Fontismo is an iOS app that provides access to 50 open-licence fonts that are readily available on other platforms but not the iPad or iPhone.
Typefaces installed by Fontismo can be used in a wide variety of apps, including Apple’s Pages, Numbers and Keynote, and others. Once a typeface has been installed using Fontismo, it’s ready to be used in your documents.
Please see the licence section, below, for information on the licences that these fonts are made available under, and the non-commercial nature of Fontismo.
The first time you run Fontismo, it will provide you with a brief introduction to its functionality:
Fontismo lists the 50 typefaces that you can install on your iPad or iPhone. Each typeface is presented by its name and an alphabet sample. To install any single typeface, swipe right to left over its name to get the Add control:
Fontismo will download the typeface — look for the progress indicator to the right of the typeface’s name — and then iOS will ask you to confirm you wish to install it:
Tap Install to proceed. Fontismo ticks the typeface when it has been installed on your device, and the menu bar shows the number of typefaces you have installed so far:
Tapping the typeface in the list will take you to a preview screen. If the typeface is not yet installed, Fontismo will ask if you’d like to that now:
When the typeface is installed, you can preview it at a range of sizes between 10pt and 288pt. To change the size of the sample, you can either use the standard pinch-to-zoom gesture, or drag the slider at the bottom of the screen:
Tap on the sample itself to key in alternative text of your own, and then scale it in the usual way:
Many typefaces come in only one form, called a Variation. Some have multiple variations you can choose from — those that do will activate the Variations button at the top right of the preview screen. Tap it to preview any of the typeface’s variations:
Tap Font List to return to the list of available typefaces.
You can now install more typefaces, one by one or all together: tap Add All at the top, or swipe right on any single typeface to reveal another Add All control:
As you can see you can also remove all of the typefaces you may have installed up to now. Swiping left on an installed typeface presents a control that allows you to removed that typeface only.
If you need further assistance, tap the menu icon above the list of typefaces:
In addition to selecting Fontismo’s online help, you can also jump to the app’s settings, submit a bug report or other feedback, review the app on the App Store, or visit this website.
You can also see the list of typefaces installed on your iPad or iPhone by looking in the Settings app under General > Fonts. This list will also include typefaces installed by other apps too.
Fontismo’s entry in the Settings app allows you to restore the introductory guidance screen, if you need it, and to learn who created the 50 fonts that the app provides access to:
All the of fonts made accessible through Fontismo are offered under open licences, details of which you can view in Fontismo’s section of the iPad’s Settings app — which also lists the typefaces’ creators.
Fontismo provides — and will always provide — these fonts free of charge, either directly as in-app purchases, or indirectly through app subscriptions, as a paid app, or through advertising. Fontismo was written to allow me to make use on my iPad of the same fonts I already use on my laptop computer, and I hope it will benefit others in the same way.
Pages, Numbers and Keynote are copyright 2020, Apple, and their icons are registered trademarks of Apple. Use of these apps’ icons in no way indicates that Apple endorses Fontismo.
You can view Fontismo’s source code at GitHub.