Can I add more Chinese fonts in my keynote app?
iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G, iOS 5.1.1
It is not yet possible for users to add fonts to any iOS device, you are stuck with the Chinese font that Apple has provided. You can ask for more via
As Tom said, not possible at this time. I would also like some more choices. I am using Heiti SC. The real feature would be to set default language fonts, i.e. use Helvetica for English characters and Heiti SC for Chinese characters. I write a lot of documents with both languages.
Give Apple some feedback via Tom's link. I've done it, too.
You can install any new font which is in .ttf or .otf format on your iOS device running iOS 7 with AnyFont:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/anyfont/id821560738?mt=8
I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.
<Edited by Host>
fschimanke
Florian Schimanke, thanks so much for dredging up this 2-year-old post and telling me about your app. There’s a reason these forums have email subscription. After two years, I am still wanting greater control over fonts on my iPad.
As with a lot of iOS support questions, the answer to any given productivity problem is often… there’s an app for that!
Of course, it pays to respect the ToU.
I successfully used AnyFont app to pull in fonts from Google Fonts via Fontasy app (specifically Noto Sans regular, italic, bold, bold italic). I tested them in Pages so I assume they will work in Numbers and Keynote, and any other app that gives full access to system fonts. However, the 13+MB Simplified Chinese GBK font I have stored in Dropbox didn’t work. I know the font file is in good condition because I’ve successfully imported it into InkPad and Phonto and used it on numerous occasions. I’ll contact you through your developer support channels with more to say/ask on that.
As for the OP, the question was specifically about Chinese fonts. The only Chinese font I have didn’t install successfully. So, I’m going to try to track down some more Chinese font files and attempt to install them with AnyFont. I’ll post the results here.
In case the OP is still around, or anyone else is still thinking about the issue of adding third-party fonts to iOS… The existence of this new app shows that there is a way. It seems a bit hackerish (but I’m no expert on iOS development or hackering). The fonts end up as “Installed Profiles” in Settings app > General > Profiles. They can easily be removed from there (not from the within AnyFont app).
Some questions that need to be asked (of Apple and/or developers)…
1. Is the ability to install third party fonts into the system fonts collection a feature that just became available in the latest iOS update? If so… it completely went under the radar of all the Apple news blogs I read. But then again, I’m not a developer and it may have been mentioned on other developer blogs.
2. If the feature has been around for a while, why has it taken so long for someone to make an app that does it?
3. Given that it is a feature now, shouldn’t this be in the Settings app? Or at least Apple should have an official font manager app.
That might be akin to asking why Apple doesn’t have an official “universal file manager app”. And we all know the answer to that. It’s not the Apple way. Fair enough.
If anyone has had any success using this app to install Chinese fonts, please let me know.
Luke Janicke wrote:
1. Is the ability to install third party fonts into the system fonts collection a feature that just became available in the latest iOS update?
Yes.
http://m10lmac.blogspot.com/2013/11/adding-custom-fonts-to-ios-devices.html
To ask Apple to make its own app for this, you can use
I think I installed a Chinese font called Babelstone Han, but will need to check if it an actually be selected in apps. The goal at the time was just to add characters that were not displaying.
That clears that up. Thanks!
PS I find that I was not successful in instcalling Babelstone Han, it failed. Perhaps there is a size limit, as other non latin fonts like cuneiform have installed without problem.
You might also investigate FontMAnager. works very much like AnyFont, but includes a full font viewer for currently installed fonts, can use zip files, and is I beleive, a little cheaper than AnyFont.
Tom - a follow on question: Do you see any security concerns with the Profile method of installing these fonts?
Thanks, James. I'll go have a look.
Tom, I followed your link. Also, in a private email, Florian (AnyFont dev) also confirmed that the ability to do this has existed since iOS 7... Not just since the lasted update (7.0.6) as I incorrectly guessed. That means it's gone under the radar for quite a long time.
From Florian:
> Actually Apple introduced this feature with iOS 7 but it remained under the radar for most users and developers. I have only discovered it by accident.
Luke Janicke wrote:
the ability to do this has existed since iOS 7... Not just since the lasted update (7.0.6) as I incorrectly guessed.
Yes, I thought by "latest update" you were referring to iOS7. Apple's doc was revised 9/18/13 when iOS 7 was released, my blog article was not until early November, and the first app (for OS X) came out Jan. 20. Various individuals used the Apple doc to provide special fonts like Myanmar and Khmer to users last fall, but it's true it was not widely known.
James Ward4 wrote:
Tom - a follow on question: Do you see any security concerns with the Profile method of installing these fonts?
I don't know whether someone could put malicious stuff into a font that could compromise iOS security. I would expect that Apple considered this before adding fonts to the possible payloads for these files, but have no way to check that.
It isn't the font file itself I'm concerned about (I supose that scenario is possible, but very unlikely in iOS. Besides, I wouldn't install a font from an unknown source.), but the profile itself. Best I can tell, it is created wholly on the device and not imported from an outside source, so my guess is it is not an issue. But figured a second opinion is worth asking for.
How to add Chinese fonts in my keynote app?
