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

Question 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"

Question 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.

Question 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.

Question 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.

Question 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.

Question 6

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());
}

Question 7

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,...)

Question 8

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

Question 9

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.

Question 10

for kotlin, it works for me

priceTextView.textSize = 12f

Question 11

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

Question 12

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

Question 13

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).

Question 14

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)
    }
}

Question 15

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>