Font size of TextView in Android application changes on changing font size from native settings

Question

I want to specify my own text size in my application, but I am having a problem doing this.

When I change the font size in the device settings, the font size of my application TextView also changes.

it is default behavior that if you change the font size of your device native font then it also effect to your application font size. — Shreyash Mahajan, Nov 07 '12 at 07:16
you can find answer from here http://stackoverflow.com/questions/16706076/font-size-and-images-for-different-devices/16910589#16910589 — Bhavesh Jethani, Jul 16 '14 at 06:47
Use sp for text size…because but it is scaled by the user’s font size preference. Use dp for everything else. — live-love, Nov 22 '17 at 18:46

score 250 · Accepted Answer · edited May 31 '18 at 04:52

250

Actually, Settings font size affects only sizes in sp. So all You need to do - define textSize in dp instead of sp, then settings won't change text size in Your app.

Here's a link to the documentation: Dimensions

However please note that the expected behavior is that the fonts in all apps respect the user's preferences. There are many reasons a user might want to adjust the font sizes and some of them might even be medical - visually impaired users. Using dp instead of sp for text might lead to unwillingly discriminating against some of your app's users.

i.e:

android:textSize="32dp"

edited May 31 '18 at 04:52

Snehal Parmar

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answered Nov 07 '12 at 07:22

sandrstar

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A long while back I wanted to know if there were any rule for when I should use `sp` and when I should use `dp`. I got a really good response here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11638691/android-sp-vs-dp-texts-what-would-adjust-the-scale-and-what-is-the-philosoph – Sam Sep 25 '15 at 09:20

score 130 · Answer 2 · edited Aug 24 '13 at 13:08

130

The easiest to do so is simply to use something like the following:

android:textSize="32sp"

If you'd like to know more about the textSize property, you can check the Android developer documentation.

edited Aug 24 '13 at 13:08

Qantas 94 Heavy

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answered Aug 24 '13 at 12:38

Evan Long

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this is actually why the TS has the issue, using 'sp' instead of 'dp' – Boy Aug 23 '15 at 11:16
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I still don't know why there are 100 upvotes. because if we use sp for set textsize in application. Then we change the font size in Setting, the TextView in application also change – Linh Feb 28 '17 at 04:04
how does this answer the question? – Siddarth G Apr 14 '20 at 14:17

score 51 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

Use the dimension type of resources like you use string resources (DOCS).

In your dimens.xml file, declare your dimension variables:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>
  <dimen name="textview_height">25dp</dimen>
  <dimen name="textview_width">150dp</dimen>
  <dimen name="ball_radius">30dp</dimen>
  <dimen name="font_size">16sp</dimen>
</resources>

Then you can use these values like this:

<TextView
   android:layout_height="@dimen/textview_height"
   android:layout_width="@dimen/textview_width"
   android:textSize="@dimen/font_size"/>

You can declare different dimens.xml files for different types of screens. Doing this will guarantee the desired look of your app on different devices.

When you don't specify android:textSize the system uses the default values.

issue is not screens. It is the native font size selected in android display settings which leads to the issue mentioned — Himanshu Virmani, Jun 21 '13 at 09:36

score 25 · Answer 4 · edited Oct 01 '14 at 19:58

25

Also note that if the textSize is set in code, calling textView.setTextSize(X) interprets the number (X) as SP. Use setTextSize(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_DIP, X) to set values in dp.

edited Oct 01 '14 at 19:58

030

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answered May 08 '13 at 02:10

Arpit

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score 14 · Answer 5 · answered Dec 10 '14 at 11:02

It is not a good thing to have to specify DIP or SP again by code when already defined in a dimen.xml file.

I think that the best option is to use PX when using a dimen.xml value :

tv.setTextSize(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_PX, getResources().getDimensionPixelSize(R.dimen.txt_size));

This way, you can switch from DP to SP if needed in dimen.xml file without having to change any code.

score 9 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 07 '18 at 18:02

simple way to prevent the whole app from getting effected by system font size is to updateConfiguration using a base activity.

//in base activity add this code.
public  void adjustFontScale( Configuration configuration) {

    configuration.fontScale = (float) 1.0;
    DisplayMetrics metrics = getResources().getDisplayMetrics();
    WindowManager wm = (WindowManager) getSystemService(WINDOW_SERVICE);
    wm.getDefaultDisplay().getMetrics(metrics);
    metrics.scaledDensity = configuration.fontScale * metrics.density;
    getBaseContext().getResources().updateConfiguration(configuration, metrics);

}

@Override
protected void onCreate(@Nullable Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    adjustFontScale( getResources().getConfiguration());
}

score 2 · Answer 7 · answered Jul 29 '20 at 19:39

this solutions is with Kotlin and without using the deprecated function resources.updateConfiguration

    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)
        adjustFontScale(resources.configuration)
    }

    private fun adjustFontScale(configuration: Configuration?) {
        configuration?.let {
            it.fontScale = 1.0F
            val metrics: DisplayMetrics = resources.displayMetrics
            val wm: WindowManager = getSystemService(Context.WINDOW_SERVICE) as WindowManager
            wm.defaultDisplay.getMetrics(metrics)
            metrics.scaledDensity = configuration.fontScale * metrics.density

            baseContext.applicationContext.createConfigurationContext(it)
            baseContext.resources.displayMetrics.setTo(metrics)

        }
    }

Observation: this is the same solution as the above but udpated with Kotlin

score 1 · Answer 8 · answered Mar 23 '18 at 02:48

this may help. add the code in your custom Application or BaseActivity

/**
 * 重写 getResource 方法，防止系统字体影响
 *
 * @return
 */
@Override
public Resources getResources() {
    Resources resources = super.getResources();
    if (resources != null && resources.getConfiguration().fontScale != 1) {
        Configuration configuration = resources.getConfiguration();
        configuration.fontScale = 1;
        resources.updateConfiguration(configuration, resources.getDisplayMetrics());
    }
    return resources;
}

however, Resource#updateConfiguration is deplicated in API level 25, which means it will be unsupported some day in the future.

score 1 · Answer 9 · answered Feb 26 '19 at 16:53

You can use this code:

android:textSize="32dp"

it solves your problem but you must know that you should respect user decisions. by this, changing text size from device settings will not change this value. so that's why you need to use sp instead of dp. So my suggestion is to review your app with different system font sizes(small,normal,big,...)

score 1 · Answer 10 · answered Mar 12 '20 at 09:25

1

for kotlin, it works for me

priceTextView.textSize = 12f

answered Mar 12 '20 at 09:25

Shihab Uddin

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score 1 · Answer 11 · answered Mar 17 '20 at 13:16

1

change the DP to sp it is good pratice for android android:textSize="18sp"

answered Mar 17 '20 at 13:16

sanjay

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score 1 · Answer 12 · answered Apr 11 '20 at 10:44

in android 8 this solution work for me

add this code in base activity

@Override
protected void attachBaseContext(Context newBase) {
    super.attachBaseContext(newBase);
    final Configuration override = new Configuration(newBase.getResources().getConfiguration());
    override.fontScale = 1.0f;
    applyOverrideConfiguration(override);
}

source https://stackoverflow.com/a/57225687/7985871

score 0 · Answer 13 · answered Dec 29 '18 at 14:18

0

If units used are SP, not DP, and you want to override system font scaling, all you do is override one method in activity - see this post.

resources.updateConfiguration is deprecated and buggy (on Oreo I had issues with formatted text).

answered Dec 29 '18 at 14:18

Maxim Saplin

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score 0 · Answer 14 · edited May 10 '19 at 10:54

0

Override getResources() in Activity.

Set TextView's size in sp as usual like android:textSize="32sp"

override fun getResources(): Resources {
    return super.getResources().apply {
        configuration.fontScale = 1F
        updateConfiguration(configuration, displayMetrics)
    }
}

edited May 10 '19 at 10:54

barbsan

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answered May 10 '19 at 10:34

jay

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score 0 · Answer 15 · answered May 17 '21 at 04:41

0

I usually change size from dimen in resources file

<resources>
    <dimen name="siez_1">40px</dimen>
    <dimen name="siez_2">50px</dimen>
    <dimen name="siez_3">60px</dimen>

</resources>

answered May 17 '21 at 04:41

Nguyễn Phú

11
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Font size of TextView in Android application changes on changing font size from native settings

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