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Android APIs
public final class

SystemClock

extends Object
java.lang.Object
   ↳ android.os.SystemClock

Class Overview

Core timekeeping facilities.

Three different clocks are available, and they should not be confused:

  • System.currentTimeMillis() is the standard "wall" clock (time and date) expressing milliseconds since the epoch. The wall clock can be set by the user or the phone network (see setCurrentTimeMillis(long)), so the time may jump backwards or forwards unpredictably. This clock should only be used when correspondence with real-world dates and times is important, such as in a calendar or alarm clock application. Interval or elapsed time measurements should use a different clock. If you are using System.currentTimeMillis(), consider listening to the ACTION_TIME_TICK, ACTION_TIME_CHANGED and ACTION_TIMEZONE_CHANGED Intent broadcasts to find out when the time changes.

  • uptimeMillis() is counted in milliseconds since the system was booted. This clock stops when the system enters deep sleep (CPU off, display dark, device waiting for external input), but is not affected by clock scaling, idle, or other power saving mechanisms. This is the basis for most interval timing such as Thread.sleep(millls), Object.wait(millis), and System.nanoTime(). This clock is guaranteed to be monotonic, and is the recommended basis for the general purpose interval timing of user interface events, performance measurements, and anything else that does not need to measure elapsed time during device sleep. Most methods that accept a timestamp value expect the uptimeMillis() clock.

  • elapsedRealtime() is counted in milliseconds since the system was booted, including deep sleep. This clock should be used when measuring time intervals that may span periods of system sleep.

There are several mechanisms for controlling the timing of events:

Summary

Public Methods
static long currentThreadTimeMillis()
Returns milliseconds running in the current thread.
static long elapsedRealtime()
Returns milliseconds since boot, including time spent in sleep.
static boolean setCurrentTimeMillis(long millis)
Sets the current wall time, in milliseconds.
static void sleep(long ms)
Waits a given number of milliseconds (of uptimeMillis) before returning.
static long uptimeMillis()
Returns milliseconds since boot, not counting time spent in deep sleep.
[Expand]
Inherited Methods
From class java.lang.Object

Public Methods

public static long currentThreadTimeMillis ()

Since: API Level 1

Returns milliseconds running in the current thread.

Returns
  • elapsed milliseconds in the thread

public static long elapsedRealtime ()

Since: API Level 1

Returns milliseconds since boot, including time spent in sleep.

Returns
  • elapsed milliseconds since boot.

public static boolean setCurrentTimeMillis (long millis)

Since: API Level 1

Sets the current wall time, in milliseconds. Requires the calling process to have appropriate permissions.

Returns
  • if the clock was successfully set to the specified time.

public static void sleep (long ms)

Since: API Level 1

Waits a given number of milliseconds (of uptimeMillis) before returning. Similar to sleep(long), but does not throw InterruptedException; interrupt() events are deferred until the next interruptible operation. Does not return until at least the specified number of milliseconds has elapsed.

Parameters
ms to sleep before returning, in milliseconds of uptime.

public static long uptimeMillis ()

Since: API Level 1

Returns milliseconds since boot, not counting time spent in deep sleep. Note: This value may get reset occasionally (before it would otherwise wrap around).

Returns
  • milliseconds of non-sleep uptime since boot.