Installing Custom Fonts

You can choose your preferred font in the code editor settings and SSH terminal settings. In addition to its built-in fonts, Textastic will also list all monospaced font installed on your device.

To install custom fonts system-wide on your iOS device you need to use configuration profiles.

Tip

Fonts installed using configuration profiles are available to all apps on your device. For example, you can also use these fonts in Apple’s Pages or Microsoft Word.

Use apps like Fontcase or AnyFont on your iPad or iPhone, or Apple Configurator 2 on your Mac to install custom fonts and they will be available in Textastic.

Using Fontcase

Probably the easiest way to install a custom font using a configuration profile directly on your iOS device is using the free and open source Fontcase app.

Download Fontcase from the App Store.

Launch Fontcase and you are presented with this welcome screen that you confirm with OK:

Tap the Import button in the top left corner and select the font files you want to install.

In this example I selected the regular, bold, italic, and bold italic OpenType (.otf) font files of the IBM Plex Mono font from a folder in iCloud Drive. Tap Open.

You will see a list of the imported font files.

Tap Install in the top right corner. Fontcase will package all imported font files in a configuration profile and show a local web page:

Tap Download Fonts. This will show a prompt that you need to confirm by tapping Allow.

Switch to the Settings app. There should be a “Profile Downloaded” prompt that you can tap.

Tap Install and follow the instructions to install the profile. You may need to enter the passcode of your device in order to install the profile.

If you now launch Textastic and go to Settings ‣ Code Editor ‣ Font, the newly installed font will be available:

Using Apple Configurator 2

Install Apple Configurator 2

Download Apple Configurator 2 from the Mac App Store for free.

Create a Font Configuration Profile

In Apple Configurator 2 on your Mac, choose File ‣ New Profile. A new configuration profile document window appears.

In the General settings pane, fill in the Name and Identifier fields.

Select Fonts from the list on the left, click Configure, then select one of the font files you want to add as a payload to the configuration profile.

Use the + button next to the font file to add additional font files.

In this example you can see the regular, bold, italic, and bold italic OpenType (.otf) font files of the IBM Plex Mono font added to the profile:

Choose File ‣ Save, name the profile, choose where to save it, then click Save.

Install Font Profile

To install the font configuration profile created in the previous step, connect your iPad or iPhone to your Mac.

Select your device in Apple Configurator 2.

Choose Actions ‣ Add ‣ Profiles, select the previously saved profile, then click Add.

Confirm the installation of the profile in the Settings app on your device.