Custom font rendering on Android 4.0 (Ice cream sandwich)

Question

While testing an application that uses Helvetica Neue as its primary font on Android 4.0 I have found that there is an inconsistency in typeface rendering compared to multiple d

Answer 1

Although we never found a solution to the Helvetica rendering bug we were able to convince the client to switch to Roboto after we showed them the bug on a Galaxy Nexus.

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Update:

public class TextViewCompat extends TextView {

    public TextViewCompat(Context context) {
        super(context);
        setup(context, null, 0);
    }

    public TextViewCompat(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        super(context, attrs);
        setup(context, attrs, 0);
    }

    public TextViewCompat(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) {
        super(context, attrs, defStyle);
        setup(context, attrs, defStyle);
    }

    private void setup(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) {
        setPaintFlags(getPaintFlags() | Paint.SUBPIXEL_TEXT_FLAG);
    }
}

Answer 2

Add font type ttf file to asset folder, then add below code

Typeface tf = Typeface.createFromAsset(getBaseContext().getAssets(), "Helvetica.ttf");

then add tf object to text view as below

textobjext.setTypeface(tf, Typeface.BOLD);

Answer 3

After playing some more I haven't been able to reproduce what you see.

Leads me to believe that the the font you are using is bad.

I set all my typefaces as per my other answer, this works fine for me, see screens:

So the top text is Roboto-Normal Then the text below is Roboto-Light, with <b></b> for making it strong.

So 3 versions, 3 different screen sizes, two densities, manually set Typeface. same rendering. Not sure how your getting what your seeing. Have you tried with a different typeface?

I'll provide some more examples of what i'm doing if that might help?

Answer 4

ICS v14+ uses the Roboto font found here:Android design

It would be better to set the type face manually if you want it to display the same across all versions.

Typeface mBoldType = Typeface.createFromAsset(getAssets(), "fonts/Roboto-Bold.ttf");
TextView mTextView = findById(R.id.text1);
mTextView.setTypeface(mBoldType);

Unfortunately there is no quick way to do this in the xml for custom fonts, but a properly programed Helper class should do what you need.

If you need a example function let me know.

What should be noted, is that if you set a custom typeface, things like android:fontStyle will not work, ie, you need a bold typeface, italic typeface etc..