January 27, 2026
When your phone becomes a time lord
Time Station Emulator
Your phone just became a tiny “atomic clock” whisperer, and nerds are losing it
TLDR: A web page makes your phone’s speaker act like a tiny time signal so “atomic” clocks can finally auto‑set anywhere. The crowd is dazzled by the clever hack, split between pure awe and minor gripes about the sound, with extra laughs over the “don’t put it to your ear” warning—because yes, it’s that loud
The internet is freaking out over Time Station Emulator, a browser page that turns your phone’s speaker into a super short‑range “radio” to set those self‑setting “atomic” clocks that never actually set themselves. No install, no account—just open timestation.pages.dev and boom, your clock hears the time. Yes, really.
Praise came in hot. One fan handed it “the 2024 lateral thinking award,” while another confessed, “Sometimes I think I’m smart… then I see stuff like this.” A nostalgic twist arrived when a commenter recalled trying to make a TI‑84 calculator do the same thing in high school just to mess with campus clocks—foiled by the clocks only listening at night and, well, teenage electronics skills. Cue a chorus of “What? Wow.”
But even viral love needs a little drama. A radio‑nerd/audiophile split emerged when one user admitted being “let down” that the U.S. signal (WWVB) didn’t fill the whole audible range. Others countered that the minimalist hum is the point—and kind of soothing. Meanwhile, safety jokes flew after the app warned not to put your ear near the speaker because the high‑pitched signal can be dangerously loud even if you can’t hear it.
Why it matters: city interference makes many radio‑controlled clocks dumb. This clever, entirely in‑browser hack fakes five global time stations and can finally set them anywhere, daylight‑saving quirks and leap seconds included
Key Points
- •Time Station Emulator uses audio playback to create short-range RF time signals that synchronize radio-controlled clocks and watches.
- •It emulates five stations (BPC, DCF77, JJY, MSF, WWVB), supports DST and DUT1 where applicable, and derives time via an NTP-like algorithm.
- •The tool runs entirely in the browser, requires WebAssembly and a DAC capable of ≥44.1 kHz PCM, and most ≥2019 devices should work.
- •As of early 2024, Safari on iOS and Firefox on Android have breaking issues and are not supported.
- •Usage involves selecting a station, positioning the speaker close to the clock’s antenna, setting suitable volume, and observing a safety warning; sync typically completes within ~3 minutes.