

The Android Font: Roboto - acak
http://developer.android.com/design/style/typography.html

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gbaygon
It's worth noticing that this font is licensed under the Apache License
Version 2.0.

So it's ok to use it in personal or commercial projects (by including a copy
of the license an propper attribution).

The font can be found in the folder data/fonts on the Android SDK 4.0 / r14,
and also the Readme file that states the license.

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unicornporn
I don't understand why they haven't added it to the Google Web Fonts directory
yet.

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notatoad
Probably because they don't really want people to use it. I imagine the
license has to be fairly open to allow for unencumbered distribution with
android, but it's a part of the android brand. Every time it gets used outside
of android makes it a little more generic and dilutes the android brand a
little bit.

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ajross
If it were visually distinguishable from Helvetica, maybe. But it's really
not. It's more modern, more complete, and probably "better" in some
typographical way that I don't understand. But it's really not. What this
represents to the free software community is a repackaging of a Helvetica-like
font in a way that doesn't suck. To anyone concerned about the "Android brand"
it's a wash.

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PedroCandeias
I have to say, that Android Design minisite is full of useful nuggets of
information on app design. It's worth a look regardless of your thoughts on
Roboto.

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dbh937
I wish that google would add this font to GDocs already. Love it.

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idspispopd
Roboto is Google's Arial.

It's the result of intellectual property licensing.

It's pointless comparing Google to Apple here. Apple has learnt that it's more
important to license fonts from the legitimate IP holders instead of
generating dupes that are just different enough to avoid a damages case. Even
when creating custom typefaces based on existing fonts, Apple have engaged the
original IP holder to create the font (see Apple Garamond.)

Roboto a chimera of existing popular typefaces and the problem with that is
that it's a poorly assembled "frankenfont", the borrowed sections are obvious
and poorly connected, this creates an inconsistent aesthetic. Namely a shitty
typeface.

However, just like Arial, everyday users don't, and won't care - there is no
point fussing over it, the only thing this shows is that Google hires lame
design agencies, and is perhaps not as thoughtful as championed.

The problem with Hacker News is that there is a demongraphic of two faced
users who gush over their preferred tech companies, while scorning others.
Note here that Microsoft did similar with Windows 7 and the dialogue was far
different to what I'm reading today.

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Steveism
I'm not a Roboto fan. I think Gruber sums it up the best:
<http://daringfireball.net/2011/10/font_hipsters>

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grantheaslip
I have no idea how much you know about type design, but I get the sense that
the vast majority of people disparaging Roboto don't actually know shit about
typography, and are just parroting what's been said by a handful of bloggers
(many of whom also aren't particularly well versed). If a lot of these guys
were asked to rate a bunch of unnamed fonts without the benefit of the
internet to tell them what they think about them, they would probably make
some terrible font snob faux pas.

I'm not an expert of typography, but to my eyes, it's a nice, clean, readable
screen font. So is the Droid font family. It's not my absolute favourite, but
there are more pressing issues in the world.

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Steveism
John Gruber is extremely well versed in typography. He talks at great length
about typefaces in his podcast and has worked for Bare Bones Software on
BBEdit, a well known text editor. I would tend to trust his judgements on this
matter.

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grantheaslip
Gruber does seem to know a lot, thought I'm not sure that talking about type
on your podcast or working for a company that develops a text editor exactly
proves that. That said, he's clearly got a snarky agenda about Android, which
makes me take anything he writes about it with a grain of salt.

What annoys me is not so much Gruber or other bloggers having an opinion, it's
the followers who take what they write as fact. Roboto probably isn't a font
for the ages, but it seems to do what it set out to do very well. The people
who worked on it aren't idiots.

Android has its issues, but I'm sick of the little cabal of Apple writers who
portray it and everything surrounding it as a trainwreck.

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skeletonjelly
Gruber knows a lot according to Gruber. And his legions of fans.

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snotrockets
It seems the word "only" was omitted from your comment.

