Bangla font on Android now displaying correctly after the Android 4.4 KitKat update. It was broken after Google released Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update. Broken doesn’t mean it wasn’t working. Android was unable to display the font style properly on devices.
We have posted here about the update and broken part. Our reader Joel reached out to Google to ask for the solution, but Google didn’t update or do anything to fix it on Android 4.3. They did it with the next update. I bought a Nexus 5 next day it was announced and stated selling it online. The smartphone came with most awaited Android 4.4 KitKat.
After the initial playing with the phone and it’s features I wanted to test if there is any fix for the Bangla font. So, I opened Bangladesh’s leading newspaper Prothom-Alo’s website. I was amazed and happy to see everything is working properly. No missing styles or messed up experience. Thanks Google. I’ve included some screenshots from my phone for your viewing pleasure.
The history of Bangla (Bengali) font on Android have some mixed experiences. Google made it available to display the font properly from Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Since that Android update, we were able to browse & read nicely, until Android 4.3. On earlier Android versions we could see only boxes instead the proper font. I tried to push some Bangla Unicode font, didn’t work.
So, if you are looking forward to use your Android device to read Bengali content you should update your Android version. As Android 4.4 is just the newest, not all the devices will support it. Some of the devices are getting Android 4.4 update through unofficial channel. Devs are working hard to get the update for your device. Head over to XDA-Developers forum to check if there’s any ROM for your device. If not, try using up to Android 4.2.2; as android 4.3 will break it.