Android support for polytonic Greek

Bible Study software, Unicode, Fonts, Keyboards, creating Web pages in Greek, and other software issues.
Jonathan Robie
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Re: Android support for polytonic Greek

Post by Jonathan Robie »

Looks like I may have to root my Nexus to install these fonts. I was hoping that wouldn't be necessary.

The real problem is that the Android fonts are missing these glyphs, that's a bug that should be fixed.

This was raised as a bug on Google's Android bug tracker, we should all go there and support the need for these glyphs.
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
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Jonathan Robie
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Re: Android support for polytonic Greek

Post by Jonathan Robie »

Entered a new bug specific to Greek. Please express support for this issue if Android support for polytonic Greek matters to you:

http://code.google.com/p/android/issues ... 1363191687
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
http://jonathanrobie.biblicalhumanities.org/
Jason Hare
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Re: Android support for polytonic Greek

Post by Jason Hare »

I just discovered the oddest thing. I started a new blog this week (for personal things), and when I accessed it from my Galaxy Note II through the Blogger application, it still refused to show the fonts that I embedded on the page. However, when I clicked on the link to "view web version," it displayed all of the embedded fonts beautifully - including both polytonic Greek and Paleo-Hebrew!

I've attached an image so that you can see.

Image

So, if Blogger can somehow access the embedded fonts, why can none of the browsers do the same thing? I've tried it with Opera, Chrome and the native Android browser. I'll be downloading other browsers to try them, too.

It is so frustrating that (1) Android doesn't supply support the Unicode platform and (2) when it does support it, the fonts have to be embedded on the page (through CSS). Give us a break already!
Jason A. Hare
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Jason Hare
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Re: Android support for polytonic Greek

Post by Jason Hare »

Right after I posted this, I tried again with Opera (connected by wi-fi with the turbo turned on), and this is what I got:

Image

I guess Opera is trying to fool me. I have no idea if it reads the embedded fonts regularly or not.

I'll try with other browsers, though.
Jason A. Hare
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Ron Smith
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Re: Android support for polytonic Greek

Post by Ron Smith »

Even though I have been loyal to Samsung. I now have a used Nexus 7 and hope to get the best out of the fonts.
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Jonathan Robie
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Re: Android support for polytonic Greek

Post by Jonathan Robie »

Ron Smith wrote:Even though I have been loyal to Samsung. I now have a used Nexus 7 and hope to get the best out of the fonts.
I haven't found a way to get the fonts to work out, in general, without rooting it. Several of the Bible apps do get the fonts right - Logos, Olive Tree, And Bible. Bible.is does not, neither does Bible Gateway.
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
http://jonathanrobie.biblicalhumanities.org/
Orrin Winton
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Re: Android support for polytonic Greek

Post by Orrin Winton »

Jason Hare wrote:
Stephen Hill wrote:I'm considering getting an Android tablet, but googling has yielded conflicting reports on whether Android can handle polytonic Greek. The demo models I've played with in stores can't display quite a few characters, and I'll have to go with iOS if there's no solution. Has anyone here successfully gotten Android to display polytonic Greek?

Stephen
Are you talking about viewing it or typing in it? I can view all polytonic Greek on my Android telephone, having installed the Ubuntu font group (through the market).

Jason (and others who may read this): I have checked on Google Play (formerly called the Market i think) and i find nothing that looks very much like "the Ubuntu font group." Elsewhere on the Web i found a (perhaps outdated) guide to installing new fonts on Android, but i'm not willing to try something so technical that may be out of date.

Are there any recent solutions to this? My main Android device is a Samsung Galaxy Note 1, running 4.0.3 or 4.0.4. Thanks
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Re: Android support for polytonic Greek

Post by Jason Hare »

Orrin Winton wrote:Jason (and others who may read this): I have checked on Google Play (formerly called the Market i think) and i find nothing that looks very much like "the Ubuntu font group." Elsewhere on the Web i found a (perhaps outdated) guide to installing new fonts on Android, but i'm not willing to try something so technical that may be out of date.

Are there any recent solutions to this? My main Android device is a Samsung Galaxy Note 1, running 4.0.3 or 4.0.4. Thanks
The application I used was actually called "Fontomizer," which is great generally, but it stopped working to support Polytonic Greek.

I'm using the Galaxy Note 2 now with Jellybean (4.1.2), and I cannot view Greek with the accents unless I embed them in a browser page. Needless to say, I can't view any of the accents on B-Greek's site. That means that I use B-Greek must less regularly than I would, since I have to wait until I'm in front of a computer to even read the posts correctly. :-/
Jason A. Hare
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Jason Hare
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Re: Android support for polytonic Greek

Post by Jason Hare »

I've just rooted my Note 2, and I can now see Greek fonts. I rooted it to get SuperUser permissions, then I installed an app called "Font Installer." I've installed Arial and Times New Roman from my computer.

UPDATE: Do not install "Font Installer" app on your system. It bricked my phone, and it seems that others have had the same experience. I now have to wipe my phone because of this app. :(
Jason A. Hare
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Jason Hare
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Re: Android support for polytonic Greek

Post by Jason Hare »

This might be of help to some: http://www.androidauthority.com/how-to- ... one-32078/

Just be aware that rooting might void warranty status of your device.
Jason A. Hare
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