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

Tom's solution works great, but only works with TextView and EditText.

If you want to cover most of the views (RadioGroup, TextView, Checkbox...), I created a method doing that :

protected void changeChildrenFont(ViewGroup v, Typeface font){
    for(int i = 0; i < v.getChildCount(); i++){

        // For the ViewGroup, we'll have to use recursivity
        if(v.getChildAt(i) instanceof ViewGroup){
            changeChildrenFont((ViewGroup) v.getChildAt(i), font);
        }
        else{
            try {
                Object[] nullArgs = null;
                //Test wether setTypeface and getTypeface methods exists
                Method methodTypeFace = v.getChildAt(i).getClass().getMethod("setTypeface", new Class[] {Typeface.class, Integer.TYPE});
                //With getTypefaca we'll get back the style (Bold, Italic...) set in XML
                Method methodGetTypeFace = v.getChildAt(i).getClass().getMethod("getTypeface", new Class[] {});
                Typeface typeFace = ((Typeface)methodGetTypeFace.invoke(v.getChildAt(i), nullArgs));
                //Invoke the method and apply the new font with the defined style to the view if the method exists (textview,...)
                methodTypeFace.invoke(v.getChildAt(i), new Object[] {font, typeFace == null ? 0 : typeFace.getStyle()});
            }
            //Will catch the view with no such methods (listview...)
            catch (Exception e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
            }
        }
    }
}

This method will get back the style of the view set in XML (bold, italic...) and apply them if they exists.

For the ListView, I always create an adapter, and I set the font inside getView.

Answer 2

package com.theeasylearn.demo.designdemo;
import android.content.Context;
import android.graphics.Typeface;
import android.util.AttributeSet;
import android.widget.TextView;

public class MyButton extends TextView {

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

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

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

    private void init() {

            Typeface tf =
                    Typeface.createFromAsset(
                            getContext().getAssets(), "angelina.TTF");
            setTypeface(tf);

    }

}

Answer 3

Working for Xamarin.Android:

Class:

public class FontsOverride
{
    public static void SetDefaultFont(Context context, string staticTypefaceFieldName, string fontAssetName)
    {
        Typeface regular = Typeface.CreateFromAsset(context.Assets, fontAssetName);
        ReplaceFont(staticTypefaceFieldName, regular);
    }

    protected static void ReplaceFont(string staticTypefaceFieldName, Typeface newTypeface)
    {
        try
        {
            Field staticField = ((Java.Lang.Object)(newTypeface)).Class.GetDeclaredField(staticTypefaceFieldName);
            staticField.Accessible = true;
            staticField.Set(null, newTypeface);
        }
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
        }
    }
}

Application Implementation:

namespace SomeAndroidApplication
{
    [Application]
    public class App : Application
    {
        public App()
        {

        }

        public App(IntPtr handle, JniHandleOwnership transfer)
            : base(handle, transfer)
        {

        }

        public override void OnCreate()
        {
            base.OnCreate();

            FontsOverride.SetDefaultFont(this, "MONOSPACE", "fonts/Roboto-Light.ttf");
        }
    }
}

Style:

<style name="Theme.Storehouse" parent="Theme.Sherlock">
    <item name="android:typeface">monospace</item>
</style>

Answer 4

This solution does not work correctly in some situations.
So I extend it:

FontsReplacer.java

public class MyApplication extends Application {

    @Override
    public void onCreate() {
        FontsReplacer.replaceFonts(this);
        super.onCreate();
    }

}

https://gist.github.com/orwir/6df839e3527647adc2d56bfadfaad805

Answer 5

In summary:

Option#1: Use reflection to apply font (combining weston & Roger Huang's answer):

import java.lang.reflect.Field;
import android.content.Context;
import android.graphics.Typeface;

public final class FontsOverride { 

    public static void setDefaultFont(Context context,
            String staticTypefaceFieldName, String fontAssetName) {
        final Typeface regular = Typeface.createFromAsset(context.getAssets(),
                fontAssetName);
        replaceFont(staticTypefaceFieldName, regular);
    } 

    protected static void replaceFont(String staticTypefaceFieldName,final Typeface newTypeface) {
        if (isVersionGreaterOrEqualToLollipop()) {
            Map<String, Typeface> newMap = new HashMap<String, Typeface>();
            newMap.put("sans-serif", newTypeface);
            try {
                final Field staticField = Typeface.class.getDeclaredField("sSystemFontMap");
                staticField.setAccessible(true);
                staticField.set(null, newMap);
            } catch (NoSuchFieldException e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
            } catch (IllegalAccessException e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
            }
        } else {
            try {
                final Field staticField = Typeface.class.getDeclaredField(staticTypefaceFieldName);
                staticField.setAccessible(true);
                staticField.set(null, newTypeface);
            } catch (NoSuchFieldException e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
            } catch (IllegalAccessException e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
            } 
        }
    }

} 

Usage in Application class:

public final class Application extends android.app.Application {
    @Override 
    public void onCreate() { 
        super.onCreate(); 
        FontsOverride.setDefaultFont(this, "DEFAULT", "MyFontAsset.ttf");
        FontsOverride.setDefaultFont(this, "MONOSPACE", "MyFontAsset2.ttf");
        FontsOverride.setDefaultFont(this, "SERIF", "MyFontAsset3.ttf");
        FontsOverride.setDefaultFont(this, "SANS_SERIF", "MyFontAsset4.ttf");
    } 
} 

set up a style to force that font typeface application wide (based on lovefish):

Pre-Lollipop:

<resources>
    <style name="AppBaseTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light">
    </style>

   <!-- Application theme. -->
   <style name="AppTheme" parent="AppBaseTheme">
       <item name="android:typeface">monospace</item>
   </style>
</resources>

Lollipop (API 21):

<resources>
    <style name="AppBaseTheme" parent="Theme.AppCompat.Light">
    </style>

   <!-- Application theme. -->
   <style name="AppTheme" parent="AppBaseTheme">
       <item name="android:textAppearance">@style/CustomTextAppearance</item>
   </style>

   <style name="CustomTextAppearance">
       <item name="android:typeface">monospace</item>
   </style>
</resources>

Option2: Subclass each and every View where you need to customize font, ie. ListView, EditTextView, Button, etc. (Palani's answer):

public class CustomFontView extends TextView {

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

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

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

private void init() { 
    if (!isInEditMode()) {
        Typeface tf = Typeface.createFromAsset(getContext().getAssets(), "Futura.ttf");
        setTypeface(tf);
    } 
} 

Option 3: Implement a View Crawler that traverses through the view hierarchy of your current screen:

Variation#1 (Tom's answer):

public static final void setAppFont(ViewGroup mContainer, Typeface mFont, boolean reflect)
{ 
    if (mContainer == null || mFont == null) return;

    final int mCount = mContainer.getChildCount();

    // Loop through all of the children. 
    for (int i = 0; i < mCount; ++i)
    { 
        final View mChild = mContainer.getChildAt(i);
        if (mChild instanceof TextView)
        { 
            // Set the font if it is a TextView. 
            ((TextView) mChild).setTypeface(mFont);
        } 
        else if (mChild instanceof ViewGroup)
        { 
            // Recursively attempt another ViewGroup. 
            setAppFont((ViewGroup) mChild, mFont);
        } 
        else if (reflect)
        { 
            try { 
                Method mSetTypeface = mChild.getClass().getMethod("setTypeface", Typeface.class);
                mSetTypeface.invoke(mChild, mFont); 
            } catch (Exception e) { /* Do something... */ }
        } 
    } 
} 

Usage :

final ViewGroup mContainer = (ViewGroup) findViewById(
android.R.id.content).getRootView();
HomeActivity.setAppFont(mContainer, Typeface.createFromAsset(getAssets(),
"fonts/MyFont.ttf"));

Variation#2: https://coderwall.com/p/qxxmaa/android-use-a-custom-font-everywhere.

Option #4: Use 3rd Party Lib called Calligraphy.

Personally, I would recommend Option#4, as it saves a lot of headaches.

Answer 6

I would like to improve weston's answer for API 21 Android 5.0.

Cause

Under API 21, most of the text styles include fontFamily setting, like:

<style name="TextAppearance.Material">
     <item name="fontFamily">@string/font_family_body_1_material</item>
</style>

Which applys the default Roboto Regular font:

<string name="font_family_body_1_material">sans-serif</string>

The original answer fails to apply monospace font, because android:fontFamily has greater priority to android:typeface attribute (reference). Using Theme.Holo.* is a valid workaround, because there is no android:fontFamily settings inside.

Solution

Since Android 5.0 put system typeface in static variable Typeface.sSystemFontMap (reference), we can use the same reflection technique to replace it:

protected static void replaceFont(String staticTypefaceFieldName,
        final Typeface newTypeface) {
    if (isVersionGreaterOrEqualToLollipop()) {
        Map<String, Typeface> newMap = new HashMap<String, Typeface>();
        newMap.put("sans-serif", newTypeface);
        try {
            final Field staticField = Typeface.class
                    .getDeclaredField("sSystemFontMap");
            staticField.setAccessible(true);
            staticField.set(null, newMap);
        } catch (NoSuchFieldException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        } catch (IllegalAccessException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    } else {
        try {
            final Field staticField = Typeface.class
                    .getDeclaredField(staticTypefaceFieldName);
            staticField.setAccessible(true);
            staticField.set(null, newTypeface);
        } catch (NoSuchFieldException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        } catch (IllegalAccessException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}