Using Custom Fonts, AutoLink, and Justification Mode in Android TextView

Introduction

TextView is one of the most commonly used widgets in Android development for displaying text on the screen. It also provides several lesser‑known features that can be very useful for developers.

Custom Font

By default TextView uses the system font, but you can import your own font files and apply them either programmatically or via XML. Place the font file in res/font or assets , then use setTypeface() in code or the android:fontFamily attribute in XML (note that the XML attribute works only with system fonts and English characters).

Example code for using a custom font from assets:

// Font file placed in assets folder
Typeface tf = Typeface.createFromAsset(getAssets(), "fonts/myfont.ttf");
TextView tv = findViewById(R.id.tv);
tv.setTypeface(tf);

Example code for using a custom font from res/font (requires Android 8.0+):

val tv = findViewById
(R.id.tv)
val typeface = ResourcesCompat.getFont(this, R.font.myfont)
tv.typeface = typeface

Custom fonts give your app a unique look and can also be used to draw custom icons.

AutoLink

AutoLink automatically detects patterns such as email addresses, phone numbers, or URLs in the text and turns them into clickable links, removing the need to create links manually.

Enable AutoLink by setting the android:autoLink attribute to email , phone , web , or all . You can also use the Linkify class for custom link patterns.

Example XML:

When the user taps the link, the URL is opened in a browser, and you can customize the link color with android:textColorLink .

Justification Mode

The justification mode aligns text to both left and right margins by adding space between words or characters, improving readability for multi‑line English text. Set the android:justificationMode attribute to inter_word or inter_character (available on Android 8.0/API 26 and above).

Example XML:

Justification works best with multi‑line English text; it has no effect on single‑line or pure Chinese text.