[Due for payment 2026-03-06] [$250] Profile-Timezone is not specified, only GMT is shown in user's profile/ local time on iOS

@trjExpensify

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Version Number: 9.3.9-1
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: Yes
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack: https://test-management.browserstack.com/projects/2219752/folder/13176687/test-cases/41236639
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): N/A
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Exploratory - Significant User Experience Deterioration
Device used: iPhone 15 iOS 26.1
App Component: User Settings

Action Performed:

Preconditions: User A's timezone is set to America/Los Angeles, GMT-8

Sign in to ND on iOS as User A, verify the account if needed
Create a workspace, invite User B as a member
As User B, navigate to Profile/ Timezone and change the timezone to Indian/Maldives (GMT+5)
As User A, open Workspace - Members
Click on any member - Profile, observe theLocal time

Expected Result:

Timezone is shown correctly under the Local time - GMT-8, GMT+5

Actual Result:

Timezone shows only GMT

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

Screenshots/Videos

Bug7058950_1769482056584.GMT.MP4

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Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @trjExpensify

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Upwork Job ID: 2020953126332245414
Last Price Increase: 2026-02-09

Proposal

Please re-state the problem that we are trying to solve in this issue.

When viewing a member's profile in the Workspace Members section on iOS, the timezone display shows only "GMT" instead of the correct timezone offset like "GMT-8" or "GMT+5".

What is the root cause of that problem?

The root cause is that the getZoneAbbreviation function in DateUtils.ts uses the 'zzz' format pattern which behaves inconsistently on iOS:

App/src/libs/DateUtils.ts

Lines 231 to 233 in 70603fd

    
           function getZoneAbbreviation(datetime: string | Date, selectedTimezone: SelectedTimezone): string { 
        
               return formatInTimeZone(datetime, selectedTimezone, 'zzz'); 
        
           }

The 'zzz' format pattern returns timezone abbreviations (like "PST", "EST") on some platforms but can return just "GMT" on iOS Safari due to differences in how the underlying JavaScript Intl.DateTimeFormat API handles timezone names on different platforms.

This is a known issue with Safari/iOS where timezone formatting behaves differently compared to other browsers/platforms. The formatInTimeZone function from date-fns-tz relies on the browser's Intl.DateTimeFormat API for timezone name formatting, which has inconsistent behavior across platforms.

What changes do you think we should make in order to solve the problem?

Change the format pattern from 'zzz' (timezone name) to 'O' (GMT offset format) in the getZoneAbbreviation function. The 'O' format provides consistent output across all platforms:

America/Los_Angeles → "GMT-8"
Indian/Maldives → "GMT+5"
Europe/London → "GMT" or "GMT+1" (depending on DST)

function getZoneAbbreviation(datetime: string | Date, selectedTimezone: SelectedTimezone): string {
-    return formatInTimeZone(datetime, selectedTimezone, 'zzz');
+    return formatInTimeZone(datetime, selectedTimezone, 'O');
}

The 'O' format pattern:

Provides consistent GMT offset format across all platforms (iOS, Android, Web)
Matches the expected output format mentioned in the bug report ("GMT-8", "GMT+5")
Works reliably for all timezone identifiers including less common ones

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

Use 'OOOO' format for more detailed offset: This would give "GMT-08:00" format which is more verbose but less commonly used in UIs.

Use a fallback approach: Keep 'zzz' as primary and fall back to 'O' when the result is just "GMT":

function getZoneAbbreviation(datetime: string | Date, selectedTimezone: SelectedTimezone): string {
    const abbreviation = formatInTimeZone(datetime, selectedTimezone, 'zzz');
    if (abbreviation === 'GMT') {
        return formatInTimeZone(datetime, selectedTimezone, 'O');
    }
    return abbreviation;
}

This approach would preserve abbreviations like "PST" where available but adds complexity.

Platform detection: Check if running on iOS and use different format patterns. This was rejected as it adds complexity and the GMT offset format is universally understandable.

The recommended solution (using 'O' format) is preferred because it provides consistent, predictable output across all platforms while displaying the timezone in a universally understood format.

@nlemma

@nlemma It seems you've missed the Bug label here.

@garrettmknight

Triggered auto assignment to @garrettmknight (Bug), see https://stackoverflow.com/c/expensify/questions/14418 for more details. Please add this bug to a GH project, as outlined in the SO.

@trjExpensify

Triggered auto assignment to @trjExpensify (Bug), see https://stackoverflow.com/c/expensify/questions/14418 for more details. Please add this bug to a GH project, as outlined in the SO.

@trjExpensify

@trjExpensify can you confirm the payment summary for me?

🔍 Issue Analysis

Status: ✅ Already resolved — fix merged in PR #82983 and deployed in v9.3.26-8.

Summary: On iOS, viewing a workspace member's profile showed only "GMT" for their local time instead of the correct offset (e.g., "GMT+5" for Indian/Maldives). This was caused by the zzz format token in date-fns-tz returning bare "GMT" on iOS for timezones that lack named abbreviations.

Root Cause: The getZoneAbbreviation function in src/libs/DateUtils.ts used formatInTimeZone(datetime, timezone, 'zzz') which relies on the browser's Intl.DateTimeFormat API. On iOS/Safari, this API returns just "GMT" for timezones without standard abbreviations (e.g., Indian/Maldives, Atlantic/Reykjavik), while other platforms may return "GMT+5" or similar.

Fix Applied: A fallback approach was implemented — try 'zzz' first (which gives named abbreviations like "PST", "EST" where available), and if the result is bare "GMT", fall back to the 'O' format token which always produces a localized GMT offset (e.g., "GMT+5", "GMT+0").

Detailed Investigation

Root Cause Analysis

The getZoneAbbreviation function at src/libs/DateUtils.ts:231-237 originally had a single-line implementation:

function getZoneAbbreviation(datetime: string | Date, selectedTimezone: SelectedTimezone): string {
    return formatInTimeZone(datetime, selectedTimezone, 'zzz');
}

The 'zzz' format token from date-fns-tz produces short timezone abbreviations (e.g., "PST", "EST"). However, it relies on the browser's Intl.DateTimeFormat API, which behaves differently on iOS/Safari — returning bare "GMT" for timezones without standard named abbreviations. This is a documented Safari limitation.

The Fix

function getZoneAbbreviation(datetime: string | Date, selectedTimezone: SelectedTimezone): string {
    const abbreviation = formatInTimeZone(datetime, selectedTimezone, 'zzz');
    if (abbreviation === 'GMT') {
        return formatInTimeZone(datetime, selectedTimezone, 'O');
    }
    return abbreviation;
}

The 'O' format token produces localized GMT offset strings (e.g., "GMT+5", "GMT+0"), which are always informative regardless of platform.

Affected Components

Three components consume getZoneAbbreviation:

src/components/AutoUpdateTime.tsx:25 — User profile local time display (the component in this bug report)
src/components/OnboardingHelpDropdownButton.tsx:85 — Scheduled call time display
src/pages/ScheduleCall/ScheduleCallConfirmationPage.tsx:78 — Call scheduling confirmation

Test Update

The unit test at tests/unit/DateUtilsTest.ts:55-61 was updated: for Atlantic/Reykjavik (a GMT+0 timezone without a named abbreviation), the expected value changed from "GMT" to "GMT+0".

Confirming payment summary here is correct.

Closing

@hungvu193

@hungvu193 has submitted payment for this report on ND here.

SO: https://stackoverflowteams.com/c/expensify/questions/7582

Vendor found in VML: True. Status: Active
Amount requested: $250.00 (Matches the payment summary here: [Due for payment 2026-03-06] [$250] Profile-Timezone is not specified, only GMT is shown in user's profile/ local time on iOS #80766 (comment).)
I, @twisterdotcom am not already the BZ assignee. I have approved this payment.

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@daledah

$250 approved for @daledah

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[Due for payment 2026-03-06] [$250] Profile-Timezone is not specified, only GMT is shown in user's profile/ local time on iOS #80766

Action Performed:

Expected Result:

Actual Result:

Workaround:

Platforms:

Screenshots/Videos

Proposal

Please re-state the problem that we are trying to solve in this issue.

What is the root cause of that problem?

What changes do you think we should make in order to solve the problem?

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

41 remaining items

🔍 Issue Analysis

Root Cause Analysis

The Fix

Affected Components

Test Update

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	function getZoneAbbreviation(datetime: string \| Date, selectedTimezone: SelectedTimezone): string {
	return formatInTimeZone(datetime, selectedTimezone, 'zzz');
	}

[Due for payment 2026-03-06] [$250] Profile-Timezone is not specified, only GMT is shown in user's profile/ local time on iOS #80766

Description

Action Performed:

Expected Result:

Actual Result:

Workaround:

Platforms:

Screenshots/Videos

Activity

daledah commented on Jan 28, 2026

Proposal

Please re-state the problem that we are trying to solve in this issue.

What is the root cause of that problem?

What changes do you think we should make in order to solve the problem?

What alternative solutions did you explore? (Optional)

daledah commented on Jan 28, 2026

melvin-bot commented on Feb 4, 2026

41 remaining items

melvin-bot commented on Mar 9, 2026

garrettmknight commented on Mar 9, 2026

MelvinBot commented on Mar 9, 2026

🔍 Issue Analysis

Root Cause Analysis

The Fix

Affected Components

Test Update

trjExpensify commented on Mar 10, 2026

trjExpensify commented on Mar 12, 2026

twisterdotcom commented on Mar 13, 2026

garrettmknight commented on Mar 25, 2026

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