Updates to Typekit’s mobile support

As mentioned previously, Apple iOS 4.2 brings with it some significant improvements in web fonts: Mobile Safari no longer crashes when multiple weights of a web font are loaded. And iOS 4.2 adds support for TrueType fonts (where previous versions only supported SVG fonts).

As a result, we are updating our support for mobile devices. Starting today, support for iOS devices is no longer experimental; fonts for the iPad and iPhone will be enabled in new kits by default. (Note that this change does not affect settings in your existing kits — only in newly created kits.) You can still disable them if you choose, however; just pop into the Kit Editor and change the settings under Kit Settings > Mobile Settings. Remember to republish your kit after making changes.

We’ve also added an option to disable sending web fonts to Android 2.2 devices in your Kit Settings. As with iOS 4.2, support is enabled by default, but you can disable it if you choose.

At the same time, we are dropping support for versions of iOS prior to 4.2. This means that users of these devices will see the fallback fonts for your site, and be spared a browser crash. We recommend that you use Font Events to take full control over the fallback scenario, ensuring a good experience for users of older devices and browsers.

Additionally, we are currently testing support for TrueType fonts on iOS 4.2. Look for further updates as we make the switch from sending SVG fonts to sending TrueType fonts to these devices.

Update: We are now serving TrueType fonts to iOS 4.2 devices.

As always, if you have questions, we’re here to help; drop a line to support@typekit.com at any time.

One Response

  1. Stef Pause says:

    From reading the previous topic on this it seems that dropping support for older iOS versions is a contentious issue. However, as someone whose sites regularly crashed the old MobileSafari when Typekit was enabled, this news makes me very happy indeed. Thank you, Typekit!

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