Which timestamp in a mobile report should I use?¶

Use the timestamp representing the event your proposition describes, not simply the most prominent date in the reader.

Name the event first¶

Messages can have creation, submission, delivery, read, edit and deletion times; photographs have capture, import and file times; apps record updates and synchronisation. Identify the source field, whether it is stored or inferred, and which system created it. Recovered or backup records can add further stages.

Record the time basis¶

Establish UTC, local, fixed offset or application format and the viewer conversion, including daylight saving. Compare conversation, notification, provider and device sequences for anomalies. A chronology entry should state event, source and zone; human action remains a separate attribution.