Adding the precise timezone data in an app is usually tricky for developers. Incorporating a timezone API in the tool will work as a simple and time-efficient solution to this problem.
Due to globalization and technological advancement, apps need to access global time data instantly. Managing the date and time of multiple locations on your app will make the tool complex. Timezone API integration ensures easy access to data, minus any additional setup.
Let’s learn the use cases of timezone API and the top APIs that offer this service.
Who Uses a Timezone API and Why
With the help of a timezone API, users can avail the exact current time from address and location, IP address, and time zone. Organizations can also have access to all the time zones of a country and all locations on earth.
Travel booking companies, international teams, and eCommerce websites are the ones who commonly benefit from Timezone APIs. Stock exchanges and airline companies need accurate time data instantly, and these APIs can help with that. Moreover, if your platform deals with international users, you should use timezone tracking APIs on your application.
Let’s now look at the best timezone⏲️ APIs developers can use
Abstract
Abstract timezone API provides you with time and data of any particular location or IP address along with the timezone of that location. Moreover, you can also utilize this API to convert the time and date of any location into another timezone.
Abstract has been developed keeping in mind the needs of the developers. Its detailed documentation, multiple libraries, and tutorials help them seamlessly add this REST API into their next app.
This API is compatible with critical business workflows and processes. Hence, you can use it at a large scale and still get your results at blazing speeds with reliable uptime. The company also offers expert technical support so that the users can get their issues resolved quickly.
To show you the latest time, it even gets millisecond time data. Its powerful global? timezone data set lets users know the time of any global location or convert the time zone. Also, you can use it to update time according to Daylight Saving Time, and GMT offset data.
Abstract API is available for free, but you need to subscribe to any of its paid plans to use it for commercial purposes. Users also need to make sure that all communications of these APIs are secured by TLS 1.2 or greater.
World Time API
WorldTimeAPI is a simple timezone API that quickly shows you the local time for a given timezone. You can also use it to get additional data, such as if a timezone currently has Daylight Savings Time, the UTC offset, and DST’s start and end date.
This microservice returns the local time of any given timezone in both unixtime and ISO8601 format. Though the default data return format is JSON, users can add TXT to the endpoints to get a plain text representation.
Moreover, it can convert an IP into its timezone and expose endpoints information. This process is possible both in cases of manually entered IP address or IP of the system from where the request is coming.
World Time API was originally designed for the developers and manufacturers of IoT devices so they can get a time reference for their geolocation without any hassle. However, you cannot use it for any non-commercial purposes.
Time API
Are you looking to get the time and time zone of any geolocation on your application? Time API is an ideal API for you. Besides providing the data mentioned above, it can also convert time zones and display all time variations (including Daylight Saving Time) in any particular country.
This API quickly updates the time-related data and makes them instantly available to the users. As a result, you can stay up-to-date without switching to another tool. It supports location queries through various location identifiers, including location ID, IATA/ICAO airport codes, and latitude & longitude.
Besides time, Time API also delivers contextual data, such as location coordinates and UTC offset. You would also want to use it because the API service is easy to use. This API quickly converts time zones, updates last-minute DST changes, and enlists all time zones of a country. As a result, you can invest your saved time in other productive activities.
Time Zone API
Time Zone API comes with a simple interface through which it processes the time zone requests for different locations of the world. Besides, it can generate the time offset from UTC for these locations.
All you need to do is enter the specific latitude/longitude data along with the date and ask for the time zone information. This API will be particularly beneficial for the website and mobile?app developers who want to add time info on any Google Maps Platform API-provided maps.
Using an HTTPS interface, it is pretty easy to access the Time Zone API. But to use it, you should own a project which is Time Zone API enabled and has a billing account since it comes with a pay-as-you-go pricing model. This API supports a long list of languages on which it can display the return results.
TimeZoneDB
TimeZoneDB is one of the leading timezone APIs that quickly offers time data of different locations. It boasts an enriched database of 400+ time zones spread across more than 240 countries. Therefore, it can cater to your request queries regardless of the location or timezone.
TimeZoneDB lets you access all the valuable data related to timezones, including country names, time zones, time zone name abbreviation, GMT offset, and Daylight Saving Time (DST). Users can retrieve its data in CSV and SQL formats and use it as necessary.
You can also use this API to get time zone data according to your query. Either add the latitude & longitude of a place or enter the zone name to get the current time of that location. The RESTful interface API of TimeZoneDB returns responses to the query in structured XML or JSON formats.
To use it for personal and non-commercial reasons, register to get a free API key. Heavy users and commercial users should upgrade to premium service for uninterrupted access.
IP Geolocation
Are you a developer who wants to include a timezone API in your next software? Do you want a robust API that is capable of performing multiple tasks? Unlike many APIs that only provide you with the time of a location, IP Geolocation is an all-in-one solution.
It helps you get data on the date and time of a location, along with the time zone of that area. IP Geolocation API also supports converting the time of one timezone into another one. You can use this feature by providing time zone names or location coordinates.
You can get your required information by entering the input data, such as the time zone’s name, location coordinates like latitude and longitude, and an IP address. In the case of all variations, the response of this API remains equally accurate and instant.
When you attempt to gather the geolocation of an IP address, the data will get retrieved in English by default. However, it is possible to change the response language to German, Russian, Spanish, Japanese, French, Italian, Simplified Chinese, and Czech. But remember, this feature is only accessible to the paid users of this API.
Timezone API
While working with time zones could be a stressful experience, extensive time zone APIs such as Timezone API can help you. Now, you can make numerous requests about your users using time zone, address, and IP address lookup.
By searching with an IP address, you receive data on location, timezone, and DateTime. If you check with the timezone, you will get the time, date, and location timezone. Address lookup will get you timezone and DateTime information.
This fast and reliable service can serve your API requests with accuracy. Since the API gets hosted in multiple global regions, including fast instances, your requests will get handled by servers with the closest location. This Route 53 latency DNS ensures a quick request processing time.
Its frequently updated data sources come from several sources to deliver you with correct information. You can use this timezone API for limited, non-commercial uses for free. For a higher volume of lookups, you need to subscribe to any of its business plans.
Precisely
Precisely is a useful API for logistics, do-not-call, and customer engagement tools. By implementing this REST API, developers can identify the timezone and get details for an address or location coordinates to make their business workflow smooth.
Precisely timezone API is capable of addressing two requests: timezone by location coordinates and timezone by address. These requests will generate data on timezone name, timestamp, time offset from UTC, and Daylight Savings offset. The code samples of this API are available in Java and .Net (C#).
Conclusion
Managing various time zones on your software applications or tools is a challenging task for the developers. Using an easy and instant solution like a timezone API, you can readily streamline the process for yourself and your audience.
These APIs can provide time and date data of any timezone, location, or even IP address. If you are into developing APIs, learning about tools that help you create mock APIs will be helpful.
