and Galician. Tap Change language and choose one; the app switches language straight away.
The languages available in the app.
About
The last section gives access to the legal information and to the app's information screen.
The About section.
- Software licenses: the licenses of the open-source components used by the app.
- Terms of use and Privacy policy: open the TICGAL web pages with these documents.
- About: opens the app's information screen, with the version number and links to the TICGAL and Time Zone Orbit websites.
The About screen. Include the version number shown here when you contact support.
Related pages
FAQ / Troubleshooting
FAQ / Troubleshooting
Answers to the most common questions about Time Zone Orbit, and what to do when something does not work as expected.
I don't see any events
Time Zone Orbit reads the events of the calendars on your phone. If none are shown, check the following:
- Go to Settings → Calendar and check that Calendar permission shows Granted. If it shows Denied, tap the settings icon next to it and allow calendar access.
- Make sure the events are in a calendar that is synced on your phone (for example, open your phone's calendar app and check they appear there).
- Open a city's details and tap the Refresh icon in the top-right corner to reload the events.
My repeating events are missing
Events that repeat, such as a daily meeting, are shown on every day they take place. On Android, the first time you open the app it may ask for calendar access once more, because these events need both reading and writing permission. Tap Allow and reload the events with the Refresh icon in a city's details. If you tapped Don't allow, allow calendar access from your phone's app settings.
Where are my all-day events?
All-day events are not drawn as segments on the ring. Instead, the whole ring is tinted with a light color and a small marker with a calendar icon and the number of events appears above the 0. They are also listed in the ALL-DAY EVENT section at the top of a city's details. See The Orbit dial.
Why can't I add another city?
The app follows up to 4 cities in total, and up to 3 cities in the same time zone. Remove a city by swiping its card to the right, then add the new one. See Managing cities.
The times of my events don't match the city's time
The event timeline in a city's details shows events in your own local time, which is the time they have in your calendar. The city's time is shown in the header of the details screen and on the dial.
The dial doesn't start at the current time
Check that Settings → Sync with system clock is on. When it is off, the dial starts at 00:00. You can also tap Local time under the central time at any moment to go back to the current time.
The dial jumps in steps instead of moving smoothly
The dial snaps according to Settings → Precise minutes. Choose ✕ to move it freely, minute by minute.
The base time or UTC offset is wrong
The app uses your device's time zone by default. If you changed it, go to Settings → Time zone and select the offset marked (Device), or the one you need.
How do I see the tutorial again?
Go to Settings → Watch tutorial and tap it. The app goes back to the home screen and starts the tutorial.
How do I remove an alias?
Open the city's details, tap the pencil icon, delete the text and tap Save. The city name is shown again. See City details and events.