iOS 6 & fonts

iOS is Apple’s operating system for mobile devices, such as the iPad, iPhone and iPod. Even though it is derived from OS X, there are some major differences, including the way fonts are handled.

How to install fonts on iOS 6

You cannot install additional fonts yourself on an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. Apps can include their own fonts but these are only accessible to that app itself.

There is an iPad app called Font Book which can be used to install fonts but these will only be accessible within that app itself. The idea is that it allows designers to see what a particular typeface looks like on the iPad screen.

Fonts that are included in iOS 6

Below is the list of fonts that are included in Apple’s iOS.

• The iPad comes with a different collection of typefaces than the iPhone and iPod Touch.
• Another oddity is that this list is fairly different from that of Mac OS X, even though there are many fonts that are shared by both operating systems.

Fonts on the iPad

In the list below the names of font families are marked in bold. The various typefaces are listed for each family.

For the iPad Apple added quite a lot of fonts to  iOS 6 in comparison to iOS 4.2. In the list below these new fonts are marked in italics. Some typefaces from the Heiti family were removed: Heiti J Light, Heiti J Medium, Heiti K Light & Heiti K Medium.

• Academy Engraved LET
  • Academy Engraved LET
• American Typewriter
  • American Typewriter
  • American Typewriter Bold
  • American Typewriter Condensed
  • American Typewriter Condensed Bold
  • American Typewriter Condensed Light
  • American Typewriter Light
• Apple Color Emoji
  • Apple Color Emoji
• AppleGothic
  • Apple Gothic
• Apple SD Gothic Neo
  • Apple SD Gothic Neo Medium
  • Apple SD Gothic Neo Bold
• Arial
  • Arial
  • Arial Bold
  • Arial Bold Italic
  • Arial Italic
• Arial Hebrew
  • Arial Hebrew
  • Arial Hebrew Bold
• Arial Rounded MT Bold
  • Arial Rounded MT Bold
• Avenir
  • Avenir Black
  • Avenir Black Oblique
  • Avenir Book
  • Avenir Book Oblique
  • Avenir Heavy
  • Avenir Heavy Oblique
  • Avenir Light
  • Avenir Light Oblique
  • Avenir Medium
  • Avenir Medium Oblique
  • Avenir Oblique
  • Avenir Roman
• Avenir Next
  • Avenir Next Regular
  • Avenir Next Italic
  • Avenir Next Bold
  • Avenir Next Bold Italic
  • Avenir Next Demi Bold
  • Avenir Next Demi Bold Italic
  • Avenir Next Heavy
  • Avenir Next Heavy Italic
  • Avenir Next Medium
  • Avenir Next Medium Italic
  • Avenir Next Ultra Light
  • Avenir Next Ultra Light Italic
    
• Avenir Next Condensed
  • Avenir Next Condensed Regular
  • Avenir Next Condensed Italic
  • Avenir Next Condensed Bold
  • Avenir Next Condensed Bold Italic
  • Avenir Next Condensed Demi Bold
  • Avenir Next Condensed Demi Bold Italic
  • Avenir Next Condensed Heavy
  • Avenir Next Condensed Heavy Italic
  • Avenir Next Condensed Medium
  • Avenir Next Condensed Medium Italic
  • Avenir Next Condensed Ultra Light
  • Avenir Next Condensed Ultra Light Italic
• Bangla Sangam MN
  • Bangla Sangam MN
  • Bangla Sangam MN Bold
• Baskerville
  • Baskerville
  • Baskerville Italic
  • Baskerville Bold
  • Baskerville Bold Italic
  • Baskerville SemiBold
  • Baskerville SemiBold Italic
• Bodoni 72
  • Bodoni 72 Book
  • Bodoni 72 Bold
  • Bodoni 72 Italic
• Bodoni 72 Oldstyle
  • Bodoni 72 Oldstyle Book
  • Bodoni 72 Oldstyle Bold
  • Bodoni 72 Oldstyle Italic
• Bodoni 72 Smallcaps
  • Bodoni 72 Smallcaps
• Bodoni Ornaments
  • Bodoni Ornaments
• Bradly Hand Bold
  • Bradly Hand Bold
• Chalkboard SE
  • Chalkboard SE Light
  • Chalkboard SE Regular
  • Chalkboard SE Bold
• Chalkduster
  • Chalkduster
• Cochin
  • Cochin
  • Cochin Bold
  • Cochin Bold Italic
  • Cochin Italic
• Copperplate
  • Copperplate
  • Copperplate Bold
  • Copperplate Light
• Courier
  • Courier
  • Courier Bold
  • Courier Bold Oblique
  • Courier Oblique
• Courier New
  • Courier New
  • Courier New Bold
  • Courier New Bold Italic
  • Courier New Italic
• DB LCD Temp
  • DB LCD Temp
• Devanagari Sangam MN
  • Devanagari Sangam MN
  • Devanagari Sangam MN Bold
• Didot
  • Didot
  • Didot Bold
  • Didot Italic
• Euphemia UCAS
  • Euphemia UCAS
  • Euphemia UCAS Bold
  • Euphemia UCAS Italic
• Futura
  • Futura Condensed ExtraBold
  • Futura Condensed Medium
  • Futura Medium
  • Futura Medium Italic
• Geeza Pro
  • Geeza Pro
  • Geeza Pro Bold
• Georgia
  • Georgia
  • Georgia Bold
  • Georgia Bold Italic
  • Georgia Italic
• Gill Sans
  • Gill Sans
  • Gill Sans Italic
  • Gill Sans Bold
  • Gill Sans Bold Italic
  • Gill Sans Light
  • Gill Sans Light Italic
• Gujarati Sangam MN
  • Gujarati Sangam MN
  • Gujarati Sangam MN Bold
• Gurmukhi MN
  • Gurmukhi MN
  • Gurmukhi MN Bold
• Heiti SC
  • Heiti SC Light
  • Heiti SC Medium
• Heiti TC
  • Heiti TC Light
  • Heiti TC Medium
• Helvetica
  • Helvetica
  • Helvetica Oblique
  • Helvetica Bold
  • Helvetica Bold Oblique
  • Helvetica Light
  • Helvetica Light Oblique
• Helvetica Neue
  • Helvetica Neue
  • Helvetica Neue Bold
  • Helvetica Neue Bold Italic
  • Helvetica Neue Condensed
  • Helvetica Neue Condensed Bold
  • Helvetica Neue Condensed Black
  • Helvetica Neue Italic
  • Helvetica Neue Light
  • Helvetica Neue Medium
  • Helvetica Neue UltraLight
  • Helvetica Neue UltraLight Italic
• Hiragino Kaku Gothic ProN
  • Hiragino Kaku Gothic ProN W3
  • Hiragino Kaku Gothic ProN W6
• Hiragino Mincho ProN
  • Hiragino Mincho ProN W3
  • Hiragino Mincho ProN W6
• Hoefler Text
  • Hoefler Text Regular
  • Hoefler Text Italic
  • Hoefler Text Black
  • Hoefler Text Black Italic
• Kailasa
  • Kailasa Regular
  • Kailasa Bold
• Kannada Sangam MN
  • Kannada Sangam MN
  • Kannada Sangam MN Bold
• Malayalam Sangam MN
  • Malayalam Sangam MN
  • Malayalam Sangam MN Bold
• Marion
  • Marion Regular
  • Marion Bold
  • Marion Italic
• Marker Felt
  • Marker Felt Thin
  • Marker Felt Wide
• Noteworthy
  • Noteworthy Bold
  • Noteworthy Light
• Optima
  • Optima Regular
  • Optima Italic
  • Optima Bold
  • Optima Bold Italic
  • Optima ExtraBlack
• Oriya Sangam MN
  • Oriya Sangam MN
  • Oriya Sangam MN Bold
• Palatino
  • Palatino
  • Palatino Italic
  • Palatino Bold
  • Palatino Bold Italic
• Papyrus
  • Papyrus
  • Papyrus Condensed
• Papyrus Condensed
  • Papyrus Condensed
• Party LET
  • Party LET Plain
• Sinhala Sangam MN
  • Sinhala Sangam MN
  • Sinhala Sangam MN Bold
• Snell Roundhand
  • Snell Roundhand
  • Snell Roundhand Bold
  • Snell Roundhand Black
• Symbol
  • Symbol
• Tamil Sangam MN
  • Tamil Sangam MN
  • Tamil Sangam MN Bold
• Telugu Sangam MN
  • Telugu Sangam MN
  • Telugu Sangam Bold
• Thonbury
  • Thonbury
  • Thonburi Bold
• Times New Roman
  • Times New Roman
  • Times New Roman Italic
  • Times New Roman Bold
  • Times New Roman Bold Italic
• Trebuchet MS
  • Trebuchet MS
  • Trebuchet MS Italic
  • Trebuchet MS Bold
  • Trebuchet MS Bold Italic
• Verdana
  • Verdana
  • Verdana Italic
  • Verdana Bold
  • Verdana Bold Italic
• Zapf Dingbats
  • Zapf Dingbats
• Zapfino
  • Zapfino

There are also a series of typefaces whose names start with a dot. I assume they are reserved for the OS – any feedback on this would be appreciated.

• .Helvetica Light
  • .Helvetica Light
  • .Helvetica Light Oblique
• .Helvetica LT MM
  • .Helvetica LT MM
• .Helvetica Neue ATV
  • . Helvetica Neue ATV
• .Helvetica NeueUI
  • . Helvetica NeueUI
  • .Helvetica NeueUI Bold
  • .Helvetica NeueUI Bold Italic
  • .Helvetica NeueUI Italic
• .HKGPW3UI
  • .HKGPW3UI
• .LastResort
  • .LastResort
• .Lock Clock
  • .Lock Clock
• .PhoneFallBack
  • .PhoneFallBack
• .PhoneKeyCaps
  • .PhoneKeyCaps Regular
• .PhoneKeyCapsTwo
  • .PhoneKeyCapsTwo
• .PhonepadTwo
  • .PhonepadTwo
• .Times LT MM
  • .Times LT MM

In total iOS 6.0.1 for the iPad ships with 218 fonts from 76 families.

Not all iPad apps provide full access to the installed typefaces. This is particularly true for apps for reading ebooks or other documents.

• Within the Apple iBook 3.0.2 app, users can select Athelas, Charter, Georgia, Iowan, Palatino, Seravek and Times New Roman.
• The Amazon Kindle 3.5 app  allows readers to use Baskerville, Caecilia, Georgia, Helvetica or Palatino. They can also decide to stick to the font selected by the publisher.

Fonts on the iPhone and iPod Touch

I haven’t compiled this list yet, as I did for iOS 4.

Other sources of information

None available anymore.