Using custom font in android TextView using xml

Question

I have added a custom font file to my assets/fonts folder. How do I use it from my XML?

I can use it from code as follows:

TextView text =          


        

Answer 1

Create your customed TextView belong to the font you want to use. In this class, I use a static mTypeface field to cache the Typeface (for better performance)

public class HeliVnTextView extends TextView {

/*
 * Caches typefaces based on their file path and name, so that they don't have to be created every time when they are referenced.
 */
private static Typeface mTypeface;

public HeliVnTextView(final Context context) {
    this(context, null);
}

public HeliVnTextView(final Context context, final AttributeSet attrs) {
    this(context, attrs, 0);
}

public HeliVnTextView(final Context context, final AttributeSet attrs, final int defStyle) {
    super(context, attrs, defStyle);

     if (mTypeface == null) {
         mTypeface = Typeface.createFromAsset(context.getAssets(), "HelveticaiDesignVnLt.ttf");
     }
     setTypeface(mTypeface);
}

}

In xml file:

<java.example.HeliVnTextView
        android:id="@+id/textView1"
        android:layout_width="0dp"
        ... />

In java class:

HeliVnTextView title = new HeliVnTextView(getActivity());
title.setText(issue.getName());

Answer 2

Not a good idea to use custom fonts in xml due to this fact that is, you have to do it programmatically to avoid the memory leak!

Answer 3

Here is example code that does this. I have the font defined in a static final variable and the font file is in the assets directory.

public class TextViewWithFont extends TextView {

    public TextViewWithFont(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        super(context, attrs);
        this.setTypeface(MainActivity.typeface);
    }

    public TextViewWithFont(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) {
        super(context, attrs, defStyle);
        this.setTypeface(MainActivity.typeface);
    }

    public TextViewWithFont(Context context) {
        super(context);
        this.setTypeface(MainActivity.typeface);
    }

}

Answer 4

UPDATE: https://github.com/chrisjenx/Calligraphy appears to be a superior solution to this.

---

Maybe you can use reflection to inject/hack your font into the static list of available fonts when your application is created? I am interested in feedback from others if this is a really, really bad idea or if this is a great solution — it seems it is going to be one of those extremes...

I was able to inject my custom typeface into the list of system typefaces with my own font family name, then specifying that custom font family name ("brush-script") as the value of android:FontFamily on a standard TextView worked on my LG G4 running Android 6.0.

public class MyApplication extends android.app.Application
{
    @Override
    public void onCreate()
    {
        super.onCreate();

        Typeface font = Typeface.createFromAsset(this.getResources().getAssets(),"fonts/brush-script.ttf");
        injectTypeface("brush-script", font);
    }

    private boolean injectTypeface(String fontFamily, Typeface typeface)
    {
        try
        {
            Field field = Typeface.class.getDeclaredField("sSystemFontMap");
            field.setAccessible(true);
            Object fieldValue = field.get(null);
            Map<String, Typeface> map = (Map<String, Typeface>) fieldValue;
            map.put(fontFamily, typeface);
            return true;
        }
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            Log.e("Font-Injection", "Failed to inject typeface.", e);
        }
        return false;
    }
}

In my layout

<TextView
    android:id="@+id/name"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:text="Fancy Text"
    android:fontFamily="brush-script"/>