How to adjust text font size to fit textview

Question

The solution below incorporates all of the suggestions here. It starts with what was originally posted by Dunni. It uses a binary search like gjpc's, but it is a bit more readable. It also include's gregm's bug fixes and a bug-fix of my own.

import android.content.Context;
import android.graphics.Paint;
import android.util.AttributeSet;
import android.util.TypedValue;
import android.widget.TextView;

public class FontFitTextView extends TextView {

    public FontFitTextView(Context context) {
        super(context);
        initialise();
    }

    public FontFitTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        super(context, attrs);
        initialise();
    }

    private void initialise() {
        mTestPaint = new Paint();
        mTestPaint.set(this.getPaint());
        //max size defaults to the initially specified text size unless it is too small
    }

    /* Re size the font so the specified text fits in the text box
     * assuming the text box is the specified width.
     */
    private void refitText(String text, int textWidth) 
    { 
        if (textWidth <= 0)
            return;
        int targetWidth = textWidth - this.getPaddingLeft() - this.getPaddingRight();
        float hi = 100;
        float lo = 2;
        final float threshold = 0.5f; // How close we have to be

        mTestPaint.set(this.getPaint());

        while((hi - lo) > threshold) {
            float size = (hi+lo)/2;
            mTestPaint.setTextSize(size);
            if(mTestPaint.measureText(text) >= targetWidth) 
                hi = size; // too big
            else
                lo = size; // too small
        }
        // Use lo so that we undershoot rather than overshoot
        this.setTextSize(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_PX, lo);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onMeasure(int widthMeasureSpec, int heightMeasureSpec)
    {
        super.onMeasure(widthMeasureSpec, heightMeasureSpec);
        int parentWidth = MeasureSpec.getSize(widthMeasureSpec);
        int height = getMeasuredHeight();
        refitText(this.getText().toString(), parentWidth);
        this.setMeasuredDimension(parentWidth, height);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onTextChanged(final CharSequence text, final int start, final int before, final int after) {
        refitText(text.toString(), this.getWidth());
    }

    @Override
    protected void onSizeChanged (int w, int h, int oldw, int oldh) {
        if (w != oldw) {
            refitText(this.getText().toString(), w);
        }
    }

    //Attributes
    private Paint mTestPaint;
}

I've written a class that extends TextView and does this. It just uses measureText as you suggest. Basically it has a maximum text size and minimum text size (which can be changed) and it just runs through the sizes between them in decrements of 1 until it finds the biggest one that will fit. Not particularly elegant, but I don't know of any other way.

Here is the code:

import android.content.Context;
import android.graphics.Paint;
import android.util.AttributeSet;
import android.widget.TextView;

public class FontFitTextView extends TextView {

    public FontFitTextView(Context context) {
        super(context);
        initialise();
    }

    public FontFitTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        super(context, attrs);
        initialise();
    }

    private void initialise() {
        testPaint = new Paint();
        testPaint.set(this.getPaint());
        //max size defaults to the intially specified text size unless it is too small
        maxTextSize = this.getTextSize();
        if (maxTextSize < 11) {
            maxTextSize = 20;
        }
        minTextSize = 10;
    }

    /* Re size the font so the specified text fits in the text box
     * assuming the text box is the specified width.
     */
    private void refitText(String text, int textWidth) { 
        if (textWidth > 0) {
            int availableWidth = textWidth - this.getPaddingLeft() - this.getPaddingRight();
            float trySize = maxTextSize;

            testPaint.setTextSize(trySize);
            while ((trySize > minTextSize) && (testPaint.measureText(text) > availableWidth)) {
                trySize -= 1;
                if (trySize <= minTextSize) {
                    trySize = minTextSize;
                    break;
                }
                testPaint.setTextSize(trySize);
            }

            this.setTextSize(trySize);
        }
    }

    @Override
    protected void onTextChanged(final CharSequence text, final int start, final int before, final int after) {
        refitText(text.toString(), this.getWidth());
    }

    @Override
    protected void onSizeChanged (int w, int h, int oldw, int oldh) {
        if (w != oldw) {
            refitText(this.getText().toString(), w);
        }
    }

    //Getters and Setters
    public float getMinTextSize() {
        return minTextSize;
    }

    public void setMinTextSize(int minTextSize) {
        this.minTextSize = minTextSize;
    }

    public float getMaxTextSize() {
        return maxTextSize;
    }

    public void setMaxTextSize(int minTextSize) {
        this.maxTextSize = minTextSize;
    }

    //Attributes
    private Paint testPaint;
    private float minTextSize;
    private float maxTextSize;

}

This is speedplane's FontFitTextView, but it only decreases font size if needed to make the text fit, and keeps its font size otherwise. It does not increase the font size to fit height.

public class FontFitTextView extends TextView {

    // Attributes
    private Paint mTestPaint;
    private float defaultTextSize;

    public FontFitTextView(Context context) {
        super(context);
        initialize();
    }

    public FontFitTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        super(context, attrs);
        initialize();
    }

    private void initialize() {
        mTestPaint = new Paint();
        mTestPaint.set(this.getPaint());
        defaultTextSize = getTextSize();
    }

    /* Re size the font so the specified text fits in the text box
     * assuming the text box is the specified width.
     */
    private void refitText(String text, int textWidth) {

        if (textWidth <= 0 || text.isEmpty())
            return;

        int targetWidth = textWidth - this.getPaddingLeft() - this.getPaddingRight();

        // this is most likely a non-relevant call
        if( targetWidth<=2 )
            return;

        // text already fits with the xml-defined font size?
        mTestPaint.set(this.getPaint());
        mTestPaint.setTextSize(defaultTextSize);
        if(mTestPaint.measureText(text) <= targetWidth) {
            this.setTextSize(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_PX, defaultTextSize);
            return;
        }

        // adjust text size using binary search for efficiency
        float hi = defaultTextSize;
        float lo = 2;
        final float threshold = 0.5f; // How close we have to be
        while (hi - lo > threshold) {
            float size = (hi + lo) / 2;
            mTestPaint.setTextSize(size);
            if(mTestPaint.measureText(text) >= targetWidth ) 
                hi = size; // too big
            else 
                lo = size; // too small

        }

        // Use lo so that we undershoot rather than overshoot
        this.setTextSize(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_PX, lo);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onMeasure(int widthMeasureSpec, int heightMeasureSpec) {
        super.onMeasure(widthMeasureSpec, heightMeasureSpec);
        int parentWidth = MeasureSpec.getSize(widthMeasureSpec);
        int height = getMeasuredHeight();
        refitText(this.getText().toString(), parentWidth);
        this.setMeasuredDimension(parentWidth, height);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onTextChanged(final CharSequence text, final int start,
            final int before, final int after) {
        refitText(text.toString(), this.getWidth());
    }

    @Override
    protected void onSizeChanged(int w, int h, int oldw, int oldh) {
        if (w != oldw || h != oldh) {
            refitText(this.getText().toString(), w);
        }
    }

}

Here is an example how it could be used in xml:

<com.your.package.activity.widget.FontFitTextView
    android:id="@+id/my_id"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:gravity="center"
    android:text="My Text"
    android:textSize="60sp" />

This would keep the font size to 60sp as long as the text fits in width. If the text is longer, it will decrease font size. In this case, the TextViews height will also change because of height=wrap_content.

If you find any bugs, feel free to edit.

Here is my solution which works on emulator and phones but not very well on Eclipse layout editor. It's inspired from kilaka's code but the size of the text is not obtained from the Paint but from measuring the TextView itself calling measure(0, 0).

The Java class :

public class FontFitTextView extends TextView
{
    private static final float THRESHOLD = 0.5f;

    private enum Mode { Width, Height, Both, None }

    private int minTextSize = 1;
    private int maxTextSize = 1000;

    private Mode mode = Mode.None;
    private boolean inComputation;
    private int widthMeasureSpec;
    private int heightMeasureSpec;

    public FontFitTextView(Context context) {
            super(context);
    }

    public FontFitTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
            this(context, attrs, 0);
    }

    public FontFitTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) {
            super(context, attrs, defStyle);

            TypedArray tAttrs = context.obtainStyledAttributes(attrs, R.styleable.FontFitTextView, defStyle, 0);
            maxTextSize = tAttrs.getDimensionPixelSize(R.styleable.FontFitTextView_maxTextSize, maxTextSize);
            minTextSize = tAttrs.getDimensionPixelSize(R.styleable.FontFitTextView_minTextSize, minTextSize);
            tAttrs.recycle();
    }

    private void resizeText() {
            if (getWidth() <= 0 || getHeight() <= 0)
                    return;
            if(mode == Mode.None)
                    return;

            final int targetWidth = getWidth();
            final int targetHeight = getHeight();

            inComputation = true;
            float higherSize = maxTextSize;
            float lowerSize = minTextSize;
            float textSize = getTextSize();
            while(higherSize - lowerSize > THRESHOLD) {
                    textSize = (higherSize + lowerSize) / 2;
                    if (isTooBig(textSize, targetWidth, targetHeight)) {
                            higherSize = textSize; 
                    } else {
                            lowerSize = textSize;
                    }
            }
            setTextSize(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_PX, lowerSize);
            measure(widthMeasureSpec, heightMeasureSpec);
            inComputation = false;
    }

    private boolean isTooBig(float textSize, int targetWidth, int targetHeight) {
            setTextSize(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_PX, textSize);
            measure(0, 0);
            if(mode == Mode.Both)
                    return getMeasuredWidth() >= targetWidth || getMeasuredHeight() >= targetHeight;
            if(mode == Mode.Width)
                    return getMeasuredWidth() >= targetWidth;
            else
                    return getMeasuredHeight() >= targetHeight;
    }

    private Mode getMode(int widthMeasureSpec, int heightMeasureSpec) {
            int widthMode = MeasureSpec.getMode(widthMeasureSpec);
            int heightMode = MeasureSpec.getMode(heightMeasureSpec);
            if(widthMode == MeasureSpec.EXACTLY && heightMode == MeasureSpec.EXACTLY)
                    return Mode.Both;
            if(widthMode == MeasureSpec.EXACTLY)
                    return Mode.Width;
            if(heightMode == MeasureSpec.EXACTLY)
                    return Mode.Height;
            return Mode.None;
    }

    @Override
    protected void onMeasure(int widthMeasureSpec, int heightMeasureSpec) {
            super.onMeasure(widthMeasureSpec, heightMeasureSpec);
            if(!inComputation) {
                    this.widthMeasureSpec = widthMeasureSpec;
                    this.heightMeasureSpec = heightMeasureSpec;
                    mode = getMode(widthMeasureSpec, heightMeasureSpec);
                    resizeText();
            }
    }

    protected void onTextChanged(final CharSequence text, final int start, final int before, final int after) {
            resizeText();
    }

    @Override
    protected void onSizeChanged(int w, int h, int oldw, int oldh) {
            if (w != oldw || h != oldh)
                    resizeText();
    }

    public int getMinTextSize() {
            return minTextSize;
    }

    public void setMinTextSize(int minTextSize) {
            this.minTextSize = minTextSize;
            resizeText();
    }

    public int getMaxTextSize() {
            return maxTextSize;
    }

    public void setMaxTextSize(int maxTextSize) {
            this.maxTextSize = maxTextSize;
            resizeText();
    }
}

The XML attribute file :

<resources>
    <declare-styleable name="FontFitTextView">
        <attr name="minTextSize" format="dimension" />
        <attr name="maxTextSize" format="dimension" />
    </declare-styleable>
</resources>

Check my github for the latest version of this class. I hope it can be useful for someone. If a bug is found or if the code needs explaination, feel free to open an issue on Github.

Thanks a lot to https://stackoverflow.com/users/234270/speedplane. Great answer!

Here is an improved version of his response that also take care of height and comes with a maxFontSize attribute to limit font size (was useful in my case, so I wanted to share it) :

package com.<your_package>;

import android.content.Context;
import android.content.res.TypedArray;
import android.graphics.Paint;
import android.graphics.Rect;
import android.util.AttributeSet;
import android.util.TypedValue;
import android.widget.TextView;


public class FontFitTextView extends TextView
{

    private Paint mTestPaint;
    private float maxFontSize;
    private static final float MAX_FONT_SIZE_DEFAULT_VALUE = 20f;

    public FontFitTextView(Context context)
    {
        super(context);
        initialise(context, null);
    }

    public FontFitTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attributeSet)
    {
        super(context, attributeSet);
        initialise(context, attributeSet);
    }

    public FontFitTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attributeSet, int defStyle)
    {
        super(context, attributeSet, defStyle);
        initialise(context, attributeSet);
    }

    private void initialise(Context context, AttributeSet attributeSet)
    {
        if(attributeSet!=null)
        {
            TypedArray styledAttributes = context.obtainStyledAttributes(attributeSet, R.styleable.FontFitTextView);
            maxFontSize = styledAttributes.getDimension(R.styleable.FontFitTextView_maxFontSize, MAX_FONT_SIZE_DEFAULT_VALUE);
            styledAttributes.recycle();
        }
        else
        {
            maxFontSize = MAX_FONT_SIZE_DEFAULT_VALUE;
        }

        mTestPaint = new Paint();
        mTestPaint.set(this.getPaint());
        //max size defaults to the initially specified text size unless it is too small
    }

    /* Re size the font so the specified text fits in the text box
     * assuming the text box is the specified width.
     */
    private void refitText(String text, int textWidth, int textHeight)
    {
        if (textWidth <= 0)
            return;
        int targetWidth = textWidth - this.getPaddingLeft() - this.getPaddingRight();
        int targetHeight = textHeight - this.getPaddingTop() - this.getPaddingBottom();
        float hi = maxFontSize;
        float lo = 2;
//      final float threshold = 0.5f; // How close we have to be
        final float threshold = 1f; // How close we have to be

        mTestPaint.set(this.getPaint());

        Rect bounds = new Rect();

        while ((hi - lo) > threshold)
        {
            float size = (hi + lo) / 2;
            mTestPaint.setTextSize(size);

            mTestPaint.getTextBounds(text, 0, text.length(), bounds);

            if (bounds.width() >= targetWidth || bounds.height() >= targetHeight)
                hi = size; // too big
            else
                lo = size; // too small

//          if (mTestPaint.measureText(text) >= targetWidth)
//              hi = size; // too big
//          else
//              lo = size; // too small
        }
        // Use lo so that we undershoot rather than overshoot
        this.setTextSize(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_PX, lo);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onMeasure(int widthMeasureSpec, int heightMeasureSpec)
    {
        super.onMeasure(widthMeasureSpec, heightMeasureSpec);
        int parentWidth = MeasureSpec.getSize(widthMeasureSpec);
        int height = getMeasuredHeight();
        refitText(this.getText().toString(), parentWidth, height);
        this.setMeasuredDimension(parentWidth, height);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onTextChanged(final CharSequence text, final int start, final int before, final int after)
    {
        refitText(text.toString(), this.getWidth(), this.getHeight());
    }

    @Override
    protected void onSizeChanged(int w, int h, int oldw, int oldh)
    {
        if (w != oldw)
        {
            refitText(this.getText().toString(), w, h);
        }
    }
}

Corresponding /res/values/attr.xml file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>

    <declare-styleable name="FontFitTextView">
        <attr name="maxFontSize" format="dimension" />
    </declare-styleable>

</resources>

Example:

<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:res-auto="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    android:id="@+id/home_Layout"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    android:background="@drawable/background"
    tools:ignore="ContentDescription" >
...

 <com.<your_package>.FontFitTextView
                    android:layout_width="match_parent"
                    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
                    android:singleLine="true"
                    android:text="Sample Text"
                    android:textSize="28sp"
                    res-auto:maxFontSize="35sp"/>

...
</RelativeLayout>

To use the new maxFontSize attribute, don't forget to add xmlns:res-auto="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto" as show in the example.

You can now do this without a third party library or a widget. It's built into TextView in API level 26. Add android:autoSizeTextType="uniform" to your TextView and set height to it. That's all. Use app:autoSizeTextType="uniform" for backward compatibility

https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/look-and-feel/autosizing-textview.html

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<TextView
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="200dp"
    android:autoSizeTextType="uniform" />

You can also use TextViewCompat for compatibility.