Download: Roboto Font from Android 4.0

by Kenneth Pennington
23 Comments
October 18th, 2011
8:32 PM EST
Filed under: Guides

Android 4.0 "Roboto" Font

Google and Samsung just announced their brand new Galaxy Nexus. Along with it– Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Now, developers are pulling back the iron curtain that held those secret new features under wraps for so long. P3Droid from MyDroidWorld just released a package containing the fonts from Android 4.0.

These fonts, announced by Matias Duarte, provide the backbone for a simplistic Android 4.0 user interface. They’re called “Roboto.” Notice the “robot” play there?

Download the fonts after the break!

Click here for download.

Kenneth PenningtonKenneth Pennington
Kenneth is a History major at the University of California, San Diego. His obsession with phones started in the early 2000's when he bought his Windows Mobile-running HTC Wizard.
  • Anonymous

    How do you install them?

  • http://briefmobile.com Kenneth Pennington

     On Windows Vista+, you can simply right click and press “Install.” Good luck!

  • http://twitter.com/mikeGsays Mike Garcia

    On Android…….

    https://market.android.com/details?id=com.martino2k6.fontchangerlite

    Just figured this out myself!  Looks GREAT on my Atrix 4G too!  Follow all the instructions in the app, and you’ll get it going

  • http://twitter.com/miknos Alexei Stukov

    DF sent me here. Helvetica ripoff. Just a little taller.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks!

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for posting these fonts. I found a site that has the Ice Cream Sandwich wallpapers. It is formatted for mobile so installing them is easy. It also has a ton of other good wallpapers as well. http://www.freedroidwallpaper.com

  • Ajithjagadish

    Any idea how to change fonts on devices which aren’t rooted?

  • http://www.savageinteractive.com.au zero

    Cool. Another Helvetica rip off.

  • Guest

    nope..
    try adb push

  • Ned Baldessin

    What’s the license for these fonts? Is it the same the rest of Android? Would that be GPL?

  • http://twitter.com/smitty97 Tom Smith

    Looks horribly unfinished.  Misaligned rasterization makes rounded letters flat on the bottom and leave a ‘dot’ on the top.  Line thickness is all over the place.  Reminds me of text in those super-compressed jpegs of spam email.  If I had to read everything on my phone in this font it would drive me batty

  • Brian Ashe

    > They’re called “Roboto.” Notice the “robot” play there?

    No, I missed that. Too subtle. ;-)

    Never mind Helvetica–is Styx getting any royalties?

  • http://yoshi1080.myopenid.com/ Yoshi 1080

    Incredible, this increases the number of installed font families in Android to … 4!!!

  • Guest

    The linked font isn’t the one shown on your screen (Open Type  vs True Type) and neither is it the complete font package illustrated in the presentation (http://cdn.pocket-lint.com/images/CCxY/roboto-new-font-for-android-ice-cream-sandwich-0.jpg?20111019-101738) Any one know where you can get the full package in Open Type?

  • http://fitoschidoblog.wordpress.com Fitoschido

     No, it isn’t.

  • http://twitter.com/BtotheJLuv Johan Eriksson

    Droid’s Roboto font: “This is not a typeface. It’s a tossed salad. Or a four-headed Frankenstein.” j.mp/nCuNRVvia @jasonsantamaria

  • http://twitter.com/BtotheJLuv Johan Eriksson

    Droid’s Roboto font: “This is not a typeface. It’s a tossed salad. Or a four-headed Frankenstein.” j.mp/nCuNRV via @jasonsantamaria:twitter 

  • benjamin intal

    I got the font from here: http://ifile.it/0rtpf8m/Android-4.0-Roboto-Fonts.zip which contains a readme which states that the font has the Apache License v2

  • Anonymous

    Do you know how many 1000′s of fonts that could be Helvetica ripoffs there are today? Not to mention that there were fonts out before Helvetica that make it look like a rip off itself. What do you think Novell’s lawsuit against Microsoft is about? Yeah about Word Perfect and Microsoft’s ripping off Word Perfect for Office over 20yrs ago. It’s back in court and they just picked a jury! haha…. and in that lawsuit there are over a 100 fonts being mentioned as direct rip offs of those in Word Perfect! lol… Microsoft is going to get killed in this case, I hope you know!!! haha….

  • http://twitter.com/miknos Alexei Stukov

    Helvetica is an “evolution” from Grotesk (saw it in the documentary Helvetica).

    Since Helvetica is from the 50′ (and there is no license fees I believe), why Android don’t use it as default instead of copying it and putting another name? Wouldn’t that be better for standards?

  • Adam Twardoch

    There’s a review of the typeface by Stephen Coles (a well-respected typeface expert) on Typographica: 
    http://typographica.org/2011/on-typography/roboto-typeface-is-a-four-headed-frankenstein/ 
    I recommend reading it, along with the comments. 

  • Adam Twardoch

    MontePythonFan, if you’re referring to Arial vs. Helvetica, that debate had its merits but these typefaces were made 30-50 years ago. A different era, different requirements, different licensing policies (typefaces were hardwired with typesetting technologies and many were not available for a technology other than the original vendor’s). 

    We live in a different world today. 

  • Sk76755

    i like it