How to Get Current Time and Date in Android?

Many times in android applications we have to capture the current date and time within our android application so that we can update our date according to that. In this article, we will take a look at How to get the current Time and Date in our android application. 

Note: This Android article covered in both Java and Kotlin languages. 

Step by Step Implementation

Step 1: Create a New Project in Android Studio

To create a new project in Android Studio please refer to How to Create/Start a New Project in Android Studio.

Step 2: Working with the activity_main.xml file

Navigate to app > res > layout > activity_main.xml and add the code below. Comments are added in the code to get to know in detail. 

XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:id="@+id/idRLContainer"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    tools:context=".MainActivity">

    <!--on below line we are creating
        a text for our app-->
    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/idTVHeading"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_above="@id/idTVCurrent"
        android:layout_centerInParent="true"
        android:layout_margin="20dp"
        android:gravity="center"
        android:padding="10dp"
        android:text="Current Date and Time in Android"
        android:textAlignment="center"
        android:textColor="@color/black"
        android:textSize="20sp"
        android:textStyle="bold" />

    <!--on below line we are creating a text view-->
    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/idTVCurrent"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_centerInParent="true"
        android:layout_margin="20dp"
        android:gravity="center"
        android:padding="10dp"
        android:text="Time"
        android:textAlignment="center"
        android:textColor="@color/black"
        android:textSize="20sp"
        android:textStyle="bold" />

</RelativeLayout>

Step 3: Working with the MainActivity file 

Navigate to app > java > your app’s package name > MainActivity file and add the below code to it. Comments are added in the code to get to know in detail. 

Kotlin

package com.gtappdevelopers.kotlingfgproject

import android.os.Bundle
import android.widget.TextView
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat
import java.util.*

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {

    // on below line we are creating a variable.
    lateinit var currentTV: TextView

    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)

        // on below line we are initializing our variables.
        currentTV = findViewById(R.id.idTVCurrent)

        // on below line we are creating and initializing
        // variable for simple date format.
        val sdf = SimpleDateFormat("'Date\n'dd-MM-yyyy '\n\nand\n\nTime\n'HH:mm:ss z")

        // on below line we are creating a variable for
        // current date and time and calling a simple
        // date format in it.
        val currentDateAndTime = sdf.format(Date())

        // on below line we are setting current
        // date and time to our text view.
        currentTV.text = currentDateAndTime

    }
}

Java

package com.gtappdevelopers.kotlingfgproject;

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.widget.TextView;
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;
import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
import java.util.Date;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

    // on below line we are creating variables.
    private TextView currentTV;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

        // on below line we are initializing our variables.
        currentTV = findViewById(R.id.idTVCurrent);

        // on below line we are creating and initializing
        // variable for simple date format.
        SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("'Date\n'dd-MM-yyyy '\n\nand\n\nTime\n'HH:mm:ss z");

        // on below line we are creating a variable
        // for current date and time and calling a simple date format in it.
        String currentDateAndTime = sdf.format(new Date());

        // on below line we are setting current
        // date and time to our text view.
        currentTV.setText(currentDateAndTime);
    }
}

Now run your application to see the output of it. 

Output: