Can the custom fonts be installed into Iphone/Ipad???

WAY KYI · May 2023

I have created my own Unicode fonts and would like to install them into Iphone or Ipad.
Is there any IOS apps that can install my fonts into Iphone/Ipad?
What the font format should I use? Whether Unicode compliant fonts are good enough for IOS system??
Thanks for any suggestions.

Mark Simonson · May 2023

iFont works pretty well for me: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ifont-find-install-any-font/id1173222289 It works with OTF and TTF fonts.

WAY KYI · May 2023

Thanks. I will try it. Can app download any font from the web too??? Let me try it first. Thanks

Mark Simonson · May 2023

It's less straightforward than on the desktop, but you can install any fonts you wish, just like the desktop.

Haraldgeisler.com · May 2023

I do this through Apple Configurator (https://support.apple.com/apple-configurator). The files you create are called profiles and have the ending .mobileconfig

You create a new profile (Apple + N) and then, on the lower right, add the Fonts you like to install onto a device. This works on iPhones, iPads as well as desktops; not sure if you could install fonts on TV that way too.

When you save this, you have an "unsigned" profile that will install on every device but with a security warning that the profile is unsigned.

Creating a signed profile is a bit more complicated. The advantage is that it will not prompt a security warning to the user. You'll need an SSL certificate of a certain level. You can use your developer certificate inside Apple Configurator if you have an Apple Developer Membership. You can also use any other SSL certificate of a class that Apple accepts and then go through Terminal and use OpenSSL to sign it.

Sneak preview: Creating a profile also has the advantage of automatically removing a font after a specific time, for example, 60 days after installation. Which magically makes the font disappear. And countless other applications… have fun exploring it.

To install the font, the user downloads the file through a link, or you can share it in a mail, message, or AirDrop it. Next, the user has to actively go to the settings app (iOS or MacOS device) and will be signaled that a downloaded profile is ready for installation and has to go through an installation process.

If you like to try out the process, I've created a font based on Martin Luther King's handwriting that is free for non-commercial use. You can download it from my website
https://haraldgeisler.com/2019/08/28/martin-luther-king-font/#download-the-martin-luther-king-handwriting-font - in the download menu it should be the second link (see picture attached)

You should be apple to do the installation from your phone without installing any additional software.

Have fun, and if you find any tips or improvements, I'd be interested to hear about them.

Best,
H

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5019405/uploads/editor/25/7ld12o0tjst1.png

WAY KYI · June 2023

Thank you very much for your detail information

Eris Alar · June 2024

I’m wanting to install fonts I’ve licensed over the years, and yeah it’s frustrating Apple has not made it easier to install fonts. I’ll try iFont as Mark suggests, but am open to other options too if something else has been released in the meantime

Eris Alar · July 1

Does anyone know if iPadOS 26 changes how fonts can be installed? Are they making it more in-line with macOS? This would be a huge help to doing creative work on the device, as right now the process is fragmented with different apps having different solutions and they don’t all work with each other, for example Procreate can’t see anything synced/installed via Adobe Creative Cloud.

Mark Simonson · July 1

I haven't seen anything to indicate any change to the way fonts work in iPadOS 26 from the current version. Given that they're making the new OS work more like macOS in many ways (menu bar, "normal" windowing, pointy mouse cursor, Preview, etc.) I think they would have highlighted it if it was changing.

Can the custom fonts be installed into Iphone/Ipad???

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