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Designing an iPhone or iPad app and not sure what font sizes to use? Here’s the quick and dirty summary of font sizes assuming (a) you’re using Apple’s default font, SF Pro (or similar) and (b) you want to match iOS conventions.
iPhone Typography Guidelines
Here’s a quick summary of styles. See below for visual reference and more in-depth guidelines.
Element
Sizing
Notes
Titles (of pages or modals)
17pt
Medium font weight iOS 10+ page titles are 34pt before scrolling, 17pt once scrolled
Paragraph text, Links
17pt
Secondary text
15pt
Lighter color as well
Tertiary text, Captions, Segmented buttons
13pt
Skip a font size between secondary and tertiary text
Form controls (Buttons, Text inputs)
17pt
Highlight important buttons with medium font weight
Tab bar,Action bar
10pt
Don't go smaller than this
Let’s break this down element-by-element and look at illustrated examples. We’ll cover not just the actual font sizes, but also how Apple thinks about text styles.
Titles
iOS has some big chunky titles, like “Inbox” below – at 34pt, it’s about the biggest text you’ll see on an iPhone.
But once you scroll, titles morph to 17pt, the default size for text-based actions as well.
Note that the title shrinks to the same size as default text – but they use a heavier weight and top-and-center placement to distinguish it as a title. This was a bit of a revelation to beginning-designer-Erik, as I always expected that titles would be bigger than normal text (not simply bolder).
List Views
Lists are the bread and butter of phone apps. You never knew how many things were actually lists until you started displaying them on a tall, thin screen. Let’s look at those next.
In a list view – in this particular example, emails – iOS treats the sender’s name as normal-sized text (17pt), and the subject and preview as secondary, smaller text (15pt). I think this is worth noting, because again, starting out as a designer, my instinct was to do the opposite: make the body the default size and make the sender’s name even bigger. Notice a trend here? iOS doesn’t style font sizes the way you might naively expect.
On the settings page, the options themselves are written out in the default text style, even though the section titles (e.g. “AirDrop”) are smaller (whoa!). But notice that even though the title is smaller, it’s a thicker font weight, meaning you can still recognize it as a title. This balance of emphasizing and deemphasizing styles is crucial.
The notes below the settings (“AirDrop lets you share instantly…”) are written in 13pt font, which is the smallest we’ve seen in any of these UI examples.
Form Controls
Let’s look at a few controls real quick.
This should be starting to feel pretty straightforward now. The only surprise is the segmented button at 15pt size (doesn’t match the other 17pt controls). My hunch is that, since Apple knew some of these buttons would have many options, they just defaulted to a smaller text size for the control, even if there are only two options.
Search uses the default size and weight, though the color is a bit lighter before you start typing in.
Modals
This little popup is a super illustrative example of how Apple styles text.
The title is the default size. Which you would think would not be enough, but what have we seen before? A thicker font weight to make up for it not being any bigger.
The explanatory text is 13pt. I would’ve guessed it would be 15pt, like the email body text, but perhaps they just wanted it to fit on one line?
The password input is 13pt, which would be too small for a normal text input, though my hunch is because you’re only going to see a bunch of black circles, it doesn’t need to be the default size.
“OK” and “Cancel” are the default size, but since “OK” is hopefully what you will press, Apple draws a little more attention to it by making it a thicker weight.
These font sizes follow a clear pattern, and they illustrate some nice text-styling tricks, but there are some odd inconsistencies for sure.
Action Bar
Finally we’ve got the action bar at the bottom of the screen. This is the smallest text I could find in the whole UI – 10pt. I would stay away from such a small size as much as possible.
iPad Typography Guidelines
As of last update (Aug 2021), iPads generally have lower pixel densities than iPhones (though this has been true for years). Since iPads have fewer pixels per inch, anything that’s sized in “pixels” or “points” will be slightly larger on an iPad. Because we hold iPads slightly farther away from our eyes than iPhones, this balances out nicely–you can keep most of the same font sizes on iPad and iPhone. So start any iPad typography work by reading the iPhone section above.
That being said, the biggest difference is with titles. As you have a larger canvas to work with, an ideal body font size remains ideal – but you have much more space for larger titles.
So while some applications still use the iPhone-style 17pt titles…
Others are bigger.
So overall, for iPad, you’re going to be following a lot of iPhone styles, but with a little more room to get creative in your headers.
SF Typography Guidelines
The default iOS font is SF, or San Francisco. You can download SF Pro for free. It’s not necessary to use SF when creating an iOS app, but if you want it to have that default iOS look, then SF is your new best friend.
Apple would like you to be a doll and follow a few extra rules when using San Francisco.
First, use SF Pro Display at font sizes 20 or higher. Only use SF Pro Text for body text and smaller.
Font Size
Font Family
19 or smaller
SF Pro Text
20 or larger
SF Pro Display
Second, San Francisco is designed to have different character spacing at different sizes. So if you want to perfectly mimic the “default iOS” look, have a few options:
Hand-adjust the character spacing depending on your font size according to the table below
Use this handy Figma plugin or Sketch plugin to automatically have SF’s character spacing set correctly, depending on its font size
Or just ignore the fact that Apple tells you to change character spacing down to the hundredth of a pixel. Live free or die, man.
Font Style
Font Size
Character Spacing
Bold title
34pt
0.41
Body text
17pt
-0.41
Secondary text
15pt
-0.24
Tertiary text
13pt
-0.08
Smallest text
10pt
0.12
San Francisco is the default font for iPhone and iPad. So if you’re using it, best to know about these restrictions. However, you can, of course, design iOS apps in any font you want. Be careful that others might appear bigger or smaller, or less legible, even at the same size.
Continue to Chapter 2: Android/Material Design Font Size Guidelines
One Final Note 😎
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You can download fonts from the App Store app , then use them in documents you create on iPhone. After you download an app containing fonts from the App Store, open the app to install the fonts. To manage installed fonts, go to Settings > General, then tap Fonts.
The iPhone, however, gives you a single font. If the font changes, it's because the app you have open changed it, not you. But that doesn't mean you can't edit the text at all. Every iPhone lets you change the font size, making it either bigger or smaller.
With iOS 16, Apple also allows changing the time font on your lock screen. The new default font looks thicker than the one on iOS 15, so if you're not a fan, you can change it easily. In fact, you can choose from a list of eight available fonts at present and change their color as well.
With this option you can choose how large or small the text should look on your screen. Open Settings on your phone or tablet. Select Accessibility. Then select Display & Text Size.
just, start in safe mode, then restart? Yes. That will clear all cache data from your user account. It will also reset Font Book, so any custom font sets you've created will be gone, and all fonts in any of the various Fonts folders will be active, regardless of their state beforehand.
Most courts and lawyers recommend using a 12-point font for legal documents. That's large enough for anyone to be able to read and still small enough that you can fit plenty of information on a single page. Using an overly large font is obnoxious to read and takes up too many pages.
SF Pro. This neutral, flexible, sans-serif typeface is the system font for iOS, iPad OS, macOS and tvOS. SF Pro features nine weights, variable optical sizes for optimal legibility, four widths, and includes a rounded variant. SF Pro supports over 150 languages across Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts.
Body text - Font sizes should be around 16px to 18px for legibility (or 1.6rem to 1.8rem using our sizing rules mentioned above). If you can afford to go a bit larger, then even 21px can be pleasant to read. Headings - The headings should be around 1.96 times larger than your body text to create a sufficient contrast.
In 2003, Apple gradually started using a variant of the Adobe Myriad font family in its marketing and packaging. As new revisions of its products were released, the text changed from the serif Apple Garamond to the sans-serif Myriad Apple.
Apple is adding a new feature to its iMessages: allowing people to edit or undo texts they've sent. The new feature was announced at the company's World Wide Developers Conference on Monday, during which CEO Tim Cook and other Apple executives reveal the newest updates to their products.
You can use your device's built-in font manager under Settings > General > Fonts, where you'll see installed fonts from Font Diner, iFont, and any other font apps you may have downloaded and used. Tap a font and select a typeface to view a sample.
Tap on the "Display" and then the "Font and screen zoom" Scroll down the screen up to "Screen Zoom" and "Font Style." Under the "Screen Zoom" section, you can change the font size that you wish. Under the "Font Style" section, you can choose font style from the available list to set it as the system font.
To make your font size smaller or larger: Open your device's Settings app.Tap Accessibility, then tap Font size.Use the slider to choose your font size.
Choose a font that's at least 16 pixels, or 12 points. If many of your users are older adults, consider using an even larger font size—19 pixels or 14 points. A small font size is more difficult to read, especially for users with limited literacy skills and older adults.
San Francisco is a sans-serif typeface family designed by Apple. It was first created for use on the Apple Watch and has since gone on to replace Helvetica Neue as the system font on OS X and iOS. I imagine it will likely replace Myriad as Apple's official advertising typeface in the near future.
sans serif fonts such as 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, or 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode. serif fonts such as 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Georgia, or normal (10-point) Computer Modern (the default font for LaTeX)
Anything smaller than 5 pt will be extremely difficult to read, unless it's all capitalized. Even then, 4 pt font is about the smallest you can go. Keep in mind that some typefaces have thinner or lighter font weights, so just because one font is legible in 5 pt doesn't necessarily mean another one will be.
Size. The size of your fonts when designing for iOS should be no less than 11 pts to maintain legibility on the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. This is the minimum value of the font size, however, you will find that the ideal value lies in the range of 15–19 pt.
Go to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size.
Adjust any of the following: Bold Text: Display the text in boldface characters. Larger Text: Turn on Larger Accessibility Sizes, then adjust the text size using the Font Size slider.
If you don't see text controls, tap Cell or Text. Tap Text Color, then choose one of the following: A color or gradient designed to go with the template: Tap Preset, swipe left or right to see all the choices, then tap a color.
Open the Settings app, then tap Accessibility > Display & Text Size > Color Filters. You'll see three examples of color spaces to help you select an option that fits your needs. Swipe left or right on the examples to find a filter that works best for you.
How to Change Fonts Style on your iPhone for Videos. 1. Open the Settings app on iPhone, select Accessibility, scroll down to find Subtitles & Captioning, tap Style to change the style to Transparent Background, Large Text, Classic, or Outline Text.
SF Pro. This neutral, flexible, sans-serif typeface is the system font for iOS, iPad OS, macOS and tvOS. SF Pro features nine weights, variable optical sizes for optimal legibility, four widths, and includes a rounded variant.
San Francisco is a sans-serif typeface family designed by Apple. It was first created for use on the Apple Watch and has since gone on to replace Helvetica Neue as the system font on OS X and iOS. I imagine it will likely replace Myriad as Apple's official advertising typeface in the near future.
Open the Messages app and start a new chat or select an existing conversation.Now, tap the text input field.Just above the keyboard, in the row of apps, select Color Text Bubbles on iMessage. This will bring up different options or customization.
Open your iPhone settings and go to 'Accessibility'. Now, tap on 'Display & Text Size' from the Accessibility options. In the Display & Text Size settings, turn on the toggle for 'Increase Contrast'. Your iMessage bubbles will become a darker blue.
You can change the color of iMessages sent from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac with the third-party app, “Color Text Bubbles.” Follow these instructions to use Color Text Bubbles from your iPhone: Go to the App Store, and enter a search for “color text bubbles.” Tap the result, then tap on “GET” to download and install it.
If you are within the 14 day return period for a new phone, you return it for a refund and buy the color you want. if you are outside the 14 day return period, you can't return or exchange the phone for a different color.
In the Shortcuts app on your iOS or iPadOS device, tap on the shortcut you want to modify. Tap the Icon next to the shortcut name, then do any of the following: Change the shortcut's color: Tap a color swatch.
To change the font color, tap on Customize at the bottom of the screen. Now, tap on the time widget at the top. You'll now see the Font & Color menu on the bottom half of the screen. Here, you'll see a row of color options at the bottom from where you can apply to set as the Lock Screen text on your iPhone.
Introduction: My name is The Hon. Margery Christiansen, I am a bright, adorable, precious, inexpensive, gorgeous, comfortable, happy person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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