How Can I Easily Use Custom Fonts in My Android XML Layouts?

Custom Fonts and XML Layouts in Android

Creating custom GUI layouts using XML files in Android can be challenging when it comes to specifying custom fonts for widgets. By default, XML files use system-installed fonts only.

Traditionally, developers would change fonts manually using unique IDs or iterate over widgets in Java, which can be slow and tedious. However, there are better solutions available.

One method involves extending the TextView class to implement custom fonts:

public class TextViewPlus extends TextView {

    // ...

    public boolean setCustomFont(Context ctx, String asset) {
        // Attempt to create Typeface from the specified asset
        Typeface tf = Typeface.createFromAsset(ctx.getAssets(), asset);

        // Set the Typeface for this TextView
        setTypeface(tf);

        return true;
    }
}

In the XML layout, you can then use a custom attribute to specify the font for each TextView:

<com.example.TextViewPlus
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:text="@string/showingOffTheNewTypeface"
    foo:customFont="saxmono.ttf">
</com.example.TextViewPlus>

Alternatively, you can use libraries such as Calligraphy to simplify the process of setting custom fonts across multiple widgets. These libraries provide a wrapper around TextView that automatically applies the specified font.

By leveraging custom TextView classes or third-party libraries, you can avoid the drawbacks of manually setting fonts in Java and achieve a more consistent and elegant look for your custom widgets.

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