Is it possible to set a custom font for entire of application?

Question

I need to use certain font for my entire application. I have .ttf file for the same. Is it possible to set this as default font, at application start up and then use it else

Answer 1

I would also suggest extending TextView and other controls, but it would be better I consider to set up font in constructs.

public FontTextView(Context context) {
    super(context);
    init();
}

public FontTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
    super(context, attrs);
    init();
}

public FontTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) {
    super(context, attrs, defStyle);
    init();
}

protected void init() {
    setTypeface(Typeface.createFromAsset(getContext().getAssets(), AppConst.FONT));
}

Answer 2

A brilliant solution can be found here: https://coderwall.com/p/qxxmaa/android-use-a-custom-font-everywhere.

Simply extend activities from BaseActivity and write those methods. Also you should better cache fonts as described here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/16902532/2914140.

---

After some research I wrote code that works at Samsung Galaxy Tab A (Android 5.0). Used code of weston and Roger Huang as well as https://stackoverflow.com/a/33236102/2914140. Also tested on Lenovo TAB 2 A10-70L, where it doesn't work. I inserted a font 'Comic Sans' here in order to see a difference.

import android.content.Context;
import android.graphics.Typeface;
import android.os.Build;
import android.util.Log;
import java.lang.reflect.Field;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;

public class FontsOverride {
    private static final int BOLD = 1;
    private static final int BOLD_ITALIC = 2;
    private static final int ITALIC = 3;
    private static final int LIGHT = 4;
    private static final int CONDENSED = 5;
    private static final int THIN = 6;
    private static final int MEDIUM = 7;
    private static final int REGULAR = 8;

    private Context context;

    public FontsOverride(Context context) {
        this.context = context;
    }

    public void loadFonts() {
        Map<String, Typeface> fontsMap = new HashMap<>();
        fontsMap.put("sans-serif", getTypeface("comic.ttf", REGULAR));
        fontsMap.put("sans-serif-bold", getTypeface("comic.ttf", BOLD));
        fontsMap.put("sans-serif-italic", getTypeface("comic.ttf", ITALIC));
        fontsMap.put("sans-serif-light", getTypeface("comic.ttf", LIGHT));
        fontsMap.put("sans-serif-condensed", getTypeface("comic.ttf", CONDENSED));
        fontsMap.put("sans-serif-thin", getTypeface("comic.ttf", THIN));
        fontsMap.put("sans-serif-medium", getTypeface("comic.ttf", MEDIUM));
        overrideFonts(fontsMap);
    }

    private void overrideFonts(Map<String, Typeface> typefaces) {
        if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT == 21) {
            try {
                final Field field = Typeface.class.getDeclaredField("sSystemFontMap");
                field.setAccessible(true);
                Map<String, Typeface> oldFonts = (Map<String, Typeface>) field.get(null);
                if (oldFonts != null) {
                    oldFonts.putAll(typefaces);
                } else {
                    oldFonts = typefaces;
                }
                field.set(null, oldFonts);
                field.setAccessible(false);
            } catch (Exception e) {
                Log.e("TypefaceUtil", "Cannot set custom fonts");
            }
        } else {
            try {
                for (Map.Entry<String, Typeface> entry : typefaces.entrySet()) {
                    final Field staticField = Typeface.class.getDeclaredField(entry.getKey());
                    staticField.setAccessible(true);
                    staticField.set(null, entry.getValue());
                }
            } catch (NoSuchFieldException e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
            } catch (IllegalAccessException e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
            }
        }
    }

    private Typeface getTypeface(String fontFileName, int fontType) {
        final Typeface tf = Typeface.createFromAsset(context.getAssets(), "fonts/" + fontFileName);
        return Typeface.create(tf, fontType);
    }
}

To run the code in entire application you should write in some class like Application the following:

    new FontsOverride(this).loadFonts();

Create a folder 'fonts' inside 'assets' and put needed fonts there. A simple instruction may be found here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/31697103/2914140.

The Lenovo device also incorrectly gets a value of a typeface. In most times it returns Typeface.NORMAL, sometimes null. Even if a TextView is bold (in xml-file layout). See here: TextView isBold always returns NORMAL. This way a text on a screen is always in a regural font, not bold or italic. So I think it's a bug of a producer.

Answer 3

There is a great library for custom fonts in android:Calligraphy

here is a sample how to use it.

in Gradle you need to put this line into your app's build.gradle file:

dependencies {
    compile 'uk.co.chrisjenx:calligraphy:2.2.0'
}

and then make a class that extends Application and write this code:

public class App extends Application {
    @Override
    public void onCreate() {
        super.onCreate();

        CalligraphyConfig.initDefault(new CalligraphyConfig.Builder()
                        .setDefaultFontPath("your font path")
                        .setFontAttrId(R.attr.fontPath)
                        .build()
        );
    }
} 

and in the activity class put this method before onCreate:

@Override
protected void attachBaseContext(Context newBase) {
    super.attachBaseContext(CalligraphyContextWrapper.wrap(newBase));
}

and the last thing your manifest file should look like this:

<application
   .
   .
   .
   android:name=".App">

and it will change the whole activity to your font! it's simple and clean!

Answer 4

For changing default font family of the TextViews, override textViewStyle in your app theme.

For using custom font in fontFamily, use font resources which is in support library.

The feature was added in Android 26 but backported to older versions via supportlib.

https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/resources/font-resource.html https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/look-and-feel/fonts-in-xml.html#using-support-lib

Answer 5

I found the mixture of calligraphy 3 library and coderwall's post as my ultimate result.

Answer 6

I would suggest extending TextView, and always using your custom TextView within your XML layouts or wherever you need a TextView. In your custom TextView, override setTypeface

@Override
public void setTypeface(Typeface tf, int style) {
    //to handle bold, you could also handle italic or other styles here as well
    if (style == 1){
        tf = Typeface.createFromAsset(getContext().getApplicationContext().getAssets(), "MuseoSans700.otf");
    }else{
        tf = Typeface.createFromAsset(getContext().getApplicationContext().getAssets(), "MuseoSans500.otf");
    }
    super.setTypeface(tf, 0);
}