iPhone Home Screen date time error when using QuickTime screen recording on iMac

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Level 1

17 points

iPhone Home Screen date time error when using QuickTime screen recording on iMac

Setup: iphone 14 Pro (iOS 18.5) connected to iMac (Intel 2019 MacOS 15.5) by USB/Lightning cable.

When iMac is running QuickTime to display iPhone screen (picture in picture video from Safari app) I noticed that the iPhone Home Screen displayed the time as 09:41 and the Calendar icon showed Tue 9. The Lock Screen showed Tuesday 9th January 09:41. The time was unchanging.

Meanwhile the analog Clock app icon showed the correct time 5:07pm and going into the calendar app showed today as 1st June 2025 which is correct.

As soon as I quit QuickTime on iMac the Home Screen time and Calendar app icon reverted to the correct values.

Has anyone else noticed this? Or something similar, perhaps with different time/date?

Incidentally the 9th of January 2025 was a Thursday, so I’m not sure which year it imagined it was in.

Edited to add:

This does not happen when using the WiFi screen mirroring function (from the iOS Control Panel).

Posted on Jun 1, 2025 10:34 AM

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Answer 1

Urquhart1244

Level 10

144,802 points

Jun 1, 2025 8:48 PM in response to TheSLF

Their use goes back many years.

It dates back to Steve Jobs’ introduction of the 2007 first iPhone model. It’s a feature, presumably so that presentations can show a consistent timestamp, regardless of the actual recording moment for the preparation. Also see: Why 9:41 AM is always the time displayed on iPhones and iPads - Engadget

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Answer 2

TheSLF Author

Level 1

17 points

Jun 1, 2025 11:13 AM in response to TheSLF

It turns out the date and time shown are not random. They are the default values used for example on Wallpapers. Their use goes back many years.

Nonetheless they shouldn’t really be appearing on a live Home Screen in this way.

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