10 Best Google Fonts For Apps and Websites (Expert Picks)
Are you curious about what the best Google fonts for apps are?
The perfect font for an app is pleasant to look at, helps with branding, and pairs well with other fonts.
Furthermore, it’s compatible with the mobile user interface (UI) to make texts in apps easier to read.
In addition, it helps you connect with your audience.
Moreover, it should be appealing and legible on different devices.
Now, let’s go through the top 10 best Google fonts for apps and the benefits of using them.
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Open Sans
Open Sans is perfect for those wanting a familiar and friendly feel conveyed by their app.
Sans means without and refers to the design of the letters without the serifs or little “wings” on the ends of the letters.
There is a psychology behind choosing a font.
A font without a serif makes an app look elegant, clean, or understated.
Open Sans is available in 10 styles.
Moreover, it pairs well with PT Sans, Roboto, Poppins, and Montserrat fonts.
Although it’s best used for heading text, it’s legible in small sizes and can also be used in a body of text.
Open Sans will give your app a neat look, something that is imperative to its readability and legibility.
It’s all of these characteristics that place it as one of Google’s most popular and second most served fonts.
You can’t go wrong using Open Sans for your app.
Pros & Benefits
- One of the most used Google fonts
- An appealing font that gives a neutral and friendly look to the text
- It’s legible and designed to look good on a mobile interface
Lato
Lato is the Polish word for summer and is an homage to when it was first designed by Łukasz Dziedzi, in the summer of 2010.
Dziedzic created Lato for a Polish bank which later changed its vision, stopping the design’s release.
However, he released it anyway on a later date, with an open font license.
It is free and available for app use through Google Fonts.
As I mentioned before about the psychology of a font, a better explanation is that each font has its own personality.
It then passes that personality to the medium it is used for, in this case, the design of an app.
Lato is another sans serif font and the personality it gives off is a serious, stable, and warm personality.
This font is neat and pairable with the previously mentioned Open Sans, Roboto, Oswald, Raleway, and Source Sans Pro.
Lato is excellent for those looking to have a sleek and professional look to their app.
Most importantly, this could be why it’s also among Google’s most popular used fonts.
Pros & Benefits
- Easy to read due to its neat design
- Pairable with multiple fonts
- One of the classic fonts and the third most used Google font.
- Supports 100 Latin languages and over 50 Cyrillic based languages along with Greek and IPA
Montserrat
Montserrat is yet another sans serif font that has a traditional and urban personality.
It’s a perfect font for apps aimed to have a retro yet classic and modern look.
It’s similar to Proxima Nova which is a paid font.
Nevertheless, it is free since this is one of the Google fonts.
Montserrat is inspired and named after the historic Argentina neighborhood where the designer, Julieta Ulanovsky, lives.
Ulanovsky’s goal was to save the traditional and urban lettering used in old signs and posters.
Furthermore, the font has two sister families, which are Alternates and Subrayada.
Montserrat is sure to improve the readability of any app.
Additionally, it pairs well with Roboto, Open Sans, Raleway, and Lato.
It gives off a professional look with a slight urban twist.
And like the neighborhood it is inspired from, it will make your app look beautiful.
An app using this font will have retro but at the same time a beautiful modern feel.
Pros & Benefits
- Montserrat pairs well with many popular fonts
- Its retro inspiration is greatly used in branding or the body of texts for apps
- Similar to and a free alternative for the font Proxima Nova.
PT Sans
PT Sans is a good choice for those wanting a unique design that supports different variations of Cyrillic Script.
Here, you see the word sans again, which represents the sans serif fonts.
Its design is based on the Russian language.
What’s more, it is aimed so people of Russia can read and write in their native languages.
PT Sans is a project ordered by the government of the Russian Federation.
Furthermore, it supports the 70+ languages and used in the territory.
The designers firmly believe that it is a person’s right to use their native language daily, including typing.
Because of this, it has characters of all the title languages of the Russian Federation and even those of some neighboring countries.
It is a free Google font so citizens and all nationalities of Russia can have access to it.
PT Sans pairs well with Open Sans, Roboto, Lato, and Montserrat.
This makes it an essential tool for today’s digital communications.
It is a universal font that will make a statement and give a unique mood to your app.
Pros & Benefits
- The classic design and its modern twist will elevate the app
- A user-friendly font that is easy to read on mobile displays
- Supports Latin and Cyrillic languages in addition to the Russian base
- Great used for heading or even body text making it suitable for an app with a wide language audience
Roboto
Roboto is a suitable font for those who want an app with a more natural reading rhythm and a clean and friendly look.
It’s a sans serif font described as modern, clean, approachable, and even emotional.
If this font looks familiar because Google uses this font across many platforms and applications.
Websites like Google+, Google Images, Google Play Store, Google Maps, and YouTube use this font.
It is a font that Christian Robertson designed from scratch specifically for use on high-density screens.
Its release in 2011 was met with some criticisms and has been updated several times since then.
This is a good thing since Google still uses the font.
Roboto pairs with Open Sans, Noto Sans JP, and Lato.
Along with supporting the more common Cyrillic and Latin scripts, it supports partial Greek Script.
It’s also used on android apps, so using this font will make any newly designed app fit right in with the android market.
Pros & Benefits
- Used mainly by android apps and most Google services
- Supports Latin, Cyrillic, and Greek scripts
- Great for high-resolution screens, which will make an app look flawless on any screen
Source Sans Pro
Source Sans Pro is a good pick for a font that supports a wide range of languages.
Such examples are Eastern and Western European, Pinyin, Vietnamese, and even Navajo.
Its designer, Paul D Hunt, aimed for the design to be legible in short UI labels.
He made sure that the font would be comfortable to read in longer texts on display.
Adobe needed an open-source font and decided to create Source Sans Pro.
It’s the first design in the Adobe open-source family which is available for free on Google fonts.
Even though it was designed for Adobe Systems, it pairs well with the Google fonts Roboto, Roboto Condensed, Open Sans, Lato, and Montserrat.
Stanford University chose Source Sans Pro as the font for their web identity.
Dig.com is another site that uses this font.
The fact that these two very different sites use it shows you how versatile this font is.
It can be used with different types of design work and is a font that you can even use in the logo for your app.
Pros & Benefits
- Source Sans Pro works well with user interfaces
- Has a modern and minimal mood to the design of an app
- Works well for headlines, the body of text, and caption
Poppins
Poppins is a multi-use font that works well for different types of content.
Furthermore, it pairs nicely with the already mentioned Open Sans, Roboto, Source Sans Pro, and Lato.
It’s a new addition to the geometric sans serif typeface and already ranks high in popularity.
It has been compared to Sofia Pro.
Poppins is a new favorite that is even used by the well-known company Airbnb.
Poppins was designed to be geometric for the Devanagari and Latin writing systems.
Moreover, it has all the forms needed to typeset Indian languages.
Some of the languages that it supports are Nepali and Hindi to Romanian and Afrikaans, and many others.
The writing systems it is based on are based purely on geometry and gives the font a slightly rounded shape.
The modest rounded shapes of the letters will give an app warmth and make it more welcoming to users.
Pros & Benefits
- Supports Devanagari and Latin Writing systems, Indian, Nepali, Hindi, Romanian, and African languages
- A free alternative to Sofia Pro
- Optimized for web and mobile interfaces, so it is legible even in small sizes, which suits app design
Lora
Lora is a font that creates a memorable appearance on any app.
It is a great font for those who want a softer yet smooth look.
This is the first font on the list that is a serif font which you can see by the small “feet” or “wings” at the end of the letters.
Lora was inspired by calligraphy, which is why it has serifs and conveys a flowing mood.
It pairs with Roboto, Lato, Open Sans, Montserrat, and finally, Source Sans Pro.
True to its roots, the letters of this font have an air of calligraphy.
Yet, it is made to be legible, and it renders well on any screen.
Along with a balanced look, Lora has moderate contrast adding to the many characteristics qualifying it suitable for various screens.
Its look and adaptability are what give it a spot in the best google fonts listed.
Lora is a suitable pick if you want a font with serif and want to keep it professional-looking.
Pros & Benefits
- Works well in body text due to its moderate contrast for lengthy texts.
- Optimized for use and appearance for various screens
- A versatile look that can be used in a story or even an art essay
Oswald
Oswald brings back the sans serif theme and gives any app a trendy yet chic look.
It has a condensed look, so it grabs attention, whether used for headlines or blocks of text.
Designed by Vernon Adams, like many of his other fonts, it is based on Classic Gothic and Grotesque font styles.
Oswald definitely has a clean and charming mood and personality.
Moreover, its suitable and unsurprising pairs are Open Sans, Roboto, Lato, Raleway, and Montserrat.
Oswald brings remnants of classic newspaper font from the past, and it will make longer text look exciting.
It has been re-designed and redrawn since its debut, to better fit across a variety of screens.
Its style will definitely make any text in an app pop and look fun.
Pros & Benefits
- Fits for various screen types from mobile to desktop
- A versatile font used for the body of texts, headings, and logos
- Oswald gives long blocks of text graphical yet a clean and charming mood
Nunito
Nunito is great for those who want a lively yet smart and stylish feel.
It’s a modern sans serif font and is similar to Lato.
It gives off the same stable look.
Vernon Adams, who also designed the popular Oswald font, designed this font to be used as a display font.
It was later expanded by Jacques Le Bailly and now has two versions.
In 2017, it was expanded once again by Manvel Shmavonyan and Alexei Vanyashin.
It’s a balanced and prolific typeface that pairs well with Lora, Open Sans, and Roboto, all of which are on this list.
Nunito is compatible to be used on various different programs like Photoshop, Microsoft Word, Illustrator plus many others.
Not only that but it’s made to be used openly across the internet.
For example, for web browsers, desktop screens, laptop screens, and mobile device screens.
Lastly, the personality of this font is a versatile one and can be adapted to what you need.
Pros & Benefits
- Offers two versions of typeface, a rounded and non-rounded version
- Designed to be used as a display and adaptable for text too
- It pairs well with various other fonts to make your app look vibrant and cohesive
Final Thoughts
Finding the best google fonts for apps depends on many individual things.
However, it doesn’t have to be a difficult task.
The right font or combination of fonts will convey the message and mood you want for your app.
Furthermore, it will add to the look and feel of the app.
It affects the legibility, readability, and experience the audience has.
Thus, it’s important to narrow it down carefully and thoughtfully.
This curated list is a great starting point and characteristics to think about.
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