In my Android app, I would like to retrieve the current date/time (UTC) from some server. Android does have the built-in ability to synchronize the device's date and time with some server but I have found this to be unreliable. Does Google or some other well known service provider provide a simple API that would allow me to retrieve the current date/time? I am not interested in trying to set the date/time on the device (that's not even possible). But I do need to know the correct date in order to perform scheduled tasks that depend on exact dates.
I have seen a device reset its date to something like 1980 when the battery has been removed for an extended period of time and therefore I cannot rely upon the date of the device.
EDIT:
I came across this post: https://stackoverflow.com/a/13066268/753632
But it requires installing Apache Commons Net. Kind of overkill just to get the time. I don't need to bloat my code more than it already is.