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

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.

Solution 1:

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"

Solution 2:

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.

Solution 3:

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.

Solution 4:

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.

Solution 5:

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.