Startup Launches App to “Unify Time” for Communities Divided by Daylight Saving Confusion

Tweed Heads, NSW — In what they’re calling a groundbreaking solution to a problem most people didn’t know existed or care about, tech startup SyncRight has unveiled TimeTogether, an app designed to “harmonise social synchronisation” for communities torn apart by inconsistent daylight saving practices.

According to the startup’s press release, TimeTogether aims to bridge the rift between people who observe daylight saving time (DST) and those who don’t — even when they live in the same suburb or within shouting distance of each other. 

Founders of SyncRight — Eva Koster, Jeroen Meijer, and Mark Visser — celebrate their $28 million raise to launch TimeTogether

The Daylight Saving Divide is Real

“Imagine planning brunch with a friend who lives just 20 minutes away, only to find out they’re living an hour in the future,” said co-founder Eva Koster during the app’s launch event. “Our app addresses this deeply felt, though rarely articulated, problem — the heartbreak of missed MeetUps and baffling time discrepancies.”

The problem, as described in SyncRight’s promotional material, emerges in regions where DST rules differ not just between countries, but between neighbouring cities or even within metropolitan areas. This can result from council bylaws, historical time zone quirks, or what Koster calls “time chaos.”

Koster went on to explain that the border between Queensland and New South Wales runs directly through Gold Coast airport. “Every plane that lands has to announce the local time to passengers. Depending on how the plane gets from the runway to the gate, they may have to make 5 or 6 different announcements as they go back and forth between Queensland and New South Wales time zones. It's just a mess,” she said.

Features that Resynchronise Lives

The app boasts an impressive array of functions, including:

• Unified Clock Display: Shows the “actual” time according to local standards and what your friends think the time is, factoring in municipal exceptions.

• Time Awareness Alerts: Push notifications warn users that their colleagues or loved ones may have shifted an hour ahead or behind.

• Social Synchronisation Mode: Automatically adjusts calendar invites to display the recipient’s perceived time, avoiding awkward “Why are you an hour early?” messages.

• Time Consensus Polls: Enables communities to democratically decide whether to “just stick to one time already.”

A Problem We Didn't Know We Had

Critics have pointed out that many people simply use online maps or messaging apps to check the time in neighbouring areas. However, SyncRight remains adamant that TimeTogether fills a unique niche, even if that niche only happens in summer.

“Most apps assume that time is consistent within a city, but that’s just not the case everywhere,” said CTO Jeroen Meijer. “We’re challenging the archaic notion that people who live five kilometers apart should agree on what time lunch is.”

Local resident Mark Visser, who lives on a street that straddles a state border with differing DST policies, expressed mild confusion: “I usually just check my phone and see if my mates are there yet. For important meetings, I use Life360 location sharing to check where people are, which admittedly is overkill and a bit intrusive if I'm being honest. I didn’t realise this was something people needed an app for.”

Despite some public bewilderment, SyncRight has secured $28 million in venture funding from investors reportedly impressed by the app’s ability to address a niche issue “with a lot of enthusiasm.” Koster remains optimistic: “This isn’t just about time — it’s about community. We’re putting everyone on the same temporal page, even if they’re technically in different spiritual realms.”

TimeTogether is now available for download, and the company is already planning updates to address related problems, such as “emotional dissonance caused by nearby towns celebrating New Year an hour apart.”

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Benjamin Elias is an Angel Investor by day and satirist by night - a combination that explains why he's so familiar with both building software and making fun of it. As a Microsoft MVP, he's perfected the art of explaining why collaboration tools never actually improve collaboration. His expertise spans enterprise software, digital transformation, and convincing VCs that his jokes about the Queensland tech scene are based on extensive market research. He lives with an unreasonable number of productivity apps installed on devices he mostly uses to write satire. Check out CollabSystems for more of Ben's writing.