# Roboto: the Android font, history and pairings

> Roboto was made by Google for Android in 2011. Its history, where Google uses it, and body fonts that pair with it.

Web page: https://davidewins.com/fonts/roboto

Google's Android system font since 2011.

Roboto is on Google Fonts, so the preview is the real thing.

## History

- Christian Robertson designed Roboto at Google. It was released in 2011 as the system font of Android Ice Cream Sandwich. [1]
- It was redesigned in 2014 for Android 5.0 Lollipop. [1]

## Who uses it

- Google Play, YouTube, Google Maps and Google Images [1]
- Nintendo Switch packaging [1]
- The United Nations website [1]

## Sources

1. [Wikipedia: Roboto](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roboto)

## Pairings

Body fonts that go with Roboto:

- [Roboto](https://davidewins.com/fonts?heading=roboto&body=roboto): One family throughout, the way Android apps do it.
- [Lora](https://davidewins.com/fonts?heading=roboto&body=lora): A warm serif body for editorial pages under a neutral heading.
- [Merriweather](https://davidewins.com/fonts?heading=roboto&body=merriweather): Large x-height serif that holds up on small screens.

[Open Roboto in the pairing tool](https://davidewins.com/fonts?heading=roboto)