How to Add Gujarati and Other Indic Fonts in Android

Android 5.0 (Lollipop)

UPDATE: Google has finally added Gujarati fonts to Android 5.0 (Lollipop) in the Nexus line of phones. The fonts are called Noto Sans Gujarati and Noto Sans Gujarati UI and both come in regular and bold versions, though they are seemingly indistinguishable. Google still has to add Gujarati keyboard input though so we can type in Gujarati. Until then, SwiftKey Keyboard is currently offering a Gujarati input method. Images below show the Noto Sans Gujarati font displayed natively on my website. The third image shows the SwiftKey keyboar layout for Gujarati input.

As mentioned above, the font is only available in Google's Nexus phones, however. They are not included in AOSP versions of Android. So if you are using phones from Motorola, Oppo, HTC, etc., or if you are using a custom ROM such as Cyanogenmod, MIUI, etc., the font may not be included. It's up to the manufacturer or ROM developer to include the Gujarati font. Currently, Samsung and LG are on board as their line of newest phones do include their own Gujarati font (not Noto Sans Gujarati).

Android 4.4.4 (KitKat) and Lower

If your device will not be upgraded to Lollipop, please follow the instructions below to add Gujarati support.

Native Gujarati support in Android is still missing as of Android 4.4 (Kit-Kat). Google has included a few of the Indic languages, namely, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Hindi, and Telugu starting with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). This means that Android has a font that can render these languages. However, it seems only Hindi Input Method Editor (IME), a keyboard that allows you to type in these languages, is included in Android.

The languages that are still missing include Gujarati, Punjabi, Nepali, and some others. Being a Gujarati website, of course, we want to see Gujarati added to Android. However, complaints in Google's Android forums hasn't tipped Google into supporting Gujarati yet. There are two ways of being able to read Gujarati on your Android device: 1) Buy a phone that includes a Gujarati font, or 2) install or "flash" a Gujarati font to your Android OS. For the second option, Android fans have added a Gujarati font by replacing one that already exists. There are many websites that instruct you on replacing DroidSansFallback.ttf with a Gujarati font (such as Lohit-Gujarati.ttf or Shruti.ttf) in order to read Unicode Gujarati. However, this is not an ideal solution as this method might affect other languages or characters found in DroidSansFallback.ttf.

Phones That Support Gujarati

I'm assuming there aren't many phones that support Gujarati. However the few phones that I know that do are listed below. Please send me feedback and screenshots if you know of any others.

• Samsung Galaxy S3 and higher
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 and perhaps all the Samung Galaxy Tabs since they share the same software
• LG G3 now supports Gujarati and we can assume all future LG phones will support it.
• Oneplus One supports Gujarati and we can assume Oneplus two will also.
• Motorola Moto E 4G LTE, 2nd Generation 2015 model (Verizon prepaid) running Android 5.1 supports Gujarati. I assume all 2015 Motorola phones running Android 5.1 would also but cannot confirm.

Adding Gujarati Font to Lollipop (5.0.2 and below)

As mentioned above, Gujarati font is missing in AOSP builds of Lollipop. However, after examining the fonts.xml file in the system folder, there is a reference to Noto Sans Gujarati font. It just seems the font file itself is missing from the fonts folder.

So, on my extra phone that was rooted, I simply copied Noto Sans Gujarati fonts (regular and bold) to the fonts folder using ES File Explorer. (You need to enable Root Explorer option in ES File Explorer.) Once the file is copied, Gujarati will be enabled. There's nothing else to do. Only Noto Sans Gujarati fonts (regular and bold) must be copied since the filename specifically points to that font.

We will have to see in future whether the AOSP build of 5.1 includes this file. If so, then you will have Gujarati support without rooting at all.

Flashing Gujarati Fonts On Your Own (4.4.4 and below)

This page shows you how you can add a Gujarati font to your rooted Android device (along with the following language fonts: Punjabi, Nepali, Assamese, Marathi, Oriya, Sindhi, and Kashmiri). Unfortunately, adding fonts to Android requires root permissions. But, good news is that this method adds native Gujarati support without replacing any Android system fonts. This guide was possible with help from XDA Developers forum, credited below.

I've tested this on a Samsung Galaxy Nexus (CDMA) and LG Nexus 5 (GSM). This simple method gives you flawless Gujarati rendering natively as can be seen in the screenshots below.

First screenshot shows Gujarati in the Bookmarks menu of the PDF viewers in CyanogenMod. Second shows Gujarati text on my web page in Firefox. Notice the native Gujarati text in the address bar. Third shows a shortcut to my web page on the home screen with Gujarati in the title.

Flashing Instructions

Warning: When flashing files in Android, there's a risk of bricking your device. Proceed cautiously at your own risk. I take no personal responsibility if you brick your device. You have been warned.

Requirements:

• Rooted Android device
• Device running a custom recovery such as TWRP recovery or Clockword Mod recovery

<family>
   <fileset>
      <file>Lohit-Gujarati.ttf</file>
   </fileset>
</family>

<family>
   <fileset>
      <file>Your-Gujarati-Filename.ttf</file>
   </fileset>
</family>