[MOD] Font Changer v1.4 (24/09)

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martino2k6

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2009
722
245
London
martino2k6.wordpress.com
Instructions in this thread only apply to the old 1.4 version which works with S-ON. Nothing from this thread is needed for the newer Market versions.

With the release of the Market versions (free and paid) I have created a newer thread in the general app section of XDA forums. Those versions work with S-OFF and have many additions and fixes. If you have any issues with those versions, please head over there. LINK. Otherwise stay here as I will still be providing support, but no more updates for the old one.


Description
This is a simple update and application which creates a symlink from /system/fonts into /data/local/fonts for the regular and bold font used by Android (sorry, no Arabic and others yet). The update just makes the necessary changes on the partition, and the application allows for fairly simple switching of the fonts. The update comes with some fonts already, but they can be added manually as well (read more to see how).
- Inspired from the Galaxy S :)


Requirements


Installation
  1. do a nandroid backup first, just in case
  2. flash fontchanger_update_basic*.zip (doesn't contain any extra fonts, so they will have to be added manually) or fontchanger_update_basic*.zip (contains lots of fonts, but requires ~15MB of free space during installation) in recovery
  3. install FontChanger*.apk on your device
  4. and you're ready to change the font now!


How to Add Fonts
Fonts need to be in TrueType (.ttf), and to ensure a smoother ride you should have two files. One for the regular typeface, and the second for the bold one. If you have just the regular one, the overall look may not be so pleasing and also it may cause a force close too.

Make sure that both fonts have the same common filename (and no spaces please), but append "bold", or "bd" or "bi" at the end of the filename for the bold font. Otherwise the application may not detect the fonts correctly. So for example:
Font.ttf and Font-Bold.ttf, or Font.ttf and Fontbd.ttf, and so on.

Once that is done you can push the files with adb to /data/local/fonts/ or /sdcard/.fontchanger/ (if you moved the fonts to external storage in the settings). Another way is to place the fonts on your SD card and then just move them using Root Explorer. Now just refresh the application and the new fonts should be there.


How to Remove
  1. remove Font Changer from your applications
  2. go into recovery and flash fontchanger_remove_defaultsense*.zip
Note that at the moment the fonts will get restored to the ones used in the stock Sense ROMs. So if you had previously used a theme like NexTang, which uses its own font, then you will have to reapply the update to get the same font back (something that I'll work on).


Known 1.4 Bugs
  • force closes sometimes (try making font names start with a capital, make sure the SD card is mounted on the phone, try to avoid single fonts and spaces in font filenames)
  • font sorting


Changelog
Code:
v1.5+   (market only)
v1.4    (24/09/2010)
       - minor UI tweaks
       - removed previews
       - reboot now works (only when ROM Manager is installed)
v1.3.1  (18/09/2010)
       - more force close fixes
v1.3    (18/09/2010)
       - some force close fixes
v1.2.1  (17/09/2010)
       - UI change for non-Desire devices and more minor UI tweaks
v1.2    (16/09/2010)
       - added settings (refresh on start-up, fonts location, bold behaviour)
       - move fonts to external/internal memory
       - UI changes and speed improvements
       - space savings when bold fonts are missing
v1.1    (12/09/2010)
       - updated fonts to 1.2 with new additions (thanks to Beppemi and Moe5508)
v1.1    (05/08/2010)
       - updated remove zip to fix some errors in the update script
v1.1    (04/08/2010)
       - added more fonts (thanks to Che123)
       - added previews of fonts (not all, still work in progress)
       - minor tweaks
v1.0    (03/08/2010)
       - initial release
 

Attachments

  • fontchanger_remove_defaultsense_v1.1.zip
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  • FontChanger_update_basic_v1.2.zip
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  • FontChanger_v1.4.apk
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Che123

Senior Member
Aug 18, 2009
613
10
Really nice :)

Going to try this one.

Maybe you can implement some more default fonts- take a look at the ones, I integrated in my suite >>
 

martino2k6

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2009
722
245
London
martino2k6.wordpress.com
Really nice :)

Going to try this one.

Maybe you can implement some more default fonts- take a look at the ones, I integrated in my suite >>
Didn't know about that before, but thank you. I'll take a look at it and add the fonts once I'll have the time :)

I'll be going on holiday for 5 weeks on Friday, so I made this application really quickly to suit my needs and also published it in case it might be of use to others too. But I'll see what I can do in the next two days.
 

Che123

Senior Member
Aug 18, 2009
613
10
Didn't know about that before, but thank you. I'll take a look at it and add the fonts once I'll have the time :)

I'll be going on holiday for 5 weeks on Friday, so I made this application really quickly to suit my needs and also published it in case it might be of use to others too. But I'll see what I can do in the next two days.

yeah, it's kind of hidden for desire users, since it's only posted in the g1 forum :D

np, enjoy your holiday ;)
 

bightf

Senior Member
Jul 19, 2010
67
6
Close to Paris
Sounds like a nice idea, but I've tried it on Roufianios V5 and Pinky 0.4 and each time I flash the zip, at the next boot the system completely hangs up, can't do anything but removing the battery...

Maybe it's a conflict with another app, don't know :(
 

martino2k6

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2009
722
245
London
martino2k6.wordpress.com
Sounds like a nice idea, but I've tried it on Roufianios V5 and Pinky 0.4 and each time I flash the zip, at the next boot the system completely hangs up, can't do anything but removing the battery...

Maybe it's a conflict with another app, don't know :(
I'll take a look at those two ROMs and see if I can find the problem. I use LeeDroid, and I haven't tested it on any others... I guess I should have done that earlier...
 

smuj

Member
May 24, 2010
18
0
Macclesfield
This killed my build good, I'm running ieftm's Official 2.2, with: busybox, old A2SD+, OpenVPN (TUN), EXT4 support, 802.11N.

If you're on that rom proceed with caution!
 

martino2k6

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2009
722
245
London
martino2k6.wordpress.com
The remove zip file should remove the symlinks and restore the default fonts (and therefore removing the need for a restore), but I never tried it after a failed font changer update as I didn't encounter one myself.

I'll take a look at the problems later today.
 
Last edited:

wingnutta

Senior Member
Jul 9, 2010
184
14
Leigh
Using DeFrost 2.5a here and it works like a charm!.. Have changed my fonts at least 6 or 7 times as i cant decide. Some previews dont work (can live with that) and the ability to add more fonts (havent a clue how to push via adb yet) would be nice.. Other than that - Top Work!!
 

martino2k6

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2009
722
245
London
martino2k6.wordpress.com
Using DeFrost 2.5a here and it works like a charm!.. Have changed my fonts at least 6 or 7 times as i cant decide. Some previews dont work (can live with that) and the ability to add more fonts (havent a clue how to push via adb yet) would be nice.. Other than that - Top Work!!
The previews are done in a stupid way, and I should do something smarter (with time). You can also copy the fonts to your sdcard and then use Root Explorer to copy/move them to the directory specified in the first post.


Sounds like a nice idea, but I've tried it on Roufianios V5 and Pinky 0.4 and each time I flash the zip, at the next boot the system completely hangs up, can't do anything but removing the battery...

Maybe it's a conflict with another app, don't know :(
I just tried it on a clean Pinky 0.4 and Roufianios V6 install and it worked fine, so I'm afraid I can't reproduce the error. Must be a conflict with something in that case... ~_~ Any errors during the installation of the zip file?


P.S. Uploaded new remove zip which should have some errors fixed.
 

Attachments

  • device.jpg
    device.jpg
    27.6 KB · Views: 420
Last edited:

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  • 2
    Instructions in this thread only apply to the old 1.4 version which works with S-ON. Nothing from this thread is needed for the newer Market versions.

    With the release of the Market versions (free and paid) I have created a newer thread in the general app section of XDA forums. Those versions work with S-OFF and have many additions and fixes. If you have any issues with those versions, please head over there. LINK. Otherwise stay here as I will still be providing support, but no more updates for the old one.


    Description
    This is a simple update and application which creates a symlink from /system/fonts into /data/local/fonts for the regular and bold font used by Android (sorry, no Arabic and others yet). The update just makes the necessary changes on the partition, and the application allows for fairly simple switching of the fonts. The update comes with some fonts already, but they can be added manually as well (read more to see how).
    - Inspired from the Galaxy S :)


    Requirements


    Installation
    1. do a nandroid backup first, just in case
    2. flash fontchanger_update_basic*.zip (doesn't contain any extra fonts, so they will have to be added manually) or fontchanger_update_basic*.zip (contains lots of fonts, but requires ~15MB of free space during installation) in recovery
    3. install FontChanger*.apk on your device
    4. and you're ready to change the font now!


    How to Add Fonts
    Fonts need to be in TrueType (.ttf), and to ensure a smoother ride you should have two files. One for the regular typeface, and the second for the bold one. If you have just the regular one, the overall look may not be so pleasing and also it may cause a force close too.

    Make sure that both fonts have the same common filename (and no spaces please), but append "bold", or "bd" or "bi" at the end of the filename for the bold font. Otherwise the application may not detect the fonts correctly. So for example:
    Font.ttf and Font-Bold.ttf, or Font.ttf and Fontbd.ttf, and so on.

    Once that is done you can push the files with adb to /data/local/fonts/ or /sdcard/.fontchanger/ (if you moved the fonts to external storage in the settings). Another way is to place the fonts on your SD card and then just move them using Root Explorer. Now just refresh the application and the new fonts should be there.


    How to Remove
    1. remove Font Changer from your applications
    2. go into recovery and flash fontchanger_remove_defaultsense*.zip
    Note that at the moment the fonts will get restored to the ones used in the stock Sense ROMs. So if you had previously used a theme like NexTang, which uses its own font, then you will have to reapply the update to get the same font back (something that I'll work on).


    Known 1.4 Bugs
    • force closes sometimes (try making font names start with a capital, make sure the SD card is mounted on the phone, try to avoid single fonts and spaces in font filenames)
    • font sorting


    Changelog
    Code:
    v1.5+   (market only)
    v1.4    (24/09/2010)
           - minor UI tweaks
           - removed previews
           - reboot now works (only when ROM Manager is installed)
    v1.3.1  (18/09/2010)
           - more force close fixes
    v1.3    (18/09/2010)
           - some force close fixes
    v1.2.1  (17/09/2010)
           - UI change for non-Desire devices and more minor UI tweaks
    v1.2    (16/09/2010)
           - added settings (refresh on start-up, fonts location, bold behaviour)
           - move fonts to external/internal memory
           - UI changes and speed improvements
           - space savings when bold fonts are missing
    v1.1    (12/09/2010)
           - updated fonts to 1.2 with new additions (thanks to Beppemi and Moe5508)
    v1.1    (05/08/2010)
           - updated remove zip to fix some errors in the update script
    v1.1    (04/08/2010)
           - added more fonts (thanks to Che123)
           - added previews of fonts (not all, still work in progress)
           - minor tweaks
    v1.0    (03/08/2010)
           - initial release
    1
    has anybody experienced the same problems with data2ext and fontchanger? since i changed my rom to auraxtsense 8.1.4 with data2ext, abter installing the fiontchanger update.zip, my device pauses at the wihite htc-screen
    Data shouldn't really be placed on external storage, but if that's what people decide to do then that's up to them. Anyway, for 1.4 there's no way around it and the FCs are just normal given the circumstances. The market version works just fine either way.