Fix for ‘Font Not Compatible’ Error on Samsung Galaxy S6, Galaxy Note 5, and Galaxy S7

BY Rajesh Pandey

Published 7 May 2016

Galaxy-S7-edge-display-closeup

This might sound surprising but one of my favorite features of Touchwiz is the ability to change the system fonts easily. Samsung has included this functionality in all of its recent flagship devices: the Galaxy S6 series, Galaxy Note 5, and Galaxy S7 series. The best part is you are not limited to the fonts pre-loaded by Samsung, and can download additional fonts from the Google Play Store and Samsung’s own Galaxy Apps store.

However, with the Marshmallow update for the Galaxy S6 and Note 5, Samsung made some changes to its font system that has led to many fonts to show a “Fonts not compatible” error. A quick Google search shows that I am not the only one with this problem, with many other Galaxy owners reporting the same problem after updating their handset to Marshmallow.

I thought this was just an error from the Korean company’s side, but the same issue persists on the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge. Even uninstalling and reinstalling the fonts was not enough to solve the problem.

System fonts on Galaxy S7

As it turns out, Samsung has disabled the use of any other type of font except for ‘Flip Fonts’. So, while there are plethora of fonts available on the Play Store, only “FlipFont” fonts will work on the Galaxy S7, Galaxy S6, and other Samsung devices running Marshmallow.

This means that if your favorite font throws up a “Fonts not compatible” error on the Galaxy S7 or your Galaxy S6 after updating to Marshmallow, there is little you can do about it. Your best bet is to find its “FlipFont” alternative. While almost all the “FlipFont” in Samsung’s Galaxy Apps store are paid, you will still find plenty of free flip fonts on the Google Play Store.

It looks to me like Samsung implemented this restriction due to some licensing and font piracy issues, since most of the “FlipFonts” are actually only available as a paid download. Whatever the case might be, a heads up from the Korean company sure would have been welcome.