Roboto is a sans-serif typeface family developed by Google as the system font for its mobile operating system Android.

“We see Roboto as an evolving type family and plan to continue to change and update it as the system evolves. It used to be that a type family was designed once and then used without change for many years. Sometimes an updated version was released with a new name, sometimes by appending a ‘Neue’ or ‘New’. The old model for releasing metal typefaces doesn’t make sense for an operating system that is constantly improving. As the system evolves over time, the type should evolve along with it.” - Google

Roboto supports 16 weights as well as advanced typographic features such as small caps, ligatures and lower case numerals. Roboto currently covers most scripts based on Latin, Cyrillic and Greek alphabets.

Like many neo-grotesque designs, roboto has narrow apertures, which limit its legibility onscreen and at small print sizes. It also has no visible difference between upper-case ‘i’ and lower-case ‘L’, although the number 1 is quite identifiable with its flag at top left.