Request preparation

• I used an AI assistant to help structure this request
• I checked for existing issues covering the same feature

What would you like?

Follow system locale for date display in status bar

What

Display the date in the bottom-right status bar using the operating system's configured locale and regional date format instead of always showing an ISO-style yyyy-mm-dd format.

For example:

• Ireland: dd-mm-yyyy
• United Kingdom: dd/mm/yyyy
• Germany: dd.mm.yyyy

Users should see the date formatted consistently with the rest of their desktop environment.

Why

The current fixed yyyy-mm-dd format does not match the regional settings configured on many systems.

On my Linux system in Ireland, the OS date format is dd-mm-yyyy, but AetherSDR displays the date as yyyy-mm-dd. This makes the UI feel inconsistent with the desktop environment and ignores the user's locale preferences.

Using the system locale improves usability and provides a more native experience for international users.

How Other Clients Do It

Many desktop applications rely on the operating system or framework locale settings when displaying dates and times.

• Qt applications commonly use QLocale::system()
• Desktop environments such as KDE Plasma and GNOME display dates using the user's regional settings
• SmartSDR and other SDR applications generally follow the host operating system's localization conventions where applicable

Suggested Behavior

1. AetherSDR starts normally.
2. The status bar at the bottom-right displays the current date.
3. The displayed date is formatted using the system locale rather than a hard-coded format string.
4. If the user changes their regional settings and restarts AetherSDR, the date updates accordingly.
5. No additional user configuration is required.

Relevant UI location:

• Main window status bar (bottom-right date display)

Protocol Hints

Unknown — needs research.

This appears to be a local UI formatting change and likely does not require any FlexLib or SmartSDR protocol changes.

Acceptance Criteria

• The date display uses the system locale by default.
• Irish locale users see dates in dd-mm-yyyy format.
• UK locale users see dates in their configured regional format.
• Existing date updates continue to function correctly.
• No SmartSDR protocol or radio behavior is affected.