I recently had the pleasure of using the newly supported Downloadable Fonts feature that was introduced with Android Oreo, when changing Winnie’s font from Roboto to Lato.
Exploring Downloadable Fonts using Support Library & Android Studio
How to change font style in Android Kitkat, Lollipop, Marshmallow and Nougat (No Root) Android Kitkat 4.4.2 users can enjoy new fonts on their device as it becomes such an easy drill to change them with the help of some Android applications. Note: Android Studio can automatically populate the values for the Google Play services provider if you use the font selector tool in Android Studio. For more information about using Android Studio for downloading fonts, go to the Using Downloadable Fonts via Android.
Along with Fonts in XML, Support Library 26 introduced support for Downloadable Fonts, with backwards compatibility till API 14. Historically, using custom fonts have usually required the use of third-party libraries, so it was nice to see more support from the Android framework itself.
What is Downloadable Fonts, and why use it?
Downloadable Fonts allow the ability for apps to request fonts from a font provider application instead of including font files in the apk or downloading it themselves. A font provider application retrieves fonts and caches them locally so that other apps can request and share fonts. How cool is that!
Google Play Services (on devices with version 11+) is one such font provider, which I used for Lato as it is a Google Font. There isn’t documentation yet on how to implement your own font provider if you were to use a custom font not available through Google Play Services, however you can use fonts in XML which is still an improvement over what it used to be!
As you can see in the image above, apps using Downloadable Fonts make a FontRequest using the FontsContract API which retrieves the Typeface from the Font Provider. The Font Provider does not need to download fonts if it already exists in the Font cache.
Developers don’t need to use these APIs directly if using Downloadable Fonts through XML, which is described more in the next section.
Advantages of using Downloadable Fonts:
Great, let’s get started!
There are three ways of implementing Downloadable Fonts in your app — using Android Studio & Google Play services, programmatically or via the Support Library. I used Android Studio to generate the required files, and used the Fonts in XML feature from the Support library to apply the downloaded fonts.
I decided to do it via XML because then you can declare the required fonts in your app’s manifest file, which allows the framework to download them ahead of time. If doing it programmatically, you can only request for fonts after the app is launched, which can cause a delay in the first layout time. Also, it is less work do it via XML!
1. If you want to use Android Studio to generate the required files, then you’ll need version 3.0+. Add the following (version 26+) to your module’s build.gradle:
2. Select a text view in your app that you want to apply the font to and click on the fontFamily attribute under Attributes in the graphical layout.
Select the “More Fonts…” at the bottom, which will open the dialog below.
3. Make sure to have “Create downloadable font” selected. This results in three files being downloaded — lato.xml, font_certs.xml and preloaded_fonts.xml.
lato.xml
This file contains the font attributes for loading a Typeface from the Google Fonts Provider Application.
font_certs.xml
The system uses these certificates to verify the font provider’s identity, to avoid getting fonts from an unknown source. If using the steps above, Android Studio should have automatically generated the string certificates for dev and prod in font_certs.xml below.
preloaded-fonts.xml
This file is referenced in the Android manifest which helps the framework pre-load fonts to avoid delays when the app is launched.
4. Make sure this line is added to your app’s Manifest file, Android Studio should have done this automatically:
5. Great, now you are ready to apply the fonts in XML!
All I had to do was set the font family in the app’s theme to get TextViews throughout the app to change to Lato, including parts that were bold or italicized. However, if you want to configure the weights, you can follow the same steps to get Lato Bold using Android Studio, and change the weight manually in lato_bold.xml that you can then apply in XML layouts:
The whole thing felt like magic! But….
Gotchas
When using Support Library 26, I noticed that the toolbars throughout the app was still in Roboto, resulting in a hideous Roboto-Lato combination! Even explicitly setting the fontFamily of the toolbar in XML didn’t work. This is because Toolbar does not implement the fontFamily property, like a TextView does.
Including the fontFamily in an XML style and setting that to be the toolbar’s app:titleTextAppearance worked — the toolbar titles were now in Lato! Good news is that this seems to be fixed in Support Library 27, so this workaround shouldn’t be needed.
There were a couple of other places where Lato did not get applied — one where I was dynamically creating textviews with bold styling, and the bottom navigation view for which I used a third-party library. I initially thought that this would do the trick:
I used the ResourcesCompat.getFont() method to load the Typeface and set it on both views, and voilà, there was no more Roboto! However, at one point I saw a ResourcesNotFound exception when setting the Typeface for the BottomNavigation using this method.
Essentially, if the font hasn’t been loaded by the time this method is called or the user doesn’t have the required version of Google Play Services, it will throw this exception. The safest way to avoid this is to load the font programmatically, if you are unable to set the style through XML. Here is the official documentation on how to do that.
There is also this crashwithFontsContractCompat in 27.0.2, it has been fixed for a future release of support library and doesn’t seem to be an issue in 26.1.0
Other requirements and limitations worth noting:
I (surprisingly) enjoyed transitioning our app from Roboto to Lato thanks to Fonts in XML & Downloadable Fonts, hope you enjoy these features too! I’d love to hear from you in the comments or on Twitter, and don’t forget to ? the post :).
Hello friends, Today I will tell you best methods to change the font in Android. Users can change the size and even style of Android fonts. You can also download various fonts for your Android device. This trick is bet to change, and yet you can download new fonts for your Android phone.
Every smartphone has different features and specifications. Amongst them, the expensive phones’ are more convenient and up to date for the users than the cheaper ones. Most people can’t afford to change their smartphone just for latest features. Due to this, they are forced to use the same outdated model for a long time.
Read more: How to Change/Increase Font Size in Windows 10 Without any Software
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Change Font on Android without Root
Today, we will be discussing some ways through which you at least make your phone a bit attractive and tolerable. Above all, you can get an entirely fresh feel from your old device by Changing its Font.
Many smartphones do not provide the inbuilt option to moderate the system fonts. However, some of the smartphone manufacturers have modified their software to support this highly requested feature. For instance, Samsung and Xiaomi Android devices let you change the font style and customize as you like.
Read more: How to Increase Text Size in Android Phone
If your device still lacks in this aspect and you don’t intend to switch from it at present. Then, our apps and methods will certainly do the job for you, ‘without any root access.’
This app works completely fine with a non-rooted device. Previously, it used to work only with Samsung devices, but now it smoothly supports devices like Xiaomi, HTC, Meizu, Huawei, etc. It has plenty of font styles to choose from, varying in size and design. Users can quickly change the font in Android by using this method. Besides, some other features of this application are:
Follow the below-mentioned steps to install this application and get an entirely different experience with it:
Read more:Best Fonts for Instagram Bio – Download Instagram Bio Font
GO Launcher is amongst the best Android launchers available on Google play store lately. Besides this, there is a separate application called GO Launcher Fonts. It allows you to change your system fonts and provide your smartphone an entirely new look with bright color and cool font styles.
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It contains a variety of fonts in term of style, size or patterns. You can get this font changing application. First, it is required to install the Go Launcher on your device. You can get GO Launcher by clicking the link below. [LINK]
Moreover, the complete process of installation and setup of GO launcher font is as follows:
Download Font Android Lollipop
Download Font For Android Lollipop 2
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How to change font style in Android Kitkat, Lollipop, Marshmallow and Nougat (No Root)Download Font For Android Lollipop Version
Android Kitkat 4.4.2 users can enjoy new fonts on their device as it becomes such an easy drill to change them with the help of some Android applications. You just have to install them and change fonts from device’s settings.
However, it doesn’t mean that these applications only work for Android KitKat; instead, it works more efficiently on this android version than others.
With over 5 million downloads, FontFix is one of the best application for Android KitKat users to install free fonts. It has thousands of fonts for every Android device. Previously, it was majorly known by the name, “Font Installer’. It may require root access for some smartphones. Besides the new name, it has included some other amazing features like:
Steps to install and setup FontFix are as follows:
Download Font For Android Lollipop Download
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The fonts can be easily downloaded and run on any Android device. You mainly require an application called MyFonts for this. This app works completely fine with a non-rooted device. While, the HTC, Lenovo, Motorola devices may need the root permission.
Read more: How to Download and USE Google Assistant on any Android device
MyFonts let you install Custom Fonts on your Android Phone which is a very complicated procedure for Android platform. But, this app makes it pretty easier. Follow the below-mentioned instructions to install MyFonts on your device:
For those who have faced any trouble while using the above method. The rooted device users can download the custom font from any other font apk or website.
Afterward, you are supposed to head over to the Custom Fonts section in MyFonts apk. Here, you have to upload the downloaded font and install it subsequently.
Note: Your device may need to be rebooted for changes to take place.
Stylish Fonts for Android
Hopefully, the above methods will solve your issue and will positively change the fonts on your device. However, if you have face any trouble while running any of the above-stated applications. There are many methods by which you can install Stylish fonts on your non-rooted Android device.
Before moving any further, please make sure that you have a rooted device for using this method. But,don’t worry, if your device is not rooted or you are not willing to flash it. Just check that your phone can change its font in the “Display” => “Screen Display” section of “Settings.”
Read more: KitKat vs. lollipop – Top 10 Comparison [Which is Better Android Version]
If either of them is present in your case, then proceed ahead undoubtedly and find out the method to install stylish fonts on it. Follow these steps:
With downloads of over 10 million. It is amongst the top 5 applications available on Google play store that can change the fonts on an Android device. Stylish Fonts [LINK].
Steps for changing font via this app are:
Font Android Samsung
Many smartphones especially ‘Samsung phones’ have an inbuilt option available for changing the fonts. Under Settings> Device> Fonts> Font Style, it gives a variety of option to choose from the list. This way you can completely reinvent the font style and appearance of your text.
Samsung even has an online store where the user can purchase new fonts to use. Under the Font Style, tap Get Fonts Online to reach to the ‘font store.’ The fonts can cost between $1 and $5.
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Last Words on How to Change Font in Android Without Root
These are the best methods to change the font on Android device. You can change the size or even style of Android by following these methods. If you are facing any problem regarding this trick. Then, comment below and don’t forget to share this article with your friends.
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