Android: How to change the textsize in an EditText field?

Question

I want to display a table with some fields being editable - see this example:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout
 xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
 android:layout_width="fill_parent"
 android:layout_height="fill_parent"
 android:orientation="vertical"
 android:paddingLeft="1dip"
 android:paddingRight="1dip"
 android:paddingBottom="1dip"
 android:background="#F00"
 >
 <ScrollView
  android:id="@+id/ScrollView01"
  android:layout_width="wrap_content"
  android:layout_height="wrap_content"
  android:scrollbars="vertical"
  >
  <HorizontalScrollView
   android:id="@+id/HorizontalScrollView01"
   android:layout_width="wrap_content"
   android:layout_height="wrap_content"
   android:scrollbars="horizontal"
   >
   <TableLayout
    android:id="@+id/ItemPane"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:background="#EEE"
   >
    <TableRow
     android:id="@+id/DataRow"
     android:layout_width="wrap_content"
     android:layout_height="wrap_content"    
     android:background="#888"
     android:layout_margin="0dp" 
     android:gravity="left"
     >
     <TextView
      android:id="@+id/NameField"
      android:text="Fieldname"
      android:background="#EEE"
      android:textSize="14dp"
      android:layout_margin="1dp" 
      android:layout_marginBottom="0dp" 
      android:paddingLeft="3dp"
      android:paddingRight="3dp"
     />
     <EditText
      android:id="@+id/DataField"
      android:text="some field"
      android:background="#EEE"
      android:textSize="14dp"
      android:layout_margin="1dp" 
      android:layout_marginBottom="0dp" 
      android:paddingLeft="3dp"
      android:paddingRight="3dp"
      android:singleLine="true"
     />
     <EditText
      android:id="@+id/DataField2"
      android:text="some longish field content..."
      android:background="#EEE"
      android:textSize="14dp"
      android:layout_margin="1dp" 
      android:layout_marginBottom="0dp" 
      android:paddingLeft="3dp"
      android:paddingRight="3dp"
      android:singleLine="true"
     />
    </TableRow>   
   </TableLayout>
  </HorizontalScrollView>
 </ScrollView>
</LinearLayout>

Why is the textSize attribute ignored in EditText-fields? How can I make the text in those fields smaller, so that ALL cells have the same font size? Why does Android not honor that attribute, even if explicitly set?

Michael

i may be mistaken, but i believe you are supposed to use "14px" instead of "14dp" for the android:textSize element — mtmurdock, Sep 12 '10 at 19:56
@mtmurdock, Units can be specified in px (pixels), dp (density-independent pixels), sp (scaled pixels based on preferred font size), in (inches), and mm (millimeters). (Source: http://developer.android.com/reference/android/widget/TextView.html#attr_android:textSize) — Brian, Sep 12 '10 at 22:47
"px" should be avoided at all costs, for compatibility with varying DPI devices. — warbi, Oct 22 '13 at 12:03

score 23 · Answer 1 · edited Sep 23 '19 at 13:45

23

I think you should use sp instead of dp.

android:textSize="20sp"

edited Sep 23 '19 at 13:45

Yogesh Umesh Vaity

41,009
21
145
105

answered Oct 22 '13 at 11:43

Than Zaw

261
3
5

wrong, dp i fixed units, sp is affected by user's settings - under accessibility (for people with vision problems) – Wops Jan 23 '17 at 07:26

score 7 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 13 '10 at 03:28

7

Try 'dip' instead of 'dp' for textSize property. I dunno why, but sometimes using 'dp' takes no effect, even though documentation says that those two are equal. So I always use 'dip'.

answered Sep 13 '10 at 03:28

Konstantin Burov

68,980
16
115
93

1

how come TEXT SIZE is measured in "dp" or "dip", as far as I believe it should be specified with "sp" – candy Jan 07 '14 at 11:59

score 2 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 20 '14 at 17:35

Try the following in your main_Activity.java

final Button btpls=(Button) findViewById(R.id.btpls);

btpls.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener(){
    public void onClick(View t){
        float i=textfield.getTextSize();
       textfield.setTextSize(i+1) ; 
    }
});

final Button btmins=(Button) findViewById(R.id.btmins);

btmins.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener(){
    public void onClick(View t){
        float n=textfield.getTextSize();
        textfield.setTextSize(n-1); 
    }
});

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered May 16 '15 at 05:40

Stupid system won't let me downvote or comment.

sp is also density-independent. The difference between sp and dp is that sp is scaled according to the user's font size preferences. This means that all fonts and user interface elements that need to scale with the size of the font, should be done in sp units. Only items that should not scale with the font size should be done in dp units.

Manikandan K · Answer 5 · 2016-10-20T04:28:39.623

In your styles.xml

<style name="HintTextSize" parent="TextAppearance.Design.Hint">
        <item name="android:textSize">16sp</item>
        <item name="android:paddingLeft">16sp</item>
    </style> 

<android.support.design.widget.TextInputLayout
    android:id="@+id/trailer_one_text_input_layout"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    **app:hintTextAppearance="@style/TextLabel"
    android:layout_marginTop="10dp">

        <EditText
            android:id="@+id/edit_text_trailer_one"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_marginTop="10dp"
            android:hint="@string/trailer_one"
            android:inputType="text"
            android:singleLine="true"
            android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceMedium"
            android:textColor="@color/DrivingDarkGrey"/>
    </android.support.design.widget.TextInputLayout>

Android: How to change the textsize in an EditText field?

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