KODI allows the selection of only two fonts for subtitles. “Arial.ttf” and “Teletext.tt”. Obviously nobody uses “Teletext” because it looks like crap. I don’t even know why developers even put that in there. So we are left with “Arial.ttf”.
Call me picky, but I really hate the way this specific version of “Arial” looks in Greek, because in Greek it is not really “Arial”! Some characters are not simplified, and are curvy (like ν and λ) and kind of calligraphic. Also the characters with accents don’t look good. This is weird (to me anyway) and will make my reading not to flow naturally during a movie.
I looked into this, and I found that in order to add a different font in android, you have to find the folder where the fonts are stored and stick a different .ttf file in there. The folder path (if I’m not mistaken) is: Device/data/data/org.xbmc.kodi/cache/assets/media/Fonts
Then I realized this path is not accessible unless your android device is rooted! (wtf).
I happen to have a rooted device; So I added the typical MS office “Arial” font, renamed it “Arial2”, it appeared in KODI settings, I chose it and voila! Simplified “Arial” style characters in Greek looking great! Now this font will often disappear, when device memory is cleared, or when KODI updates, and I will have to re-add it. I also have another unrooted device, in which I cannot do this, so I’m stuck with a font I don’t like.
So my question is: For something so essential in video playback, like subtitles, why does KODI only offers the choice of two crappy fonts, and makes it so difficult to choose a different font? Wouldn’t something like “add more” in fonts’ options make sense?