When does the Duo day begin/end?

[Sandyfrench1]

In the past few months I have been in France, New York and Los Angeles. I can't figure the DuoLingo clock rules, or how to allow for different time zones. Today, for example, in New York, I started to practice at 9;30 pm EST. Duo thought it was tomorrow, so i lost my streak. YUK!

[jayeidge]

My Duo goes by the timezone on my Computer. Not the time, but the timezone. When I moved to a -4 GMT place for a few month I changed my timezone and my day ran from 0:00 to 23:59. When I move back to a GMT+2 place I changed my timezone and my day ran again, and still is, from 0:00 to 23:59. Maybe Duo also checks your geographic location somehow, but it is not based on your IP. And it definitely has absolutely nothing to do with the timezone you were in when you signed up.

[wazzie]

Your duolingo streak does not go by the time on your computer, and once it is set, you cannot change it.
However, your graphical representation of how many points you earn each day, does use your computers time, so the graph can be a unreliable source of whether or not you extended your streak.
I cannot say with 100% confidence that the timezone never changes, but duolingo staff has said on numerous occasions that your timezone is set when you first make your account and cannot be changed.
If you follow my steps above, which timezone does it put you in?

I'm not on my computer now, and won't be until tomorrow, but I will post a link from duolingo staff confirming what I am saying.

[jayeidge]

It does. My streak extended with the timezone. I tried to "cheat" by taking a lesson the "next" day in my home timezone, but it didn't extend it, it just added to my day xp. And the next morning I saw no check mark next to my flame, I took a lesson and I got the check mark.
Believe me I tried it intently, because I wanted to use the time difference and the "wrong" night, but I couldn't because, the time was aligned with my time. I am sorry if you don't believe it, but don't tell others it isn't so, because I just experienced it.
I have read that statement. Did you notice, that it is rather old?
Or just maybe I was lucky or I am in another A/B-Test.
The timezone is "Europe/Amsterdam" as it should be.

[wazzie]

Here is the source I was talking about. It is from only 4 weeks ago, which isn't too old.
"... but keep in mind that your account timezone is not currently changeable and will be consistent regardless of where in the world you are learning from"

A post from 10 hours ago, "We recently (with the Coach feature) changed the graph so that it is displayed with respect to your account time as opposed to your local time".
To me, this quote shows that your local (computer) time and your account (streak time) are not necessarily the same.
As an FYI, the little chart used to match your local time, not account time, but it has been corrected with the coach update.

[jayeidge]

If I had know this source to verify the timezone I would have done it, when I was abroad. I agree with you that it is strange.
Maybe I was just lucky, that I picked the right time to practice to keep my streak. Maybe the website didn't show the streak advancement, but it was there. I don't know, but my experience was absolutely different from what it is "supposed" to be.

[wazzie]

I really hope that once everyone gets this coach update, it will end all this confusion.

[jayeidge]

I just hope we get the timer, but not the rest of the coach. For me it is pointless and I use a script to see the old xp-bar.

[wazzie]

I'm not super happy with the way it was implemented either. I only have one language almost maxed out, so the xp bar isn't a huge concern for me, but I don't understand the logic in removing it.
I think a language specific coach would be nice. With language streaks and the overall streak not related to coach (and progress bars of course).

[jayeidge]

I like that last Idea of yours. The language related coach with the xp bar visible. That would actually be very helpful.

[wazzie]

When you follow my steps above, what time zone does it put you in?

(It's not that I don't believe you, but if it is acting as you say, it is not following duolingo's intended behavior, which I find interesting.... I don't want anyone to lose their streak, so when I answer this question, I give the same answer that duolingo staff has been giving for over a year.. but as recently (that I saw) as 4 weeks ago)

[jayeidge]

As I said "Europe/Amsterdam" as it should

[wazzie]

I see that now, you edited it in while I was typing ;)

[wazzie]

I'm glad it's the one you want, I'd ask you to switch your timezone back on your computer to see what happens, but I don't want you to risk being in the timezone you like

[Sandyfrench1]

Thanks for the thoughts... I believe I was in England (GMT 0) when I first started DuoLingo. Now, in EST I am in (GMT +5). Does anyone know how I can determine what Duo is using as my base time zone? (I tried Ctrl F from the web page on my MacBook but no joy).

[wazzie]

Okay, try this:
go to https://www.duolingo.com/users/Sandyfrench1 and read the first couple of lines. It should look something like this:

{"filter_stream":false,"notify_announcement":true,"followers":[],"upload-self-service":false,"push_activity_reply":true,"deactivated":false,"auto_facebook_post":false,"creation_date":"2013-06-21T22:12:47","learning_language_string":"Spanish","invites":{"extra_invites":0,"invites_left":3,"invited":[]},"is_following":false,"push_activity_comment":true,"timezone":"America\/Chicago","calendar":[{"improvement":19,"datetime":1412969988000.0},{"improvement":11,"datetime":1413068890000.0},{"improvement":11,"datetime":1413165895000.0},{"improvement":9,"datetime":1413239698000.0},......

It is on the fourth line on my screen (but I have a small screen, so your may be on an earlier line. I find it is easiest to look for the "improvement:#, datetime######" text because it repeats several times and tends to stick out. If you can find that text, read just above it for your timezone.

[Sandyfrench1]

Hey Wazzie, Thank you! Now I understand. Here's an up vote and a lingot.

I activated Duo in London. Thus, my 7pm here is tomorrow in Duo land. It also explains why my freezes were unreliable. Without understanding this, I was somehow able to build a 70+ day streak. Go figure.

I believe my phone and pc progress charts don't always track. I may have activated my phone's Duo someplace else. Is there an easy way to check the html in iPhone Safari?

[wazzie]

I just tried it on my iPhone.. for some reason when you click on the link (above), it goes to a page with a grey background that just says "users", however, if you reload it, it shows the html code (I have no idea why).
Then you can use the Safari search (write words in the search bar, as if you were doing a web search, and scroll to the bottoms of the suggestions and you will see "on this page". If you click that, you can search for keywords in the html.

[Sandyfrench1]

Thx W
I found the html on my iphone only one time. It is a massive amt of code, did not see a way to search, and did not find my start date or time zone. Tried to go back later and couldn't access the html. Yee Gadz! Interestingly, code included a great deal of grammar explanations...

Anyway, I think I'll just do hourly checks over the next few days to see when iphone Duo updates the graphs... it may be same as big Duo. If they are the same, then I will dig deeper to figure out why they aren't in sync.

[wazzie]

If you are doing checks, look to see when your green check mark disappears (make sure to refresh the page). The green check mark matches up with your streak. Good luck!

[Sandyfrench1]

BTW I thought you were a native english speaker (writer)

[Rugashirt]

Thanks for this info!

[CoachGayle]

Happens to me too