Add Custom Fonts in Expo (2025 Guide)

Professional Font Management in Expo

Typography plays a crucial role in creating polished mobile applications. Custom fonts help establish brand identity and improve user experience. With Expo SDK 53, implementing custom fonts has become more straightforward while maintaining excellent performance and developer experience.

This comprehensive guide covers everything you need to know about adding custom fonts to your Expo app, from basic implementation to advanced optimization techniques.

Using expo-font

The expo-font package provides a simple API for loading custom fonts asynchronously. This ensures your app doesn't block while fonts are loading, maintaining smooth app startup performance.

// app/_layout.tsx
import { useFonts } from 'expo-font';
import * as SplashScreen from 'expo-splash-screen';

SplashScreen.preventAutoHideAsync();

export default function RootLayout() {
  const [fontsLoaded] = useFonts({
    'Inter-Regular': require('./assets/fonts/Inter-Regular.ttf'),
    'Inter-Bold': require('./assets/fonts/Inter-Bold.ttf'),
    'Inter-SemiBold': require('./assets/fonts/Inter-SemiBold.ttf'),
  });

  useEffect(() => {
    if (fontsLoaded) {
      SplashScreen.hideAsync();
    }
  }, [fontsLoaded]);

  if (!fontsLoaded) return null;

  return <Stack />;
}

Google Fonts Integration

Expo provides seamless Google Fonts integration through the @expo-google-fonts packages. This eliminates the need to download and manage font files manually.

// Install Google Fonts
npx expo install expo-font @expo-google-fonts/inter

// Usage
import { useFonts, Inter_400Regular, Inter_700Bold } from '@expo-google-fonts/inter';

const [fontsLoaded] = useFonts({
  Inter_400Regular,
  Inter_700Bold,
});

Local TTF Font Integration

For custom brand fonts or fonts not available through Google Fonts, you can use local TTF files. Organize your fonts in an assets/fonts directory for better project structure.

• Directory Structure - Keep fonts organized in assets/fonts/
• Font Variants - Include all weights and styles you'll need
• Naming Convention - Use consistent, descriptive font names

Theme System Integration

Integrate your custom fonts with your theme system (like Restyle) for consistent typography throughout your application.

// theme.ts
const theme = createTheme({
  textVariants: {
    header: {
      fontFamily: 'Inter-Bold',
      fontSize: 34,
      lineHeight: 42,
    },
    body: {
      fontFamily: 'Inter-Regular',
      fontSize: 16,
      lineHeight: 24,
    },
  },
});

Performance Optimization

Follow these optimization techniques to ensure fast font loading and smooth app performance:

• Subset Fonts - Include only the characters you need
• Async Loading - Always load fonts asynchronously
• Splash Screen - Keep splash screen visible until fonts load
• Font Variants - Only include weights you actually use

Common Issues and Solutions

Troubleshoot common font loading issues including font not displaying, incorrect font weights, and performance problems. Learn the solutions that work in production apps.

Build Professional Mobile Apps

For Developers: AI Mobile Launcher includes pre-configured custom font loading with Google Fonts integration and Restyle theme support.

For Founders: Need a mobile app with beautiful typography? Contact CasaInnov for professional development.