Android Ice Cream Sandwich 'Roboto' font free for download

By Nathan Olivarez-Giles

March 12, 2012 12 AM PT

Roboto, the custom-designed font Google introduced in the Android Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, is now available for free download for developers, designers and font geeks.

Google has released Roboto in 16 different typeface variations (bold, italic, condensed and differing weights) and with an Action Bar Icon Pack of user interface icons found throughout Ice Cream Sandwich, such as a search glass, pencil, phone, trash can and others.

“You may use the materials in this file without restriction to develop your apps and to use in your apps,” Google said in a note included with the download, bringing to mind the question of whether we’ll see a developer use Roboto in an iOS app at some point.

To help those who download and use the fonts in building Android apps, Google also released a “specimen book” that offers up examples of Roboto in use in its different variations.

The font download comes in a .ttf (True Type Font) file format, which works with Microsoft Office, Apple iWork and other productivity software options, as well as graphic design tools such as Adobe’s Illustrator and Photoshop.

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