How to change fontFamily of TextView in Android

Question

So I'd like to change the android:fontFamily in Android but I don't see any pre-defined fonts in Android. How do I select one of the pre-defined ones? I don't really need to define my own TypeFace but all I need is something different from what it shows right now.

<TextView
    android:id="@+id/HeaderText"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:layout_alignParentTop="true"
    android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
    android:layout_marginTop="52dp"
    android:gravity="center"
    android:text="CallerBlocker"
    android:textSize="40dp"
    android:fontFamily="Arial"
 />

It seems what I did up there won't really work! BTW android:fontFamily="Arial" was a stupid attempt!

Answer 1

The valid value of android:fontFamily is defined in /system/etc/system_fonts.xml(4.x) or /system/etc/fonts.xml(5.x). But Device Manufacturer might modify it, so the actual font used by setting fontFamily value depends on the above-mentioned file of the specified device.

In AOSP, the Arial font is valid but must be defined using "arial" not "Arial", for example android:fontFamily="arial". Have a qucik look at Kitkat's system_fonts.xml

    <family>
    <nameset>
        <name>sans-serif</name>
        <name>arial</name>
        <name>helvetica</name>
        <name>tahoma</name>
        <name>verdana</name>
    </nameset>
    <fileset>
        <file>Roboto-Regular.ttf</file>
        <file>Roboto-Bold.ttf</file>
        <file>Roboto-Italic.ttf</file>
        <file>Roboto-BoldItalic.ttf</file>
    </fileset>
</family>

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

There are three relevant xml-attributes for defining a "font" in layout--android:fontFamily, android:typeface and android:textStyle. The combination of "fontFamily" and "textStyle" or "typeface" and "textStyle" can be used to change the appearance of font in text, so does used alone. Code snippet in TextView.java like this:

    private void setTypefaceFromAttrs(String familyName, int typefaceIndex, int styleIndex) {
    Typeface tf = null;
    if (familyName != null) {
        tf = Typeface.create(familyName, styleIndex);
        if (tf != null) {
            setTypeface(tf);
            return;
        }
    }
    switch (typefaceIndex) {
        case SANS:
            tf = Typeface.SANS_SERIF;
            break;

        case SERIF:
            tf = Typeface.SERIF;
            break;

        case MONOSPACE:
            tf = Typeface.MONOSPACE;
            break;
    }
    setTypeface(tf, styleIndex);
}


    public void setTypeface(Typeface tf, int style) {
    if (style > 0) {
        if (tf == null) {
            tf = Typeface.defaultFromStyle(style);
        } else {
            tf = Typeface.create(tf, style);
        }

        setTypeface(tf);
        // now compute what (if any) algorithmic styling is needed
        int typefaceStyle = tf != null ? tf.getStyle() : 0;
        int need = style & ~typefaceStyle;
        mTextPaint.setFakeBoldText((need & Typeface.BOLD) != 0);
        mTextPaint.setTextSkewX((need & Typeface.ITALIC) != 0 ? -0.25f : 0);
    } else {
        mTextPaint.setFakeBoldText(false);
        mTextPaint.setTextSkewX(0);
        setTypeface(tf);
    }
}

From the code We can see:

1. if "fontFamily" is set, then the "typeface" will be ignored.
2. "typeface" has standard and limited valid values. In fact, the values are "normal" "sans" "serif" and "monospace", they can be found in system_fonts.xml(4.x) or fonts.xml(5.x). Actually both "normal" and "sans" are the default font of system.
3. "fontFamily" can be used to set all fonts of build-in fonts, while "typeface" only provide the typical fonts of "sans-serif" "serif" and "monospace"(the three main category of font type in the world).
4. When only set "textStyle", We actually set the default font and the specified style. The effective value are "normal" "bold" "italic" and "bold | italic".

Answer 2

Here is an easier way that can work in some cases. The principle is to add a not visible TextVview in your xml layout and to get its typeFace in the java code.

The layout in the xml file:

 <TextView
        android:text="The classic bread is made of flour hot and salty. The classic bread is made of flour hot and salty. The classic bread is made of flour hot and salty."
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        android:layout_height="0dp"
        android:fontFamily="sans-serif-thin"
        android:id="@+id/textViewDescription"/>

And the java code:

myText.setTypeface(textViewSelectedDescription.getTypeface());

It has worked for me (within a TextSwitcher for example).

Answer 3

try these simple steps. 1. create font folder in res folder. 2. copy and paste .ttf file into font folder. 3. Now give the path in xml like below.

 android:fontFamily="@font/frutiger"

or what ever your file name is. Thats it happy code

Answer 4

Dynamically you can set the fontfamily similar to android:fontFamily in xml by using this,

For Custom font:

 TextView tv = ((TextView) v.findViewById(R.id.select_item_title));
 Typeface face=Typeface.createFromAsset(getAssets(),"fonts/mycustomfont.ttf"); 
 tv.setTypeface(face);

For Default font:

 tv.setTypeface(Typeface.create("sans-serif-medium",Typeface.NORMAL));

These are the list of default font family used, use any of this by replacing the double quotation string "sans-serif-medium"

FONT FAMILY                    TTF FILE                    

1  casual                      ComingSoon.ttf              
2  cursive                     DancingScript-Regular.ttf   
3  monospace                   DroidSansMono.ttf           
4  sans-serif                  Roboto-Regular.ttf          
5  sans-serif-black            Roboto-Black.ttf            
6  sans-serif-condensed        RobotoCondensed-Regular.ttf 
7  sans-serif-condensed-light  RobotoCondensed-Light.ttf   
8  sans-serif-light            Roboto-Light.ttf            
9  sans-serif-medium           Roboto-Medium.ttf           
10  sans-serif-smallcaps       CarroisGothicSC-Regular.ttf 
11  sans-serif-thin            Roboto-Thin.ttf             
12  serif                      NotoSerif-Regular.ttf       
13  serif-monospace            CutiveMono.ttf              

"mycustomfont.ttf" is the ttf file. Path will be in src/assets/fonts/mycustomfont.ttf , you can refer more about default font in this Default font family

Answer 5

Starting from Android-Studio 3.0 its very easy to change font family

Using support library 26, it will work on devices running Android API version 16 and higher

Create a folder font under res directory .Download the font which ever you want and paste it inside font folder. The structure should be some thing like below

now you can change font in layout using

<TextView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:fontFamily="@font/dancing_script"/>

To change Programatically

 Typeface typeface = getResources().getFont(R.font.myfont);
 textView.setTypeface(typeface);  

To change font using styles.xml create a style

 <style name="Regular">
        <item name="android:fontFamily">@font/dancing_script</item>
        <item name="android:textStyle">normal</item>
 </style>

and apply this style to TextView

  <TextView
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    style="@style/Regular"/>

you can also Create your own font family

- Right-click the font folder and go to New > Font resource file. The New Resource File window appears.

- Enter the file name, and then click OK. The new font resource XML opens in the editor.

Write your own font family here , for example

<font-family xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
    <font
        android:fontStyle="normal"
        android:fontWeight="400"
        android:font="@font/lobster_regular" />
    <font
        android:fontStyle="italic"
        android:fontWeight="400"
        android:font="@font/lobster_italic" />
</font-family>

this is simply a mapping of a specific fontStyle and fontWeight to the font resource which will be used to render that specific variant. Valid values for fontStyle are normal or italic; and fontWeight conforms to the CSS font-weight specification

1. To change fontfamily in layout you can write

 <TextView
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:fontFamily="@font/lobster"/>

2. To Change Programmatically

 Typeface typeface = getResources().getFont(R.font.myfont);
   //or to support all versions use
Typeface typeface = ResourcesCompat.getFont(context, R.font.myfont);
 textView.setTypeface(typeface);  

Note: As of Android Support Library 26.0, you must declare both sets of attributes ( android: and app: ) to ensure your fonts load on devices running Api 26 or lower.

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<font-family xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
             xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto">
    <font android:fontStyle="normal" android:fontWeight="400" android:font="@font/myfont-Regular"
          app:fontStyle="normal" app:fontWeight="400" app:font="@font/myfont-Regular"/>
    <font android:fontStyle="italic" android:fontWeight="400" android:font="@font/myfont-Italic"
          app:fontStyle="italic" app:fontWeight="400" app:font="@font/myfont-Italic" />
</font-family>

To change font of entire App Add these two lines in AppTheme

 <style name="AppTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light.NoActionBar">
     <item name="android:fontFamily">@font/your_font</item>
     <item name="fontFamily">@font/your_font</item>
  </style>

See the Documentation , Android Custom Fonts Tutorial For more info

Answer 6

This is also a good library RobotoTextView. It really serves your needs.