[android] Auto Scale TextView Text to Fit within Bounds

I'm looking for an optimal way to resize wrapping text in a TextView so that it will fit within its getHeight and getWidth bounds. I'm not simply looking for a way to wrap the text- I want to make sure it both wraps and is small enough to fit entirely on the screen.

I've seen a few cases on StackOverflow where auto resizing was needed, but they are either very special cases with hack solutions, have no solution, or involve re-drawing the TextView recursively until it is small enough (which is memory intense and forces the user to watch the text shrink step-by-step with every recursion).

But I'm sure somebody out there has found a good solution that doesn't involve what I'm doing: writing several heavy routines that parse and measure the text, resize the text, and repeat until a suitably small size has been found.

What routines does TextView use to wrap the text? Couldn't those be somehow used to predict whether text will be small enough?

tl;dr: is there a best-practice way to auto-resize a TextView to fit, wrapped, in its getHeight and getWidth bounds?

Extend TextView and override onDraw with the code below. It will keep text aspect ratio but size it to fill the space. You could easily modify code to stretch if necessary.

  @Override
  protected void onDraw(@NonNull Canvas canvas) {
    TextPaint textPaint = getPaint();
    textPaint.setColor(getCurrentTextColor());
    textPaint.setTextAlign(Paint.Align.CENTER);
    textPaint.drawableState = getDrawableState();

    String text = getText().toString();
    float desiredWidth = getMeasuredWidth() - getPaddingLeft() - getPaddingRight() - 2;
    float desiredHeight = getMeasuredHeight() - getPaddingTop() - getPaddingBottom() - 2;
    float textSize = textPaint.getTextSize();

    for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
      textPaint.getTextBounds(text, 0, text.length(), rect);
      float width = rect.width();
      float height = rect.height();

      float deltaWidth = width - desiredWidth;
      float deltaHeight = height - desiredHeight;

      boolean fitsWidth = deltaWidth <= 0;
      boolean fitsHeight = deltaHeight <= 0;

      if ((fitsWidth && Math.abs(deltaHeight) < 1.0)
          || (fitsHeight && Math.abs(deltaWidth) < 1.0)) {
        // close enough
        break;
      }

      float adjustX = desiredWidth / width;
      float adjustY = desiredHeight / height;

      textSize = textSize * (adjustY < adjustX ? adjustY : adjustX);

      // adjust text size
      textPaint.setTextSize(textSize);
    }
    float x = desiredWidth / 2f;
    float y = desiredHeight / 2f - rect.top - rect.height() / 2f;
    canvas.drawText(text, x, y, textPaint);
  }

Since I've been looking for this forever, and I found a solution a while ago which is missing here, I'm gonna write it here, for future reference also.

Note: this code was taken directly from Google Android Lollipop dialer a while back, I don't remember If changes were made at the time. Also, I don't know which license is this under, but I have reason to think it is Apache 2.0.

Class ResizeTextView, the actual View

public class ResizeTextView extends TextView {

private final int mOriginalTextSize;
private final int mMinTextSize;
private final static int sMinSize = 20;
public ResizeTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
    super(context, attrs);
    mOriginalTextSize = (int) getTextSize();
    mMinTextSize = (int) sMinSize;
}
@Override
protected void onTextChanged(CharSequence text, int start, int lengthBefore, int lengthAfter) {
    super.onTextChanged(text, start, lengthBefore, lengthAfter);
    ViewUtil.resizeText(this, mOriginalTextSize, mMinTextSize);
}
@Override
protected void onSizeChanged(int w, int h, int oldw, int oldh) {
    super.onSizeChanged(w, h, oldw, oldh);
    ViewUtil.resizeText(this, mOriginalTextSize, mMinTextSize);
}

This ResizeTextView class could extend TextView and all its children as I undestand, so EditText as well.

Class ViewUtil with method resizeText(...)

/*
* Copyright (C) 2012 The Android Open Source Project
*
* Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
* you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
* You may obtain a copy of the License at
*
*      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
*
* Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
* distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
* WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
* See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
* limitations under the License.
*/

import android.graphics.Paint;
import android.util.TypedValue;
import android.widget.TextView;

public class ViewUtil {

    private ViewUtil() {}

    public static void resizeText(TextView textView, int originalTextSize, int minTextSize) {
        final Paint paint = textView.getPaint();
        final int width = textView.getWidth();
        if (width == 0) return;
        textView.setTextSize(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_PX, originalTextSize);
        float ratio = width / paint.measureText(textView.getText().toString());
        if (ratio <= 1.0f) {
            textView.setTextSize(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_PX,
                    Math.max(minTextSize, originalTextSize * ratio));
        }
    }
}

You should set your view as

<yourpackage.yourapp.ResizeTextView
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="64dp"
            android:gravity="center"
            android:maxLines="1"/>

Hope it helps!

Thanks to Chase and onoelle, for the lazy programmers, let me post here a working version of their fantastic merged code, adapted on a Button, instead of a TextView.

Substitute all your Buttons (not ImageButtons) with AutoResizeTextButtons and the same boring problem is fixed for them too.

Here is the code. I just removed the imports.

/**
 *            DO WHAT THE FUCK YOU WANT TO PUBLIC LICENSE
 *                    Version 2, December 2004
 * 
 * Copyright (C) 2004 Sam Hocevar <[email protected]>
 * 
 * Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim or modified
 * copies of this license document, and changing it is allowed as long
 * as the name is changed.
 * 
 *            DO WHAT THE FUCK YOU WANT TO PUBLIC LICENSE
 *   TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION
 * 
 *  0. You just DO WHAT THE FUCK YOU WANT TO.
 *  made better by onoelle
 *  adapted for button by beppi
 */

/**
 * Text Button that auto adjusts text size to fit within the view.
 * If the text size equals the minimum text size and still does not
 * fit, append with an ellipsis.
 * 
 * @author Chase Colburn
 * @since Apr 4, 2011
 */
public class AutoResizeTextButton extends Button {

    // Minimum text size for this text view
    public static final float MIN_TEXT_SIZE = 20;

    // Interface for resize notifications
    public interface OnTextResizeListener {
        public void onTextResize(Button textView, float oldSize, float newSize);
    }

    // Our ellipse string
    private static final String mEllipsis = "...";

    // Registered resize listener
    private OnTextResizeListener mTextResizeListener;

    // Flag for text and/or size changes to force a resize
    private boolean mNeedsResize = false;

    // Text size that is set from code. This acts as a starting point for resizing
    private float mTextSize;

    // Temporary upper bounds on the starting text size
    private float mMaxTextSize = 0;

    // Lower bounds for text size
    private float mMinTextSize = MIN_TEXT_SIZE;

    // Text view line spacing multiplier
    private float mSpacingMult = 1.0f;

    // Text view additional line spacing
    private float mSpacingAdd = 0.0f;

    // Add ellipsis to text that overflows at the smallest text size
    private boolean mAddEllipsis = true;

    // Default constructor override
    public AutoResizeTextButton(Context context) {
        this(context, null);
    }

    // Default constructor when inflating from XML file
    public AutoResizeTextButton(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        this(context, attrs, 0);
    }

    // Default constructor override
    public AutoResizeTextButton(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) {
        super(context, attrs, defStyle);
        mTextSize = getTextSize();
    }

    /**
     * When text changes, set the force resize flag to true and reset the text size.
     */
    @Override
    protected void onTextChanged(final CharSequence text, final int start, final int before, final int after) {
        mNeedsResize = true;
        // Since this view may be reused, it is good to reset the text size
        resetTextSize();
    }

    /**
     * If the text view size changed, set the force resize flag to true
     */
    @Override
    protected void onSizeChanged(int w, int h, int oldw, int oldh) {
        if (w != oldw || h != oldh) {
            mNeedsResize = true;
        }
    }

    /**
     * Register listener to receive resize notifications
     * @param listener
     */
    public void setOnResizeListener(OnTextResizeListener listener) {
        mTextResizeListener = listener;
    }

    /**
     * Override the set text size to update our internal reference values
     */
    @Override
    public void setTextSize(float size) {
        super.setTextSize(size);
        mTextSize = getTextSize();
    }

    /**
     * Override the set text size to update our internal reference values
     */
    @Override
    public void setTextSize(int unit, float size) {
        super.setTextSize(unit, size);
        mTextSize = getTextSize();
    }

    /**
     * Override the set line spacing to update our internal reference values
     */
    @Override
    public void setLineSpacing(float add, float mult) {
        super.setLineSpacing(add, mult);
        mSpacingMult = mult;
        mSpacingAdd = add;
    }

    /**
     * Set the upper text size limit and invalidate the view
     * @param maxTextSize
     */
    public void setMaxTextSize(float maxTextSize) {
        mMaxTextSize = maxTextSize;
        requestLayout();
        invalidate();
    }

    /**
     * Return upper text size limit
     * @return
     */
    public float getMaxTextSize() {
        return mMaxTextSize;
    }

    /**
     * Set the lower text size limit and invalidate the view
     * @param minTextSize
     */
    public void setMinTextSize(float minTextSize) {
        mMinTextSize = minTextSize;
        requestLayout();
        invalidate();
    }

    /**
     * Return lower text size limit
     * @return
     */
    public float getMinTextSize() {
        return mMinTextSize;
    }

    /**
     * Set flag to add ellipsis to text that overflows at the smallest text size
     * @param addEllipsis
     */
    public void setAddEllipsis(boolean addEllipsis) {
        mAddEllipsis = addEllipsis;
    }

    /**
     * Return flag to add ellipsis to text that overflows at the smallest text size
     * @return
     */
    public boolean getAddEllipsis() {
        return mAddEllipsis;
    }

    /**
     * Reset the text to the original size
     */
    public void resetTextSize() {
        if(mTextSize > 0) {
            super.setTextSize(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_PX, mTextSize);
            mMaxTextSize = mTextSize;
        }
    }

    /**
     * Resize text after measuring
     */
    @Override
    protected void onLayout(boolean changed, int left, int top, int right, int bottom) {
        if(changed || mNeedsResize) {
            int widthLimit = (right - left) - getCompoundPaddingLeft() - getCompoundPaddingRight();
            int heightLimit = (bottom - top) - getCompoundPaddingBottom() - getCompoundPaddingTop();
            resizeText(widthLimit, heightLimit);
        }
        super.onLayout(changed, left, top, right, bottom);
    }


    /**
     * Resize the text size with default width and height
     */
    public void resizeText() {
        int heightLimit = getHeight() - getPaddingBottom() - getPaddingTop();
        int widthLimit = getWidth() - getPaddingLeft() - getPaddingRight();
        resizeText(widthLimit, heightLimit);
    }

    /**
     * Resize the text size with specified width and height
     * @param width
     * @param height
     */
    public void resizeText(int width, int height) {
        CharSequence text = getText();
        // Do not resize if the view does not have dimensions or there is no text
        if(text == null || text.length() == 0 || height <= 0 || width <= 0 || mTextSize == 0) {
            return;
        }

        // Get the text view's paint object
        TextPaint textPaint = getPaint();

        // Store the current text size
        float oldTextSize = textPaint.getTextSize();
        // If there is a max text size set, use the lesser of that and the default text size
        float targetTextSize = mMaxTextSize > 0 ? Math.min(mTextSize, mMaxTextSize) : mTextSize;

        // Get the required text height
        int textHeight = getTextHeight(text, textPaint, width, targetTextSize);

        // Until we either fit within our text view or we had reached our min text size, incrementally try smaller sizes
        while(textHeight > height && targetTextSize > mMinTextSize) {
            targetTextSize = Math.max(targetTextSize - 2, mMinTextSize);
            textHeight = getTextHeight(text, textPaint, width, targetTextSize);
        }

        // If we had reached our minimum text size and still don't fit, append an ellipsis
        if(mAddEllipsis && targetTextSize == mMinTextSize && textHeight > height) {
            // Draw using a static layout
            // modified: use a copy of TextPaint for measuring
            TextPaint paint = new TextPaint(textPaint);
            StaticLayout layout = new StaticLayout(text, paint, width, Alignment.ALIGN_NORMAL, mSpacingMult, mSpacingAdd, false);
            // Check that we have a least one line of rendered text
            if(layout.getLineCount() > 0) {
                // Since the line at the specific vertical position would be cut off,
                // we must trim up to the previous line
                int lastLine = layout.getLineForVertical(height) - 1;
                // If the text would not even fit on a single line, clear it
                if(lastLine < 0) {
                    setText("");
                }
                // Otherwise, trim to the previous line and add an ellipsis
                else {
                    int start = layout.getLineStart(lastLine);
                    int end = layout.getLineEnd(lastLine);
                    float lineWidth = layout.getLineWidth(lastLine);
                    float ellipseWidth = textPaint.measureText(mEllipsis);

                    // Trim characters off until we have enough room to draw the ellipsis
                    while(width < lineWidth + ellipseWidth) {
                        lineWidth = textPaint.measureText(text.subSequence(start, --end + 1).toString());
                    }
                    setText(text.subSequence(0, end) + mEllipsis);
                }
            }
        }

        // Some devices try to auto adjust line spacing, so force default line spacing
        // and invalidate the layout as a side effect
//      textPaint.setTextSize(targetTextSize);
     // modified: setting text size via this.setTextSize (instead of textPaint.setTextSize(targetTextSize))
        setTextSize(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_PX, targetTextSize);
        setLineSpacing(mSpacingAdd, mSpacingMult);

        // Notify the listener if registered
        if(mTextResizeListener != null) {
            mTextResizeListener.onTextResize(this, oldTextSize, targetTextSize);
        }

        // Reset force resize flag
        mNeedsResize = false;
    }

    // Set the text size of the text paint object and use a static layout to render text off screen before measuring
    private int getTextHeight(CharSequence source, TextPaint originalPaint, int width, float textSize) {
          // modified: make a copy of the original TextPaint object for measuring
          // (apparently the object gets modified while measuring, see also the
          // docs for TextView.getPaint() (which states to access it read-only)
        // Update the text paint object
          TextPaint paint = new TextPaint(originalPaint);
        paint.setTextSize(textSize);
        // Measure using a static layout
        StaticLayout layout = new StaticLayout(source, paint, width, Alignment.ALIGN_NORMAL, mSpacingMult, mSpacingAdd, true);
        return layout.getHeight();
    }

}

Usage:

put a AutoResizeTextButton inside your xml in replace of a normal Button, without changing anything else. Inside the onCreate() put (for example):

    myButton = (AutoResizeTextButton)getView().findViewById(id.myButton);
    myButton.setMinTextSize(8f);
    myButton.resizeText();

If anyone needs it, here is the same code snippet but for Xamarin.Android.

/**
 *               DO WHAT YOU WANT TO PUBLIC LICENSE
 *                    Version 1, December 2017
 * 
 * Copyright (C) 2017 Nathan Westfall
 * 
 * Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim or modified
 * copies of this license document, and changing it is allowed as long
 * as the name is changed.
 * 
 *            DO WHAT YOU WANT TO PUBLIC LICENSE
 *   TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION
 * 
 *  0. You just DO WHAT YOU WANT TO.
 */

using Android.Content;
using Android.Runtime;
using Android.Widget;
using Android.Util;
using Android.Text;

using Java.Lang;

namespace My.Text
{
    public class AutoResizeTextView : TextView
    {
        public const float MIN_TEXT_SIZE = 20;

        public interface OnTextResizeListener
        {
            void OnTextResize(TextView textView, float oldSize, float newSize);
        }

        private const string mEllipsis = "...";

        private OnTextResizeListener mTextResizeListener;

        private bool mNeedsResize = false;

        private float mTextSize;

        private float mMaxTextSize = 0;

        private float mMinTextSize = MIN_TEXT_SIZE;

        private float mSpacingMult = 1.0f;

        private float mSpacingAdd = 0.0f;

        public bool AddEllipsis { get; set; } = true;

        public AutoResizeTextView(Context context) : this(context, null) { }

        public AutoResizeTextView(Context context, IAttributeSet attrs) : this(context, attrs, 0) { }

        public AutoResizeTextView(Context context, IAttributeSet attrs, int defStyle): base(context, attrs, defStyle)
        {
            mTextSize = TextSize;
        }

        protected override void OnTextChanged(ICharSequence text, int start, int lengthBefore, int lengthAfter)
        {
            base.OnTextChanged(text, start, lengthBefore, lengthAfter);

            mNeedsResize = true;

            ResetTextSize();
        }

        protected override void OnSizeChanged(int w, int h, int oldw, int oldh)
        {
            base.OnSizeChanged(w, h, oldw, oldh);

            if (w != oldw || h != oldh)
                mNeedsResize = true;
        }

        public void SetOnResizeListener(OnTextResizeListener listener)
        {
            mTextResizeListener = listener;
        }

        public override void SetTextSize([GeneratedEnum] ComplexUnitType unit, float size)
        {
            base.SetTextSize(unit, size);

            mTextSize = TextSize;
        }

        public override void SetLineSpacing(float add, float mult)
        {
            base.SetLineSpacing(add, mult);

            mSpacingMult = mult;
            mSpacingAdd = add;
        }

        public void SetMaxTextSize(float maxTextSize)
        {
            mMaxTextSize = maxTextSize;
            RequestLayout();
            Invalidate();
        }

        public float GetMaxTextSize()
        {
            return mMaxTextSize;
        }

        public void SetMinTextSize(float minTextSize)
        {
            mMinTextSize = minTextSize;
            RequestLayout();
            Invalidate();
        }

        public float GetMinTextSize()
        {
            return mMinTextSize;
        }

        public void ResetTextSize()
        {
            if(mTextSize > 0)
            {
                base.SetTextSize(ComplexUnitType.Px, mTextSize);
                mMaxTextSize = mTextSize;
            }
        }

        protected override void OnLayout(bool changed, int left, int top, int right, int bottom)
        {
            if(changed || mNeedsResize)
            {
                int widthLimit = (right - left) - CompoundPaddingLeft - CompoundPaddingRight;
                int heightLimit = (bottom - top) - CompoundPaddingBottom - CompoundPaddingTop;
                ResizeText(widthLimit, heightLimit);
            }
            base.OnLayout(changed, left, top, right, bottom);

            base.OnLayout(changed, left, top, right, bottom);
        }

        public void ResizeText()
        {
            int heightLimit = Height - PaddingBottom - PaddingTop;
            int widthLimit = Width - PaddingLeft - PaddingRight;
            ResizeText(widthLimit, heightLimit);
        }

        public void ResizeText(int width, int height)
        {
            var text = TextFormatted;
            if (text == null || text.Length() == 0 || height <= 0 || width <= 0 || mTextSize == 0)
                return;

            if (TransformationMethod != null)
                text = TransformationMethod.GetTransformationFormatted(TextFormatted, this);

            TextPaint textPaint = Paint;

            float oldTextSize = textPaint.TextSize;
            float targetTextSize = mMaxTextSize > 0 ? System.Math.Min(mTextSize, mMaxTextSize) : mTextSize;

            int textHeight = GetTextHeight(text, textPaint, width, targetTextSize);

            while(textHeight > height && targetTextSize > mMinTextSize)
            {
                targetTextSize = System.Math.Max(targetTextSize - 2, mMinTextSize);
                textHeight = GetTextHeight(text, textPaint, width, targetTextSize);
            }

            if(AddEllipsis && targetTextSize == mMinTextSize && textHeight > height)
            {
                TextPaint paint = new TextPaint(textPaint);

                StaticLayout layout = new StaticLayout(text, paint, width, Layout.Alignment.AlignNormal, mSpacingMult, mSpacingAdd, false);
                if(layout.LineCount > 0)
                {
                    int lastLine = layout.GetLineForVertical(height) - 1;
                    if (lastLine < 0)
                        SetText("", BufferType.Normal);
                    else
                    {
                        int start = layout.GetLineStart(lastLine);
                        int end = layout.GetLineEnd(lastLine);
                        float lineWidth = layout.GetLineWidth(lastLine);
                        float ellipseWidth = textPaint.MeasureText(mEllipsis);

                        while (width < lineWidth + ellipseWidth)
                            lineWidth = textPaint.MeasureText(text.SubSequence(start, --end + 1).ToString());
                        SetText(text.SubSequence(0, end) + mEllipsis, BufferType.Normal);
                    }
                }
            }

            SetTextSize(ComplexUnitType.Px, targetTextSize);
            SetLineSpacing(mSpacingAdd, mSpacingMult);

            mTextResizeListener?.OnTextResize(this, oldTextSize, targetTextSize);

            mNeedsResize = false;
        }

        private int GetTextHeight(ICharSequence source, TextPaint paint, int width, float textSize)
        {
            TextPaint paintCopy = new TextPaint(paint);
            paintCopy.TextSize = textSize;
            StaticLayout layout = new StaticLayout(source, paintCopy, width, Layout.Alignment.AlignNormal, mSpacingMult, mSpacingAdd, false);
            return layout.Height;
        }
    }
}

My method is:

public void changeTextSize(int initialSize, TextView tv) {

    DisplayMetrics displayMetrics = new DisplayMetrics();
    getWindowManager().getDefaultDisplay().getMetrics(displayMetrics);
    double width = displayMetrics.widthPixels / displayMetrics.xdpi;
    double height = displayMetrics.heightPixels / displayMetrics.ydpi;

    Log.i("LOG", "The width of the tested emulator is: " + width);
    Log.i("LOG", "The height of the tested emulator is: " + height);

    double scale = Math.min(width / 2.25, height / 4.0); //See the logcat >>> width = 2.25 and heigt = 4.0
    tv.setTextSize(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_SP, (int) (initialSize * scale));

}

For example:

changeTextSize(16, findViewById(R.id.myTextView));
changeTextSize(12, findViewById(R.id.myEditText));

This solutions works for us:

public class CustomFontButtonTextFit extends CustomFontButton
{
    private final float DECREMENT_FACTOR = .1f;

    public CustomFontButtonTextFit(Context context) {
        super(context);
    }

    public CustomFontButtonTextFit(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        super(context, attrs);
    }

    public CustomFontButtonTextFit(Context context, AttributeSet attrs,
            int defStyle) {
        super(context, attrs, defStyle);
    }

    private synchronized void refitText(String text, int textWidth) {
        if (textWidth > 0) 
        {
            float availableWidth = textWidth - this.getPaddingLeft()
                    - this.getPaddingRight();

            TextPaint tp = getPaint();
            Rect rect = new Rect();
            tp.getTextBounds(text, 0, text.length(), rect);
            float size = rect.width();

            while(size > availableWidth)
            {
                setTextSize( getTextSize() - DECREMENT_FACTOR );
                tp = getPaint();

                tp.getTextBounds(text, 0, text.length(), rect);
                size = rect.width();
            }
        }
    }

    @Override
    protected void onMeasure(int widthMeasureSpec, int heightMeasureSpec) 
    {
        super.onMeasure(widthMeasureSpec, heightMeasureSpec);

        int parentWidth = MeasureSpec.getSize(widthMeasureSpec);
        int parentHeight = MeasureSpec.getSize(heightMeasureSpec);

        refitText(this.getText().toString(), parentWidth);

        if(parentWidth < getSuggestedMinimumWidth())
            parentWidth = getSuggestedMinimumWidth();

        if(parentHeight < getSuggestedMinimumHeight())
            parentHeight = getSuggestedMinimumHeight();

        this.setMeasuredDimension(parentWidth, parentHeight);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onTextChanged(final CharSequence text, final int start,
            final int before, final int after) 
    {
        super.onTextChanged(text, start, before, after);

        refitText(text.toString(), this.getWidth());
    }

    @Override
    protected void onSizeChanged(int w, int h, int oldw, int oldh)
    {
        super.onSizeChanged(w, h, oldw, oldh);

        if (w != oldw) 
            refitText(this.getText().toString(), w);
    }
}

Here's an enumeration of what else I've found for anyone still searching:

1) Here's a solution that recursively re-paints the textview until it fits. This means literally watching your text shrink into place, but at least it fits when it's done. The code will need some tweaking to implement, but it's mostly there.

2) You can try hacking together a custom solution like this, or dunni's class in this, which is what I did using the getPaint().measureText(str) to search for the right size, but it got a lot messier since I need it to wrap only on whitespace...

3) You can keep searching- I've tried more alternatives than I can count. Ted's advice on StaticLayout hasn't paid off for me but maybe there's something there; I tried using the StaticLayout.getEllipsis(line) to determine if text was going off screen, to no effect. See my (presently un-answered) post about that here.

Refer to the ScalableTextView.java here Auto-fit TextView for Android. I have added the code to shrink and expand the TextView based on the text length

AppcompatTextView now supports auto sizing starting from Support Library 26.0. TextView in Android O also works same way. More info can be found here. A simple demo app can be found here.

<LinearLayout
      xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
      xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
      android:layout_width="match_parent"
      android:layout_height="wrap_content">

      <TextView
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        app:autoSizeTextType="uniform"
        app:autoSizeMinTextSize="12sp"
        app:autoSizeMaxTextSize="100sp"
        app:autoSizeStepGranularity="2sp"
      />

</LinearLayout>

I combined some of the above suggestions to make one that scales up and down, with bisection method. It also scales within the width.

/**
 *               DO WHAT YOU WANT TO PUBLIC LICENSE
 *                    Version 2, December 2004
 *
 * Copyright (C) 2004 Sam Hocevar <[email protected]>
 *
 * Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim or modified
 * copies of this license document, and changing it is allowed as long
 * as the name is changed.
 *
 *            DO WHAT YOU WANT TO PUBLIC LICENSE
 *   TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION
 *
 *  0. You just DO WHAT YOU WANT TO.
 */

import android.content.Context;
import android.text.Layout.Alignment;
import android.text.StaticLayout;
import android.text.TextPaint;
import android.util.AttributeSet;
import android.util.TypedValue;
import android.widget.TextView;

/**
 * Text view that auto adjusts text size to fit within the view. If the text
 * size equals the minimum text size and still does not fit, append with an
 * ellipsis.
 * 
 * @author Chase Colburn
 * @since Apr 4, 2011
 */
public class AutoResizeTextView extends TextView {

    // Minimum text size for this text view
    public static final float MIN_TEXT_SIZE = 10;

    // Minimum text size for this text view
    public static final float MAX_TEXT_SIZE = 128;

    private static final int BISECTION_LOOP_WATCH_DOG = 30;

    // Interface for resize notifications
    public interface OnTextResizeListener {
        public void onTextResize(TextView textView, float oldSize, float newSize);
    }

    // Our ellipse string
    private static final String mEllipsis = "...";

    // Registered resize listener
    private OnTextResizeListener mTextResizeListener;

    // Flag for text and/or size changes to force a resize
    private boolean mNeedsResize = false;

    // Text size that is set from code. This acts as a starting point for
    // resizing
    private float mTextSize;

    // Temporary upper bounds on the starting text size
    private float mMaxTextSize = MAX_TEXT_SIZE;

    // Lower bounds for text size
    private float mMinTextSize = MIN_TEXT_SIZE;

    // Text view line spacing multiplier
    private float mSpacingMult = 1.0f;

    // Text view additional line spacing
    private float mSpacingAdd = 0.0f;

    // Add ellipsis to text that overflows at the smallest text size
    private boolean mAddEllipsis = true;

    // Default constructor override
    public AutoResizeTextView(Context context) {
        this(context, null);
    }

    // Default constructor when inflating from XML file
    public AutoResizeTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        this(context, attrs, 0);
    }

    // Default constructor override
    public AutoResizeTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) {
        super(context, attrs, defStyle);
        mTextSize = getTextSize();
    }

    /**
     * When text changes, set the force resize flag to true and reset the text
     * size.
     */
    @Override
    protected void onTextChanged(final CharSequence text, final int start,
            final int before, final int after) {
        mNeedsResize = true;
        // Since this view may be reused, it is good to reset the text size
        resetTextSize();
    }

    /**
     * If the text view size changed, set the force resize flag to true
     */
    @Override
    protected void onSizeChanged(int w, int h, int oldw, int oldh) {
        if (w != oldw || h != oldh) {
            mNeedsResize = true;
        }
    }

    /**
     * Register listener to receive resize notifications
     * 
     * @param listener
     */
    public void setOnResizeListener(OnTextResizeListener listener) {
        mTextResizeListener = listener;
    }

    /**
     * Override the set text size to update our internal reference values
     */
    @Override
    public void setTextSize(float size) {
        super.setTextSize(size);
        mTextSize = getTextSize();
    }

    /**
     * Override the set text size to update our internal reference values
     */
    @Override
    public void setTextSize(int unit, float size) {
        super.setTextSize(unit, size);
        mTextSize = getTextSize();
    }

    /**
     * Override the set line spacing to update our internal reference values
     */
    @Override
    public void setLineSpacing(float add, float mult) {
        super.setLineSpacing(add, mult);
        mSpacingMult = mult;
        mSpacingAdd = add;
    }

    /**
     * Set the upper text size limit and invalidate the view
     * 
     * @param maxTextSize
     */
    public void setMaxTextSize(float maxTextSize) {
        mMaxTextSize = maxTextSize;
        requestLayout();
        invalidate();
    }

    /**
     * Return upper text size limit
     * 
     * @return
     */
    public float getMaxTextSize() {
        return mMaxTextSize;
    }

    /**
     * Set the lower text size limit and invalidate the view
     * 
     * @param minTextSize
     */
    public void setMinTextSize(float minTextSize) {
        mMinTextSize = minTextSize;
        requestLayout();
        invalidate();
    }

    /**
     * Return lower text size limit
     * 
     * @return
     */
    public float getMinTextSize() {
        return mMinTextSize;
    }

    /**
     * Set flag to add ellipsis to text that overflows at the smallest text size
     * 
     * @param addEllipsis
     */
    public void setAddEllipsis(boolean addEllipsis) {
        mAddEllipsis = addEllipsis;
    }

    /**
     * Return flag to add ellipsis to text that overflows at the smallest text
     * size
     * 
     * @return
     */
    public boolean getAddEllipsis() {
        return mAddEllipsis;
    }

    /**
     * Reset the text to the original size
     */
    public void resetTextSize() {
        if (mTextSize > 0) {
            super.setTextSize(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_PX, mTextSize);
            // mMaxTextSize = mTextSize;
        }
    }

    /**
     * Resize text after measuring
     */

    @Override
    protected void onLayout(boolean changed, int left, int top, int right,
            int bottom) {
        if (changed || mNeedsResize) {
            int widthLimit = (right - left) - getCompoundPaddingLeft()
                    - getCompoundPaddingRight();
            int heightLimit = (bottom - top) - getCompoundPaddingBottom()
                    - getCompoundPaddingTop();
            resizeText(widthLimit, heightLimit);
        }
        super.onLayout(changed, left, top, right, bottom);
    }

    /**
     * Resize the text size with default width and height
     */
    public void resizeText() {

        // Height and width with a padding as a percentage of height
        int heightLimit = getHeight() - getPaddingBottom() - getPaddingTop();
        int widthLimit = getWidth() - getPaddingLeft() - getPaddingRight();
        resizeText(widthLimit, heightLimit);
    }

    /**
     * Resize the text size with specified width and height
     * 
     * @param width
     * @param height
     */
    public void resizeText(int width, int height) {
        CharSequence text = getText();

        // Do not resize if the view does not have dimensions or there is no
        // text
        if (text == null || text.length() == 0 || height <= 0 || width <= 0
                || mTextSize == 0) {
            return;
        }

        // Get the text view's paint object
        TextPaint textPaint = getPaint();

        // Store the current text size
        float oldTextSize = textPaint.getTextSize();

        // Bisection method: fast & precise
        float lower = mMinTextSize;
        float upper = mMaxTextSize;
        int loop_counter = 1;
        float targetTextSize = (lower + upper) / 2;
        int textHeight = getTextHeight(text, textPaint, width, targetTextSize);
        int textWidth = getTextWidth(text, textPaint, width, targetTextSize);

        while (loop_counter < BISECTION_LOOP_WATCH_DOG && upper - lower > 1) {
            targetTextSize = (lower + upper) / 2;
            textHeight = getTextHeight(text, textPaint, width, targetTextSize);
            textWidth = getTextWidth(text, textPaint, width, targetTextSize);
            if (textHeight > (height) || textWidth > (width))
                upper = targetTextSize;
            else
                lower = targetTextSize;
            loop_counter++;
        }

        targetTextSize = lower;
        textHeight = getTextHeight(text, textPaint, width, targetTextSize);

        // If we had reached our minimum text size and still don't fit, append
        // an ellipsis
        if (mAddEllipsis && targetTextSize == mMinTextSize
                && textHeight > height) {
            // Draw using a static layout
            // modified: use a copy of TextPaint for measuring
            TextPaint paintCopy = new TextPaint(textPaint);
            paintCopy.setTextSize(targetTextSize);
            StaticLayout layout = new StaticLayout(text, paintCopy, width,
                    Alignment.ALIGN_NORMAL, mSpacingMult, mSpacingAdd, false);
            // Check that we have a least one line of rendered text
            if (layout.getLineCount() > 0) {
                // Since the line at the specific vertical position would be cut
                // off,
                // we must trim up to the previous line
                int lastLine = layout.getLineForVertical(height) - 1;
                // If the text would not even fit on a single line, clear it
                if (lastLine < 0) {
                    setText("");
                }
                // Otherwise, trim to the previous line and add an ellipsis
                else {
                    int start = layout.getLineStart(lastLine);
                    int end = layout.getLineEnd(lastLine);
                    float lineWidth = layout.getLineWidth(lastLine);
                    float ellipseWidth = paintCopy.measureText(mEllipsis);

                    // Trim characters off until we have enough room to draw the
                    // ellipsis
                    while (width < lineWidth + ellipseWidth) {
                        lineWidth = paintCopy.measureText(text.subSequence(
                                start, --end + 1).toString());
                    }
                    setText(text.subSequence(0, end) + mEllipsis);
                }
            }
        }

        // Some devices try to auto adjust line spacing, so force default line
        // spacing
        // and invalidate the layout as a side effect
        setTextSize(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_PX, targetTextSize);
        setLineSpacing(mSpacingAdd, mSpacingMult);

        // Notify the listener if registered
        if (mTextResizeListener != null) {
            mTextResizeListener.onTextResize(this, oldTextSize, targetTextSize);
        }

        // Reset force resize flag
        mNeedsResize = false;
    }

    // Set the text size of the text paint object and use a static layout to
    // render text off screen before measuring
    private int getTextHeight(CharSequence source, TextPaint originalPaint,
            int width, float textSize) {
        // modified: make a copy of the original TextPaint object for measuring
        // (apparently the object gets modified while measuring, see also the
        // docs for TextView.getPaint() (which states to access it read-only)
        TextPaint paint = new TextPaint(originalPaint);
        // Update the text paint object
        paint.setTextSize(textSize);
        // Measure using a static layout
        StaticLayout layout = new StaticLayout(source, paint, width,
                Alignment.ALIGN_NORMAL, mSpacingMult, mSpacingAdd, true);
        return layout.getHeight();
    }

    // Set the text size of the text paint object and use a static layout to
    // render text off screen before measuring
    private int getTextWidth(CharSequence source, TextPaint originalPaint,
            int width, float textSize) {
        // Update the text paint object
        TextPaint paint = new TextPaint(originalPaint);
        // Draw using a static layout
        paint.setTextSize(textSize);

        StaticLayout layout = new StaticLayout(source, paint, width,
                Alignment.ALIGN_NORMAL, mSpacingMult, mSpacingAdd, true);

        return (int) layout.getLineWidth(0);
    }
}

Providing this version of top answer rewritten on C# for those who codes on Xamarin.Android. Worked for me well.

 /**
 *               DO WHAT YOU WANT TO PUBLIC LICENSE
 *                    Version 2, December 2004
 * 
 * Copyright (C) 2004 Sam Hocevar <[email protected]>
 * 
 * Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim or modified
 * copies of this license document, and changing it is allowed as long
 * as the name is changed.
 * 
 *            DO WHAT YOU WANT TO PUBLIC LICENSE
 *   TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION
 * 
 *  0. You just DO WHAT YOU WANT TO.
 */


using System;
using Android.Content;
using Android.Runtime;
using Android.Text;
using Android.Util;
using Android.Widget;
using Java.Lang;

namespace App.GuestGuide.Droid.Controls
{
    public class OnTextResizeEventArgs : EventArgs
    {
        public TextView TextView { get; set; }
        public float OldSize { get; set; }
        public float NewSize { get; set; }
    }

    /// <inheritdoc />
    /// <summary>
    /// Text view that auto adjusts text size to fit within the view.
    /// If the text size equals the minimum text size and still does not
    /// fit, append with an ellipsis.
    /// </summary>
    public class AutoResizeTextView : TextView
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Minimum text size for this text view
        /// </summary>
        public static float MIN_TEXT_SIZE = 10;

        /// <summary>
        /// Our ellipse string
        /// </summary>
        private const string Ellipsis = "...";


        private float _mMaxTextSize;

        private float _mMinTextSize = MIN_TEXT_SIZE;

        /// <summary>
        /// Register subscriber to receive resize notifications
        /// </summary>
        public event EventHandler<OnTextResizeEventArgs> OnTextResize;

        /// <summary>
        /// Flag for text and/or size changes to force a resize
        /// </summary>
        private bool _needsResize;

        /// <summary>
        /// Text size that is set from code. This acts as a starting point for resizing
        /// </summary>
        private float _textSize;

        /// <summary>
        /// Text view line spacing multiplier
        /// </summary>
        private float _spacingMult = 1.0f;

        /// <summary>
        /// Text view additional line spacing
        /// </summary>
        private float _spacingAdd;

        /// <summary>
        /// Add ellipsis to text that overflows at the smallest text size
        /// </summary>
        public bool ShouldAddEllipsis { get; set; }

        /// <inheritdoc />
        /// <summary>
        /// Override the set text size to update our internal reference values
        /// </summary>
        public override float TextSize
        {
            get => base.TextSize;
            set
            {
                base.TextSize = value;
                _textSize = TextSize;
            }
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Temporary upper bounds on the starting text size
        /// </summary>
        public float MaxTextSize
        {
            get => _mMaxTextSize;
            // Set the upper text size limit and invalidate the view
            set
            {
                _mMaxTextSize = value;
                RequestLayout();
                Invalidate();
            }
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Lower bounds for text size
        /// </summary>
        public float MinTextSize
        {
            get => _mMinTextSize;
            //Set the lower text size limit and invalidate the view
            set
            {
                _mMinTextSize = value;
                RequestLayout();
                Invalidate();
            }
        }

        public AutoResizeTextView(Context context) : this(context, null)
        {
        }

        public AutoResizeTextView(Context context, IAttributeSet attrs) : this(context, attrs, 0)
        {
        }

        public AutoResizeTextView(Context context, IAttributeSet attrs, int defStyleAttr) : base(context, attrs, defStyleAttr)
        {
            _textSize = TextSize;
        }

        public AutoResizeTextView(Context context, IAttributeSet attrs, int defStyleAttr, int defStyleRes) : base(context, attrs, defStyleAttr, defStyleRes)
        {
            _textSize = TextSize;
        }

        protected AutoResizeTextView(IntPtr javaReference, JniHandleOwnership transfer) : base(javaReference, transfer)
        {
            _textSize = TextSize;
        }

        /// <inheritdoc />
        /// <summary>
        /// When text changes, set the force resize flag to true and reset the text size.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="text"></param>
        /// <param name="start"></param>
        /// <param name="lengthBefore"></param>
        /// <param name="lengthAfter"></param>
        protected override void OnTextChanged(ICharSequence text, int start, int lengthBefore, int lengthAfter)
        {
            _needsResize = true;
            // Since this view may be reused, it is good to reset the text size
            ResetTextSize();
        }

        /// <inheritdoc />
        /// <summary>
        /// If the text view size changed, set the force resize flag to true
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="w"></param>
        /// <param name="h"></param>
        /// <param name="oldw"></param>
        /// <param name="oldh"></param>
        protected override void OnSizeChanged(int w, int h, int oldw, int oldh)
        {
            if (w != oldw || h != oldh)
            {
                _needsResize = true;
            }
        }

        public override void SetTextSize([GeneratedEnum] ComplexUnitType unit, float size)
        {
            base.SetTextSize(unit, size);
            _textSize = TextSize;
        }

        /// <inheritdoc />
        /// <summary>
        /// Override the set line spacing to update our internal reference values
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="add"></param>
        /// <param name="mult"></param>
        public override void SetLineSpacing(float add, float mult)
        {
            base.SetLineSpacing(add, mult);
            _spacingMult = mult;
            _spacingAdd = add;
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Reset the text to the original size
        /// </summary>
        public void ResetTextSize()
        {
            if (_textSize > 0)
            {
                base.SetTextSize(ComplexUnitType.Px, _textSize);
                _mMaxTextSize = _textSize;
            }
        }

        /// <inheritdoc />
        /// <summary>
        /// Resize text after measuring
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="changed"></param>
        /// <param name="left"></param>
        /// <param name="top"></param>
        /// <param name="right"></param>
        /// <param name="bottom"></param>
        protected override void OnLayout(bool changed, int left, int top, int right, int bottom)
        {
            if (changed || _needsResize)
            {
                var widthLimit = (right - left) - CompoundPaddingLeft - CompoundPaddingRight;
                var heightLimit = (bottom - top) - CompoundPaddingBottom - CompoundPaddingTop;
                ResizeText(widthLimit, heightLimit);
            }

            base.OnLayout(changed, left, top, right, bottom);
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Resize the text size with default width and height
        /// </summary>
        public void ResizeText()
        {
            var heightLimit = Height - PaddingBottom - PaddingTop;
            var widthLimit = Width - PaddingLeft - PaddingRight;
            ResizeText(widthLimit, heightLimit);
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Resize the text size with specified width and height
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="width"></param>
        /// <param name="height"></param>
        public void ResizeText(int width, int height)
        {
            ICharSequence text = null;

            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(Text))
            {
                text = new Java.Lang.String(Text);
            }

            // Do not resize if the view does not have dimensions or there is no text
            if (text == null || text.Length() == 0 || height <= 0 || width <= 0 || _textSize == 0)
            {
                return;
            }

            if (TransformationMethod != null)
            {
                text = TransformationMethod.GetTransformationFormatted(text, this);
            }

            // Get the text view's paint object
            var textPaint = Paint;
            // Store the current text size
            var oldTextSize = textPaint.TextSize;
            // If there is a max text size set, use the lesser of that and the default text size
            var targetTextSize = _mMaxTextSize > 0 ? System.Math.Min(_textSize, _mMaxTextSize) : _textSize;

            // Get the required text height
            var textHeight = GetTextHeight(text, textPaint, width, targetTextSize);

            // Until we either fit within our text view or we had reached our min text size, incrementally try smaller sizes
            while (textHeight > height && targetTextSize > _mMinTextSize)
            {
                targetTextSize = System.Math.Max(targetTextSize - 2, _mMinTextSize);
                textHeight = GetTextHeight(text, textPaint, width, targetTextSize);
            }

            // If we had reached our minimum text size and still don't fit, append an ellipsis
            if (ShouldAddEllipsis && targetTextSize == _mMinTextSize && textHeight > height)
            {
                // Draw using a static layout
                // modified: use a copy of TextPaint for measuring
                var paint = new TextPaint(textPaint);
                // Draw using a static layout
                var layout = new StaticLayout(text, paint, width, Layout.Alignment.AlignNormal, _spacingMult, _spacingAdd, false);

                // Check that we have a least one line of rendered text
                if (layout.LineCount > 0)
                {
                    // Since the line at the specific vertical position would be cut off,
                    // we must trim up to the previous line
                    var lastLine = layout.GetLineForVertical(height) - 1;
                    // If the text would not even fit on a single line, clear it
                    if (lastLine < 0)
                    {
                        Text = string.Empty;
                    }
                    // Otherwise, trim to the previous line and add an ellipsis
                    else
                    {
                        var start = layout.GetLineStart(lastLine);
                        var end = layout.GetLineEnd(lastLine);
                        var lineWidth = layout.GetLineWidth(lastLine);
                        var ellipseWidth = textPaint.MeasureText(Ellipsis);

                        // Trim characters off until we have enough room to draw the ellipsis
                        while (width < lineWidth + ellipseWidth)
                        {
                            lineWidth = textPaint.MeasureText(text.SubSequence(start, --end + 1));
                        }

                        Text = text.SubSequence(0, end) + Ellipsis;
                    }
                }
            }

            // Some devices try to auto adjust line spacing, so force default line spacing
            // and invalidate the layout as a side effect
            SetTextSize(ComplexUnitType.Px, targetTextSize);
            SetLineSpacing(_spacingAdd, _spacingMult);

            var notifyArgs = new OnTextResizeEventArgs
            {
                TextView = this,
                NewSize = targetTextSize,
                OldSize = oldTextSize
            };

            // Notify the listener if registered
            OnTextResize?.Invoke(this, notifyArgs);

            // Reset force resize flag
            _needsResize = false;
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// Set the text size of the text paint object and use a static layout to render text off screen before measuring
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="source"></param>
        /// <param name="paint"></param>
        /// <param name="width"></param>
        /// <param name="textSize"></param>
        /// <returns></returns>
        private int GetTextHeight(ICharSequence source, TextPaint paint, int width, float textSize)
        {
            // modified: make a copy of the original TextPaint object for measuring
            // (apparently the object gets modified while measuring, see also the
            // docs for TextView.getPaint() (which states to access it read-only)
            // Update the text paint object
            var paintCopy = new TextPaint(paint)
            {
                TextSize = textSize
            };

            // Measure using a static layout
            var layout = new StaticLayout(source, paintCopy, width, Layout.Alignment.AlignNormal, _spacingMult, _spacingAdd, true);

            return layout.Height;
        }
    }
}

My implementation is a bit more complex, but comes with the following goodies:

• takes the available width and available height into account
• works with single line and multiline labels
• uses ellipsis in case the minimum font size is hit
• since the internal text representation is changed, remembers the originally set text in a separate variable
• ensures that the canvas is always only as big as it needs to be, while it uses all the available height of the parent

/**
 * Text view that auto adjusts text size to fit within the view. If the text
 * size equals the minimum text size and still does not fit, append with an
 * ellipsis.
 * 
 * Based on the original work from Chase Colburn
 * <http://stackoverflow.com/a/5535672/305532>
 *
 * @author Thomas Keller <[email protected]>
 */
public class AutoResizeTextView extends TextView {

    // in dip
    private static final int MIN_TEXT_SIZE = 20;

    private static final boolean SHRINK_TEXT_SIZE = true;

    private static final char ELLIPSIS = '\u2026';

    private static final float LINE_SPACING_MULTIPLIER_MULTILINE = 0.8f;

    private static final float LINE_SPACING_MULTIPLIER_SINGLELINE = 1f;

    private static final float LINE_SPACING_EXTRA = 0.0f;

    private CharSequence mOriginalText;

    // temporary upper bounds on the starting text size
    private float mMaxTextSize;

    // lower bounds for text size
    private float mMinTextSize;

    // determines whether we're currently in the process of measuring ourselves,
    // so we do not enter onMeasure recursively
    private boolean mInMeasure = false;

    // if the text size should be shrinked or if the text size should be kept
    // constant and only characters should be removed to hit the boundaries
    private boolean mShrinkTextSize;

    public AutoResizeTextView(Context context) {
        this(context, null);
        init(context, null);
    }

    public AutoResizeTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        this(context, attrs, 0);
        init(context, attrs);
    }

    public AutoResizeTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) {
        super(context, attrs, defStyle);
        init(context, attrs);
    }

    private void init(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        // the current text size is used as maximum text size we can apply to
        // our widget
        mMaxTextSize = getTextSize();
        if (attrs != null) {
            TypedArray a = context.obtainStyledAttributes(attrs, R.styleable.AutoResizeTextView);
            mMinTextSize = a.getFloat(R.styleable.AutoResizeTextView_minFontSize, MIN_TEXT_SIZE);
            mShrinkTextSize = a.getBoolean(R.styleable.AutoResizeTextView_shrinkTextSize, SHRINK_TEXT_SIZE);
            a.recycle();
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void setTextSize(float size) {
        mMaxTextSize = size;
        super.setTextSize(size);
    }

    /**
     * Returns the original, unmodified text of this widget
     * 
     * @return
     */
    public CharSequence getOriginalText() {
        // text has not been resized yet
        if (mOriginalText == null) {
            return getText();
        }
        return mOriginalText;
    }

    @Override
    public void setText(CharSequence text, BufferType type) {
        if (!mInMeasure) {
            mOriginalText = text.toString();
        }
        super.setText(text, type);
    }

    @SuppressLint("DrawAllocation")
    @Override
    protected void onMeasure(int widthMeasureSpec, int heightMeasureSpec) {
        mInMeasure = true;
        try {
            int availableWidth = MeasureSpec.getSize(widthMeasureSpec) - getCompoundPaddingLeft()
                    - getCompoundPaddingRight();
            int availableHeight = MeasureSpec.getSize(heightMeasureSpec) - getCompoundPaddingTop()
                    - getCompoundPaddingBottom();

            // Do not resize if the view does not have dimensions or there is no
            // text
            if (mOriginalText == null || mOriginalText.length() == 0 || availableWidth <= 0) {
                return;
            }

            TextPaint textPaint = getPaint();

            // start with the recorded max text size
            float targetTextSize = mMaxTextSize;
            String originalText = mOriginalText.toString();
            String finalText = originalText;

            Rect textSize = getTextSize(originalText, textPaint, targetTextSize);
            boolean textExceedsBounds = textSize.height() > availableHeight || textSize.width() > availableWidth;
            if (mShrinkTextSize && textExceedsBounds) {
                // check whether all lines can be rendered in the available
                // width / height without violating the bounds of the parent and
                // without using a text size that is smaller than the minimum
                // text size
                float heightMultiplier = availableHeight / (float) textSize.height();
                float widthMultiplier = availableWidth / (float) textSize.width();
                float multiplier = Math.min(heightMultiplier, widthMultiplier);
                targetTextSize = Math.max(targetTextSize * multiplier, mMinTextSize);

                // measure again
                textSize = getTextSize(finalText, textPaint, targetTextSize);
            }

            // we cannot shrink the height further when we hit the available
            // height, but we can shrink the width by applying an ellipsis on
            // each line
            if (textSize.width() > availableWidth) {
                StringBuilder modifiedText = new StringBuilder();
                String lines[] = originalText.split(System.getProperty("line.separator"));
                for (int i = 0; i < lines.length; i++) {
                    modifiedText.append(resizeLine(textPaint, lines[i], availableWidth));
                    // add the separator back to all but the last processed line
                    if (i != lines.length - 1) {
                        modifiedText.append(System.getProperty("line.separator"));
                    }
                }
                finalText = modifiedText.toString();

                // measure again
                textSize = getTextSize(finalText, textPaint, targetTextSize);
            }

            textPaint.setTextSize(targetTextSize);
            boolean isMultiline = finalText.indexOf('\n') > -1;
            // do not include extra font padding (for accents, ...) for
            // multiline texts, this will prevent proper placement with
            // Gravity.CENTER_VERTICAL
            if (isMultiline) {
                setLineSpacing(LINE_SPACING_EXTRA, LINE_SPACING_MULTIPLIER_MULTILINE);
                setIncludeFontPadding(false);
            } else {
                setLineSpacing(LINE_SPACING_EXTRA, LINE_SPACING_MULTIPLIER_SINGLELINE);
                setIncludeFontPadding(true);
            }

            // according to
            // <http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=22493>
            // we have to add a unicode character to trigger the text centering
            // in ICS. this particular character is known as "zero-width" and
            // does no harm.
            setText(finalText + "\u200B");

            int measuredWidth = textSize.width() + getCompoundPaddingLeft() + getCompoundPaddingRight();
            int measuredHeight = textSize.height() + getCompoundPaddingTop() + getCompoundPaddingBottom();

            // expand the view to the parent's height in case it is smaller or
            // to the minimum height that has been set
            // FIXME: honor the vertical measure mode (EXACTLY vs AT_MOST) here
            // somehow
            measuredHeight = Math.max(measuredHeight, MeasureSpec.getSize(heightMeasureSpec));
            setMeasuredDimension(measuredWidth, measuredHeight);
        } finally {
            mInMeasure = false;
        }
    }

    private Rect getTextSize(String text, TextPaint textPaint, float textSize) {
        textPaint.setTextSize(textSize);
        // StaticLayout depends on a given width in which it should lay out the
        // text (and optionally also split into separate lines).
        // Therefor we calculate the current text width manually and start with
        // a fake (read: maxmimum) width for the height calculation.
        // We do _not_ use layout.getLineWidth() here since this returns
        // slightly smaller numbers and therefor would lead to exceeded text box
        // drawing.
        StaticLayout layout = new StaticLayout(text, textPaint, Integer.MAX_VALUE, Alignment.ALIGN_NORMAL, 1f, 0f, true);
        int textWidth = 0;
        String lines[] = text.split(System.getProperty("line.separator"));
        for (int i = 0; i < lines.length; ++i) {
            textWidth = Math.max(textWidth, measureTextWidth(textPaint, lines[i]));
        }
        return new Rect(0, 0, textWidth, layout.getHeight());
    }

    private String resizeLine(TextPaint textPaint, String line, int availableWidth) {
        checkArgument(line != null && line.length() > 0, "expected non-empty string");
        int textWidth = measureTextWidth(textPaint, line);
        int lastDeletePos = -1;
        StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder(line);
        while (textWidth > availableWidth && builder.length() > 0) {
            lastDeletePos = builder.length() / 2;
            builder.deleteCharAt(builder.length() / 2);
            // don't forget to measure the ellipsis character as well; it
            // doesn't matter where it is located in the line, it just has to be
            // there, since there are no (known) ligatures that use this glyph
            String textToMeasure = builder.toString() + ELLIPSIS;
            textWidth = measureTextWidth(textPaint, textToMeasure);
        }
        if (lastDeletePos > -1) {
            builder.insert(lastDeletePos, ELLIPSIS);
        }
        return builder.toString();
    }

    // there are several methods in Android to determine the text width, namely
    // getBounds() and measureText().
    // The latter works for us the best as it gives us the best / nearest
    // results without that our text canvas needs to wrap its text later on
    // again.
    private int measureTextWidth(TextPaint textPaint, String line) {
        return Math.round(textPaint.measureText(line));
    }
}

[revised on 2012-11-21]

• fixed the placement of the ellipsis (off-by-one error)
• reworked text size calculation; now always the full text including line breaks is measured, to fix problems when the addition of the height of two single measured lines just didn't lead to the same result as the measurement of the height of the text as a whole
• instead of looping to find the smallest available text size, just calculate it after the first measurement

UPDATE: Following code also fulfills the requirement of an ideal AutoScaleTextView as described here : Auto-fit TextView for Android and is marked as winner.

UPDATE 2: Support of maxlines added, now works fine before API level 16.

Update 3: Support for android:drawableLeft, android:drawableRight, android:drawableTop and android:drawableBottom tags added, thanks to MartinH's simple fix here.

My requirements were little bit different. I needed an efficient way to adjust size because I was animating an integer from, may be 0 to ~4000 in TextView in 2 seconds and I wanted to adjust the size accordingly. My solution works bit differently. Here is what final result looks like:

and the code that produced it:

<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    android:padding="16dp" >

    <com.vj.widgets.AutoResizeTextView
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="100dp"
        android:ellipsize="none"
        android:maxLines="2"
        android:text="Auto Resized Text, max 2 lines"
        android:textSize="100sp" /> <!-- maximum size -->

    <com.vj.widgets.AutoResizeTextView
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="100dp"
        android:ellipsize="none"
        android:gravity="center"
        android:maxLines="1"
        android:text="Auto Resized Text, max 1 line"
        android:textSize="100sp" /> <!-- maximum size -->

    <com.vj.widgets.AutoResizeTextView
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="Auto Resized Text"
        android:textSize="500sp" /> <!-- maximum size -->

</LinearLayout>

And finally the java code:

import android.annotation.TargetApi;
import android.content.Context;
import android.content.res.Resources;
import android.graphics.RectF;
import android.os.Build;
import android.text.Layout.Alignment;
import android.text.StaticLayout;
import android.text.TextPaint;
import android.util.AttributeSet;
import android.util.SparseIntArray;
import android.util.TypedValue;
import android.widget.TextView;

public class AutoResizeTextView extends TextView {
private interface SizeTester {
    /**
     * 
     * @param suggestedSize
     *            Size of text to be tested
     * @param availableSpace
     *            available space in which text must fit
     * @return an integer < 0 if after applying {@code suggestedSize} to
     *         text, it takes less space than {@code availableSpace}, > 0
     *         otherwise
     */
    public int onTestSize(int suggestedSize, RectF availableSpace);
}

private RectF mTextRect = new RectF();

private RectF mAvailableSpaceRect;

private SparseIntArray mTextCachedSizes;

private TextPaint mPaint;

private float mMaxTextSize;

private float mSpacingMult = 1.0f;

private float mSpacingAdd = 0.0f;

private float mMinTextSize = 20;

private int mWidthLimit;

private static final int NO_LINE_LIMIT = -1;
private int mMaxLines;

private boolean mEnableSizeCache = true;
private boolean mInitiallized;

public AutoResizeTextView(Context context) {
    super(context);
    initialize();
}

public AutoResizeTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
    super(context, attrs);
    initialize();
}

public AutoResizeTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) {
    super(context, attrs, defStyle);
    initialize();
}

private void initialize() {
    mPaint = new TextPaint(getPaint());
    mMaxTextSize = getTextSize();
    mAvailableSpaceRect = new RectF();
    mTextCachedSizes = new SparseIntArray();
    if (mMaxLines == 0) {
        // no value was assigned during construction
        mMaxLines = NO_LINE_LIMIT;
    }
    mInitiallized = true;
}

@Override
public void setText(final CharSequence text, BufferType type) {
    super.setText(text, type);
    adjustTextSize(text.toString());
}

@Override
public void setTextSize(float size) {
    mMaxTextSize = size;
    mTextCachedSizes.clear();
    adjustTextSize(getText().toString());
}

@Override
public void setMaxLines(int maxlines) {
    super.setMaxLines(maxlines);
    mMaxLines = maxlines;
    reAdjust();
}

public int getMaxLines() {
    return mMaxLines;
}

@Override
public void setSingleLine() {
    super.setSingleLine();
    mMaxLines = 1;
    reAdjust();
}

@Override
public void setSingleLine(boolean singleLine) {
    super.setSingleLine(singleLine);
    if (singleLine) {
        mMaxLines = 1;
    } else {
        mMaxLines = NO_LINE_LIMIT;
    }
    reAdjust();
}

@Override
public void setLines(int lines) {
    super.setLines(lines);
    mMaxLines = lines;
    reAdjust();
}

@Override
public void setTextSize(int unit, float size) {
    Context c = getContext();
    Resources r;

    if (c == null)
        r = Resources.getSystem();
    else
        r = c.getResources();
    mMaxTextSize = TypedValue.applyDimension(unit, size,
            r.getDisplayMetrics());
    mTextCachedSizes.clear();
    adjustTextSize(getText().toString());
}

@Override
public void setLineSpacing(float add, float mult) {
    super.setLineSpacing(add, mult);
    mSpacingMult = mult;
    mSpacingAdd = add;
}

/**
 * Set the lower text size limit and invalidate the view
 * 
 * @param minTextSize
 */
public void setMinTextSize(float minTextSize) {
    mMinTextSize = minTextSize;
    reAdjust();
}

private void reAdjust() {
    adjustTextSize(getText().toString());
}

private void adjustTextSize(String string) {
    if (!mInitiallized) {
        return;
    }
    int startSize = (int) mMinTextSize;
    int heightLimit = getMeasuredHeight() - getCompoundPaddingBottom()
        - getCompoundPaddingTop();
    mWidthLimit = getMeasuredWidth() - getCompoundPaddingLeft()
        - getCompoundPaddingRight();
    mAvailableSpaceRect.right = mWidthLimit;
    mAvailableSpaceRect.bottom = heightLimit;
    super.setTextSize(
            TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_PX,
            efficientTextSizeSearch(startSize, (int) mMaxTextSize,
                    mSizeTester, mAvailableSpaceRect));
}

private final SizeTester mSizeTester = new SizeTester() {
    @TargetApi(Build.VERSION_CODES.JELLY_BEAN)
    @Override
    public int onTestSize(int suggestedSize, RectF availableSPace) {
        mPaint.setTextSize(suggestedSize);
        String text = getText().toString();
        boolean singleline = getMaxLines() == 1;
        if (singleline) {
            mTextRect.bottom = mPaint.getFontSpacing();
            mTextRect.right = mPaint.measureText(text);
        } else {
            StaticLayout layout = new StaticLayout(text, mPaint,
                    mWidthLimit, Alignment.ALIGN_NORMAL, mSpacingMult,
                    mSpacingAdd, true);
            // return early if we have more lines
            if (getMaxLines() != NO_LINE_LIMIT
                    && layout.getLineCount() > getMaxLines()) {
                return 1;
            }
            mTextRect.bottom = layout.getHeight();
            int maxWidth = -1;
            for (int i = 0; i < layout.getLineCount(); i++) {
                if (maxWidth < layout.getLineWidth(i)) {
                    maxWidth = (int) layout.getLineWidth(i);
                }
            }
            mTextRect.right = maxWidth;
        }

        mTextRect.offsetTo(0, 0);
        if (availableSPace.contains(mTextRect)) {
            // may be too small, don't worry we will find the best match
            return -1;
        } else {
            // too big
            return 1;
        }
    }
};

/**
 * Enables or disables size caching, enabling it will improve performance
 * where you are animating a value inside TextView. This stores the font
 * size against getText().length() Be careful though while enabling it as 0
 * takes more space than 1 on some fonts and so on.
 * 
 * @param enable
 *            enable font size caching
 */
public void enableSizeCache(boolean enable) {
    mEnableSizeCache = enable;
    mTextCachedSizes.clear();
    adjustTextSize(getText().toString());
}

private int efficientTextSizeSearch(int start, int end,
        SizeTester sizeTester, RectF availableSpace) {
    if (!mEnableSizeCache) {
        return binarySearch(start, end, sizeTester, availableSpace);
    }
    String text = getText().toString();
    int key = text == null ? 0 : text.length();
    int size = mTextCachedSizes.get(key);
    if (size != 0) {
        return size;
    }
    size = binarySearch(start, end, sizeTester, availableSpace);
    mTextCachedSizes.put(key, size);
    return size;
}

private static int binarySearch(int start, int end, SizeTester sizeTester,
        RectF availableSpace) {
    int lastBest = start;
    int lo = start;
    int hi = end - 1;
    int mid = 0;
    while (lo <= hi) {
        mid = (lo + hi) >>> 1;
        int midValCmp = sizeTester.onTestSize(mid, availableSpace);
        if (midValCmp < 0) {
            lastBest = lo;
            lo = mid + 1;
        } else if (midValCmp > 0) {
            hi = mid - 1;
            lastBest = hi;
        } else {
            return mid;
        }
    }
    // make sure to return last best
    // this is what should always be returned
    return lastBest;

}

@Override
protected void onTextChanged(final CharSequence text, final int start,
        final int before, final int after) {
    super.onTextChanged(text, start, before, after);
    reAdjust();
}

@Override
protected void onSizeChanged(int width, int height, int oldwidth,
        int oldheight) {
    mTextCachedSizes.clear();
    super.onSizeChanged(width, height, oldwidth, oldheight);
    if (width != oldwidth || height != oldheight) {
        reAdjust();
    }
}
}

You can use the android.text.StaticLayout class for this. That's what TextView uses internally.

I just created the following method (based on the ideas of Chase) which might help you if you want to draw text to any canvas:

private static void drawText(Canvas canvas, int xStart, int yStart,
        int xWidth, int yHeigth, String textToDisplay,
        TextPaint paintToUse, float startTextSizeInPixels,
        float stepSizeForTextSizeSteps) {

    // Text view line spacing multiplier
    float mSpacingMult = 1.0f;
    // Text view additional line spacing
    float mSpacingAdd = 0.0f;
    StaticLayout l = null;
    do {
        paintToUse.setTextSize(startTextSizeInPixels);
        startTextSizeInPixels -= stepSizeForTextSizeSteps;
        l = new StaticLayout(textToDisplay, paintToUse, xWidth,
                Alignment.ALIGN_NORMAL, mSpacingMult, mSpacingAdd, true);
    } while (l.getHeight() > yHeigth);

    int textCenterX = xStart + (xWidth / 2);
    int textCenterY = (yHeigth - l.getHeight()) / 2;

    canvas.save();
    canvas.translate(textCenterX, textCenterY);
    l.draw(canvas);
    canvas.restore();
}

This could be used e.g. in any onDraw() method of any custom view.

A workaround for Android 4.x:

I found AutoResizeTextView and it works great on my Android 2.1 emulator. I loved it so much. But unfortunately it failed on my own 4.0.4 cellphone and 4.1 emulator. After trying I found it could be easily resolved by adding following attributes in AutoResizeTextView class in the xml:

android:ellipsize="none"

android:singleLine="true"

With the 2 lines above, now AutoResizeTextView working perfectly on my 2.1 & 4.1 emulators and my own 4.0.4 cellphone now.

Hope this helps you. :-)

I started with Chase's solution, but had to adapt two things before it was working as expected on my device (Galaxy Nexus, Android 4.1):

1. using a copy of TextPaint for measuring layout The documentation for TextView.getPaint() states that it should be used read-only, so I made a copy in both places where we use the paint object for measuring:

   // 1. in resizeText()
   if (mAddEllipsis && targetTextSize == mMinTextSize && textHeight > height) {
     // Draw using a static layout
     // modified: use a copy of TextPaint for measuring
     TextPaint paint = new TextPaint(textPaint);
   
   // 2. in getTextHeight()
   private int getTextHeight(CharSequence source, TextPaint originalPaint, int width, float textSize) {
     // modified: make a copy of the original TextPaint object for measuring
     // (apparently the object gets modified while measuring, see also the
     // docs for TextView.getPaint() (which states to access it read-only)
     TextPaint paint = new TextPaint(originalPaint);
     // Update the text paint object
     paint.setTextSize(textSize);
     ...
   

2. adding a unit to setting the text size

   // modified: setting text size via this.setTextSize (instead of textPaint.setTextSize(targetTextSize))
   setTextSize(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_PX, targetTextSize);
   setLineSpacing(mSpacingAdd, mSpacingMult);
   

With these two modifications the solution is working perfectly for me, thanks Chase! I don't know whether it is due to Android 4.x that the original solution was not working. In case you want to see it in action or test whether it really works on your device, you can have a look at my flashcard app Flashcards ToGo where I use this solution to scale the text of a flashcard. The text can have arbitrary length, and the flashcards are displayed in different activities, sometimes smaller sometimes bigger, plus in landscape + portrait mode, and I haven't found any corner case where the solution would not work properly...

Here is the approach I take. It's very simple. It uses successive approximation to zero in on the fontsize and can generally have it figured out in less than 10 iterations. Just replace "activityWidth" with the width of whatever view you are using to display the text in. In my example, it's set as a private field to the screen's width. The inital fontsize of 198 is only set in the event the method generates an exception (which really should never happen):

  private float GetFontSizeForScreenWidth(String text)
  {
    float fontsize = 198;

    try
    {
      Paint paint = new Paint(Paint.ANTI_ALIAS_FLAG);
      paint.setColor(Color.RED);
      Typeface typeface = Typeface.create("Helvetica", Typeface.BOLD);
      paint.setTypeface(typeface);
      paint.setTextAlign(Align.CENTER);

      int lowVal = 0;
      int highVal = 2000;
      int currentVal = highVal;

      /*
       * Successively approximate the screen size until it is 
       * within 2 pixels of the maximum screen width. Generally
       * this will get you to the closest font size within about 10
       * iterations.
       */

      do
      {
        paint.setTextSize(currentVal);
        float textWidth = paint.measureText(text);

        float diff = activityWidth - textWidth;

        if ((diff >= 0) && (diff <= 2))
        {
          fontsize = paint.getTextSize();
          return fontsize;
        }

        if (textWidth > activityWidth)
          highVal = currentVal;
        else if (textWidth < activityWidth)
          lowVal = currentVal;
        else
        {
          fontsize = paint.getTextSize();
          return fontsize;
        }

        currentVal = (highVal - lowVal) / 2 + lowVal;

      } while (true);      
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
      return fontsize;
    }
  }

I just borrow some other guys' idea and write some code below that may be helpful.

import android.content.Context;
import android.graphics.Canvas;
import android.text.Layout.Alignment;
import android.text.StaticLayout;
import android.text.TextPaint;
import android.text.TextUtils;
import android.util.AttributeSet;
import android.util.TypedValue;
import android.widget.TextView;

public class AutoResizeTextView extends TextView {
    private static final int MAX_SIZE = 1000;

    private static final int MIN_SIZE = 5;

    private TextPaint mTextPaint;

    private float mSpacingMult = 1.0f;

    private float mSpacingAdd = 0.0f;

    private boolean needAdapt = false;

    private boolean adapting = false;

    public AutoResizeTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) {
        super(context, attrs, defStyle);
        init();
    }

    public AutoResizeTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        super(context, attrs);
        init();
    }

    public AutoResizeTextView(Context context) {
        super(context);
        init();
    }

    private void init() {
        mTextPaint = new TextPaint();
    }

    @Override
    protected void onDraw(Canvas canvas) {
        if (adapting) {
            return;
        }
        if (needAdapt) {
            adaptTextSize();
        } else {
            super.onDraw(canvas);
        }
    }

    private void adaptTextSize() {
        CharSequence text = getText();
        int viewWidth = getMeasuredWidth();
        int viewHeight = getMeasuredHeight();

        if (viewWidth==0 || viewHeight==0
                || TextUtils.isEmpty(text)) {
            return;
        }

        adapting = true;
        /* binary search */
        int bottom=MIN_SIZE, top=MAX_SIZE, mid = 0;
        while (bottom <= top) {
            mid = (bottom + top)/2;
            mTextPaint.setTextSize(mid);
            int textWidth = (int) mTextPaint.measureText(text, 0, text.length());
            int textHeight = getTextHeight(text, viewWidth);
            if (textWidth<viewWidth && textHeight<viewHeight) {
                bottom = mid+1;
            } else {
                top = mid-1;
            }
        }

        int newSize = mid-1;
        setTextSize(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_PX, newSize);

        adapting=false;
        needAdapt = false;

        invalidate();
    }

    private int getTextHeight(CharSequence text, int targetWidth) {
        StaticLayout layout = new StaticLayout(text, mTextPaint, targetWidth,
                Alignment.ALIGN_NORMAL, mSpacingMult, mSpacingAdd, true);
        return layout.getHeight();
    }

    @Override
    protected void onSizeChanged(int w, int h, int oldw, int oldh) {
        super.onSizeChanged(w, h, oldw, oldh);
        needAdapt = true;
    }

    @Override
    protected void onTextChanged(CharSequence text, int start,
            int lengthBefore, int lengthAfter) {
        super.onTextChanged(text, start, lengthBefore, lengthAfter);
        needAdapt = true;
    }

    @Override
    public void setLineSpacing(float add, float mult) {
        super.setLineSpacing(add, mult);
        mSpacingMult = mult;
        mSpacingAdd = add;
    }
}

I have use code from chase and M-WaJeEh and I found some advantage & disadvantage here

from chase

Advantage:

• it's perfect for 1 line TextView

Disadvantage:

• if it's more than 1 line with custom font some of text will disappear

• if it's enable ellipse, it didn't prepare space for ellipse

• if it's custom font (typeface), it didn't support

from M-WaJeEh

Advantage:

• it's perfect for multi-line

Disadvantage:

• if set height as wrap-content, this code will start from minimum size and it will reduce to smallest as it can, not from the setSize and reduce by the limited width

• if it's custom font (typeface), it didn't support

The problem is about how to have this feature on Button; For TextView it's easy and works very well by following the official document here.

Style.xml:

    <style name="Widget.Button.CustomStyle" parent="Widget.MaterialComponents.Button">
        <item name="android:minHeight">50dp</item>
        <item name="android:maxWidth">300dp</item>
        <item name="android:textStyle">bold</item>
        <item name="android:textSize">16sp</item>
        <item name="backgroundTint">@color/white</item>
        <item name="cornerRadius">25dp</item>
        <item name="autoSizeTextType">uniform</item>
        <item name="autoSizeMinTextSize">10sp</item>
        <item name="autoSizeMaxTextSize">16sp</item>
        <item name="autoSizeStepGranularity">2sp</item>
        <item name="android:maxLines">1</item>
        <item name="android:textColor">@color/colorPrimary</item>
        <item name="android:insetTop">0dp</item>
        <item name="android:insetBottom">0dp</item>
        <item name="android:lineSpacingExtra">4sp</item>
        <item name="android:gravity">center</item>
    </style>

Usage:

<com.google.android.material.button.MaterialButton
            android:id="@+id/blah"
            style="@style/Widget.Button.CustomStyle"
            android:layout_width="match_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_marginStart="16dp"
            android:layout_marginEnd="16dp"
            android:text="Your long text, to the infinity and beyond!!! Why not :)" />

Result:

I needed a specific solution. I have got an edittext and textview in my layout. The textview is fixed height and width. When the user starts to type in the edittext, the text should immediately appear in the textview. The text in the textfield should auto - resize to fit the textview. So I updated Chase's solution to work for me. So when the text changes in the textview, resizing starts. The difference between mine and Chase's soluton: resizing is done even if the user DELETE some chars. I hope it can help someone.

public class TextFitTextView extends TextView {

// Minimum text size for this text view
public static final float MIN_TEXT_SIZE = 10;

// Maximum text size for this text view - if it is 0, then the text acts
// like match_parent
public static final float MAX_TEXT_SIZE = 0;

// Our ellipse string
private static final String mEllipsis = "...";

// Text size that is set from code. This acts as a starting point for
// resizing
private float mTextSize;

// Lower bounds for text size
private float mMinTextSize = MIN_TEXT_SIZE;

// Max bounds for text size
private float mMaxTextSize = MAX_TEXT_SIZE;

// Text view line spacing multiplier
private float mSpacingMult = 1.0f;

// Text view additional line spacing
private float mSpacingAdd = 0.0f;

// Add ellipsis to text that overflows at the smallest text size
private boolean mAddEllipsis = true;

// Add ellipsis to text that overflows at the smallest text size
private int heightLimit;
private int widthLimit;

// Default constructor override
public TextFitTextView(Context context) {
    this(context, null);
}

// Default constructor when inflating from XML file
public TextFitTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
    this(context, attrs, 0);
}

// Default constructor override
public TextFitTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) {
    super(context, attrs, defStyle);
    mTextSize = getTextSize();
}

/**
 * When text changes resize the text size.
 */
@Override
protected void onTextChanged(final CharSequence text, final int start, final int before, final int after) {
    // if we are adding new chars to text
    if (before <= after && after != 1) {
        resizeText(true);
        // now we are deleting chars
    } else {
        resizeText(false);
    }
}

/**
 * Override the set text size to update our internal reference values
 */
@Override
public void setTextSize(float size) {
    super.setTextSize(size);
    mTextSize = getTextSize();
}

/**
 * Override the set text size to update our internal reference values
 */
@Override
public void setTextSize(int unit, float size) {
    super.setTextSize(unit, size);
    mTextSize = getTextSize();
}

/**
 * Override the set line spacing to update our internal reference values
 */
@Override
public void setLineSpacing(float add, float mult) {
    super.setLineSpacing(add, mult);
    mSpacingMult = mult;
    mSpacingAdd = add;
}

/**
 * Set the lower text size limit and invalidate the view
 * 
 * @param minTextSize
 */
public void setMinTextSize(float minTextSize) {
    mMinTextSize = minTextSize;
    requestLayout();
    invalidate();
}

/**
 * Return lower text size limit
 * 
 * @return
 */
public float getMinTextSize() {
    return mMinTextSize;
}

/**
 * Set flag to add ellipsis to text that overflows at the smallest text size
 * 
 * @param addEllipsis
 */
public void setAddEllipsis(boolean addEllipsis) {
    mAddEllipsis = addEllipsis;
}

/**
 * Return flag to add ellipsis to text that overflows at the smallest text
 * size
 * 
 * @return
 */
public boolean getAddEllipsis() {
    return mAddEllipsis;
}

/**
 * Get width and height limits
 */
@Override
protected void onLayout(boolean changed, int left, int top, int right, int bottom) {
    if (widthLimit == 0 && heightLimit == 0) {
        widthLimit = (right - left) - getCompoundPaddingLeft() - getCompoundPaddingRight();
        heightLimit = (bottom - top) - getCompoundPaddingBottom() - getCompoundPaddingTop();
    }
    super.onLayout(changed, left, top, right, bottom);
}

/**
 * Resize the text size with specified width and height
 * 
 * @param width
 * @param height
 */
public void resizeText(boolean increase) {
    CharSequence text = getText();
    // Do not resize if the view does not have dimensions or there is no
    // text
    if (text == null || text.length() == 0 || heightLimit <= 0 || widthLimit <= 0 || mTextSize == 0) {
        return;
    }

    // Get the text view's paint object
    TextPaint textPaint = getPaint();

    // Get the required text height
    int textHeight = getTextHeight(text, textPaint, widthLimit, mTextSize);


    // If the text length is increased 
    // Until we either fit within our text view or we had reached our min
    // text size, incrementally try smaller sizes
    if (increase) {
        while (textHeight > heightLimit && mTextSize > mMinTextSize) {
            mTextSize = Math.max(mTextSize - 2, mMinTextSize);
            textHeight = getTextHeight(text, textPaint, widthLimit, mTextSize);
        }
    } 
//      text length has been decreased
    else {
//          if max test size is set then add it to while condition
        if (mMaxTextSize != 0) {
            while (textHeight < heightLimit && mTextSize <= mMaxTextSize) {
                mTextSize = mTextSize + 2;
                textHeight = getTextHeight(text, textPaint, widthLimit, mTextSize);
            }
        } else {
            while (textHeight < heightLimit) {
                mTextSize = mTextSize + 2;
                textHeight = getTextHeight(text, textPaint, widthLimit, mTextSize);
            }
        }
        mTextSize = textHeight > heightLimit ? mTextSize - 2 : mTextSize;
    }

    // If we had reached our minimum text size and still don't fit, append
    // an ellipsis
    if (mAddEllipsis && mTextSize == mMinTextSize && textHeight > heightLimit) {
        // Draw using a static layout
        TextPaint paint = new TextPaint(textPaint);
        StaticLayout layout = new StaticLayout(text, paint, widthLimit, Alignment.ALIGN_NORMAL, mSpacingMult,
                mSpacingAdd, false);
        // Check that we have a least one line of rendered text
        if (layout.getLineCount() > 0) {
            // Since the line at the specific vertical position would be cut
            // off,
            // we must trim up to the previous line
            int lastLine = layout.getLineForVertical(heightLimit) - 1;
            // If the text would not even fit on a single line, clear it
            if (lastLine < 0) {
                setText("");
            }
            // Otherwise, trim to the previous line and add an ellipsis
            else {
                int start = layout.getLineStart(lastLine);
                int end = layout.getLineEnd(lastLine);
                float lineWidth = layout.getLineWidth(lastLine);
                float ellipseWidth = paint.measureText(mEllipsis);

                // Trim characters off until we have enough room to draw the
                // ellipsis
                while (widthLimit < lineWidth + ellipseWidth) {
                    lineWidth = paint.measureText(text.subSequence(start, --end + 1).toString());
                }
                setText(text.subSequence(0, end) + mEllipsis);
            }
        }
    }

    // Some devices try to auto adjust line spacing, so force default line
    // spacing
    // and invalidate the layout as a side effect
    setTextSize(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_PX, mTextSize);
    setLineSpacing(mSpacingAdd, mSpacingMult);

}

// Set the text size of the text paint object and use a static layout to
// render text off screen before measuring
private int getTextHeight(CharSequence source, TextPaint originalPaint, int width, float textSize) {
    // Update the text paint object
    TextPaint paint = new TextPaint(originalPaint);
    paint.setTextSize(textSize);
    // Measure using a static layout
    StaticLayout layout = new StaticLayout(source, paint, width, Alignment.ALIGN_NORMAL, mSpacingMult, mSpacingAdd,
            true);
    return layout.getHeight();
}

}

I started with Chase's AutoResizeTextView class, and made a minor change so it would fit both vertically and horizontally.

I also discovered a bug which causes a Null Pointer Exception in the Layout Editor (in Eclipse) under some rather obscure conditions.

Change 1: Fit the text both vertically and horizontally

Chase's original version reduces the text size until it fits vertically, but allows the text to be wider than the target. In my case, I needed the text to fit a specified width.

This change makes it resize until the text fits both vertically and horizontally.

In resizeText(int,int) change from:

// Get the required text height
int textHeight = getTextHeight(text, textPaint, width, targetTextSize);

// Until we either fit within our text view or we had reached our min text size, incrementally try smaller sizes
while(textHeight > height && targetTextSize > mMinTextSize) {
    targetTextSize = Math.max(targetTextSize - 2, mMinTextSize);
    textHeight = getTextHeight(text, textPaint, width, targetTextSize);
    }

to:

// Get the required text height
int textHeight = getTextHeight(text, textPaint, width, targetTextSize);
int textWidth  = getTextWidth(text, textPaint, width, targetTextSize);

// Until we either fit within our text view or we had reached our min text size, incrementally try smaller sizes
while(((textHeight >= height) || (textWidth >= width) ) && targetTextSize > mMinTextSize) {
    targetTextSize = Math.max(targetTextSize - 2, mMinTextSize);
    textHeight = getTextHeight(text, textPaint, width, targetTextSize);
    textWidth  = getTextWidth(text, textPaint, width, targetTextSize);
    }

Then, at the end of the file, append the getTextWidth() routine; it's just a slightly modified getTextHeight(). It probably would be more efficient to combine them to one routine which returns both height and width.

// Set the text size of the text paint object and use a static layout to render text off screen before measuring
private int getTextWidth(CharSequence source, TextPaint paint, int width, float textSize) {
    // Update the text paint object
    paint.setTextSize(textSize);
    // Draw using a static layout
    StaticLayout layout = new StaticLayout(source, paint, width, Alignment.ALIGN_NORMAL, mSpacingMult, mSpacingAdd, true);
    layout.draw(sTextResizeCanvas);
    return layout.getWidth();
}  

Change 2: Fix a EmptyStackException in the Eclipse Android Layout Editor

Under rather obscure and very precise conditions, the Layout Editor will fail to display the graphical display of the layout; it will throw an "EmptyStackException: null" exception in com.android.ide.eclipse.adt.

The conditions required are:
- create an AutoResizeTextView widget
- create a style for that widget
- specify the text item in the style; not in the widget definition

as in:

res/layout/main.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    android:orientation="vertical" >

    <com.ajw.DemoCrashInADT.AutoResizeTextView
        android:id="@+id/resizingText"
        style="@style/myTextStyle" />

</LinearLayout>

res/values/myStyles.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources>

    <style name="myTextStyle" parent="@android:style/Widget.TextView">
        <item name="android:layout_height">wrap_content</item>
        <item name="android:layout_width">fill_parent</item>
        <item name="android:text">some message</item>
    </style>

</resources>

With these files, selecting the Graphical Layout tab when editing main.xml will display:

error!
EmptyStackException: null
Exception details are logged in Window > Show View > Error Log

instead of the graphical view of the layout.

To keep an already too-long story shorter, I tracked this down to the following lines (again in resizeText):

// If there is a max text size set, use the lesser of that and the default text size
float targetTextSize = mMaxTextSize > 0 ? Math.min(mTextSize, mMaxTextSize) : mTextSize;

The problem is that under the specific conditions, mTextSize is never initialized; it has the value 0.

With the above, targetTextSize is set to zero (as a result of Math.min).

That zero is passed to getTextHeight() (and getTextWidth()) as the textSize argument. When it gets to
layout.draw(sTextResizeCanvas);
we get the exception.

It's more efficient to test if (mTextSize == 0) at the beginning of resizeText() rather than testing in getTextHeight() and getTextWidth(); testing earlier saves all the intervening work.

With these updates, the file (as in my crash-demo test app) is now:

//
// from:  http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5033012/auto-scale-textview-text-to-fit-within-bounds
//
//

package com.ajw.DemoCrashInADT;

import android.content.Context;
import android.graphics.Canvas;
import android.text.Layout.Alignment;
import android.text.StaticLayout;
import android.text.TextPaint;
import android.util.AttributeSet;
import android.util.TypedValue;
import android.widget.TextView;

/**
 * Text view that auto adjusts text size to fit within the view. If the text
 * size equals the minimum text size and still does not fit, append with an
 * ellipsis.
 *
 * 2011-10-29 changes by Alan Jay Weiner
 *              * change to fit both vertically and horizontally  
 *              * test mTextSize for 0 in resizeText() to fix exception in Layout Editor
 *
 * @author Chase Colburn
 * @since Apr 4, 2011
 */
public class AutoResizeTextView extends TextView {

    // Minimum text size for this text view
    public static final float MIN_TEXT_SIZE = 20;

    // Interface for resize notifications
    public interface OnTextResizeListener {
        public void onTextResize(TextView textView, float oldSize, float newSize);
    }

    // Off screen canvas for text size rendering
    private static final Canvas sTextResizeCanvas = new Canvas();

    // Our ellipse string
    private static final String mEllipsis = "...";

    // Registered resize listener
    private OnTextResizeListener mTextResizeListener;

    // Flag for text and/or size changes to force a resize
    private boolean mNeedsResize = false;

    // Text size that is set from code. This acts as a starting point for
    // resizing
    private float mTextSize;

    // Temporary upper bounds on the starting text size
    private float mMaxTextSize = 0;

    // Lower bounds for text size
    private float mMinTextSize = MIN_TEXT_SIZE;

    // Text view line spacing multiplier
    private float mSpacingMult = 1.0f;

    // Text view additional line spacing
    private float mSpacingAdd = 0.0f;

    // Add ellipsis to text that overflows at the smallest text size
    private boolean mAddEllipsis = true;


    // Default constructor override
    public AutoResizeTextView(Context context) {
        this(context, null);
    }


    // Default constructor when inflating from XML file
    public AutoResizeTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        this(context, attrs, 0);
    }


    // Default constructor override
    public AutoResizeTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) {
        super(context, attrs, defStyle);
        mTextSize = getTextSize();
    }


    /**
     * When text changes, set the force resize flag to true and reset the text
     * size.
     */
    @Override
    protected void onTextChanged(final CharSequence text, final int start,
            final int before, final int after) {
        mNeedsResize = true;
        // Since this view may be reused, it is good to reset the text size
        resetTextSize();
    }


    /**
     * If the text view size changed, set the force resize flag to true
     */
    @Override
    protected void onSizeChanged(int w, int h, int oldw, int oldh) {
        if (w != oldw || h != oldh) {
            mNeedsResize = true;
        }
    }


    /**
     * Register listener to receive resize notifications
     *
     * @param listener
     */
    public void setOnResizeListener(OnTextResizeListener listener) {
        mTextResizeListener = listener;
    }


    /**
     * Override the set text size to update our internal reference values
     */
    @Override
    public void setTextSize(float size) {
        super.setTextSize(size);
        mTextSize = getTextSize();
    }


    /**
     * Override the set text size to update our internal reference values
     */
    @Override
    public void setTextSize(int unit, float size) {
        super.setTextSize(unit, size);
        mTextSize = getTextSize();
    }


    /**
     * Override the set line spacing to update our internal reference values
     */
    @Override
    public void setLineSpacing(float add, float mult) {
        super.setLineSpacing(add, mult);
        mSpacingMult = mult;
        mSpacingAdd = add;
    }


    /**
     * Set the upper text size limit and invalidate the view
     *
     * @param maxTextSize
     */
    public void setMaxTextSize(float maxTextSize) {
        mMaxTextSize = maxTextSize;
        requestLayout();
        invalidate();
    }


    /**
     * Return upper text size limit
     *
     * @return
     */
    public float getMaxTextSize() {
        return mMaxTextSize;
    }


    /**
     * Set the lower text size limit and invalidate the view
     *
     * @param minTextSize
     */
    public void setMinTextSize(float minTextSize) {
        mMinTextSize = minTextSize;
        requestLayout();
        invalidate();
    }


    /**
     * Return lower text size limit
     *
     * @return
     */
    public float getMinTextSize() {
        return mMinTextSize;
    }


    /**
     * Set flag to add ellipsis to text that overflows at the smallest text size
     *
     * @param addEllipsis
     */
    public void setAddEllipsis(boolean addEllipsis) {
        mAddEllipsis = addEllipsis;
    }


    /**
     * Return flag to add ellipsis to text that overflows at the smallest text
     * size
     *
     * @return
     */
    public boolean getAddEllipsis() {
        return mAddEllipsis;
    }


    /**
     * Reset the text to the original size
     */
    public void resetTextSize() {
        super.setTextSize(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_PX, mTextSize);
        mMaxTextSize = mTextSize;
    }


    /**
     * Resize text after measuring
     */
    @Override
    protected void onLayout(boolean changed, int left, int top, int right, int bottom) {
        if (changed || mNeedsResize) {
            int widthLimit = (right - left) - getCompoundPaddingLeft()
                    - getCompoundPaddingRight();
            int heightLimit = (bottom - top) - getCompoundPaddingBottom()
                    - getCompoundPaddingTop();
            resizeText(widthLimit, heightLimit);
        }
        super.onLayout(changed, left, top, right, bottom);
    }


    /**
     * Resize the text size with default width and height
     */
    public void resizeText() {
        int heightLimit = getHeight() - getPaddingBottom() - getPaddingTop();
        int widthLimit = getWidth() - getPaddingLeft() - getPaddingRight();
        resizeText(widthLimit, heightLimit);
    }


    /**
     * Resize the text size with specified width and height
     *
     * @param width
     * @param height
     */
    public void resizeText(int width, int height) {
        CharSequence text = getText();
        // Do not resize if the view does not have dimensions or there is no
        // text
        // or if mTextSize has not been initialized
        if (text == null || text.length() == 0 || height <= 0 || width <= 0
                || mTextSize == 0) {
            return;
        }

        // Get the text view's paint object
        TextPaint textPaint = getPaint();

        // Store the current text size
        float oldTextSize = textPaint.getTextSize();

        // If there is a max text size set, use the lesser of that and the
        // default text size
        float targetTextSize = mMaxTextSize > 0 ? Math.min(mTextSize, mMaxTextSize)
                : mTextSize;

        // Get the required text height
        int textHeight = getTextHeight(text, textPaint, width, targetTextSize);
        int textWidth = getTextWidth(text, textPaint, width, targetTextSize);

        // Until we either fit within our text view or we had reached our min
        // text size, incrementally try smaller sizes
        while (((textHeight > height) || (textWidth > width))
                && targetTextSize > mMinTextSize) {
            targetTextSize = Math.max(targetTextSize - 2, mMinTextSize);
            textHeight = getTextHeight(text, textPaint, width, targetTextSize);
            textWidth = getTextWidth(text, textPaint, width, targetTextSize);
        }

        // If we had reached our minimum text size and still don't fit, append
        // an ellipsis
        if (mAddEllipsis && targetTextSize == mMinTextSize && textHeight > height) {
            // Draw using a static layout
            StaticLayout layout = new StaticLayout(text, textPaint, width,
                    Alignment.ALIGN_NORMAL, mSpacingMult, mSpacingAdd, false);
            layout.draw(sTextResizeCanvas);
            int lastLine = layout.getLineForVertical(height) - 1;
            int start = layout.getLineStart(lastLine);
            int end = layout.getLineEnd(lastLine);
            float lineWidth = layout.getLineWidth(lastLine);
            float ellipseWidth = textPaint.measureText(mEllipsis);

            // Trim characters off until we have enough room to draw the
            // ellipsis
            while (width < lineWidth + ellipseWidth) {
                lineWidth = textPaint.measureText(text.subSequence(start, --end + 1)
                        .toString());
            }
            setText(text.subSequence(0, end) + mEllipsis);

        }

        // Some devices try to auto adjust line spacing, so force default line
        // spacing
        // and invalidate the layout as a side effect
        textPaint.setTextSize(targetTextSize);
        setLineSpacing(mSpacingAdd, mSpacingMult);

        // Notify the listener if registered
        if (mTextResizeListener != null) {
            mTextResizeListener.onTextResize(this, oldTextSize, targetTextSize);
        }

        // Reset force resize flag
        mNeedsResize = false;
    }


    // Set the text size of the text paint object and use a static layout to
    // render text off screen before measuring
    private int getTextHeight(CharSequence source, TextPaint paint, int width,
            float textSize) {
        // Update the text paint object
        paint.setTextSize(textSize);
        // Draw using a static layout
        StaticLayout layout = new StaticLayout(source, paint, width,
                Alignment.ALIGN_NORMAL, mSpacingMult, mSpacingAdd, true);
        layout.draw(sTextResizeCanvas);
        return layout.getHeight();
    }


    // Set the text size of the text paint object and use a static layout to
    // render text off screen before measuring
    private int getTextWidth(CharSequence source, TextPaint paint, int width,
            float textSize) {
        // Update the text paint object
        paint.setTextSize(textSize);
        // Draw using a static layout
        StaticLayout layout = new StaticLayout(source, paint, width,
                Alignment.ALIGN_NORMAL, mSpacingMult, mSpacingAdd, true);
        layout.draw(sTextResizeCanvas);
        return layout.getWidth();
    }

}

A big thank you to Chase for posting the initial code. I enjoyed reading through it to see how it worked, and I'm pleased to be able to add to it.

Here's a simple solution that uses TextView itself with a TextChangedListened added to it:

expressionView = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.expressionView);
expressionView.addTextChangedListener(textAutoResizeWatcher(expressionView, 25, 55));

private TextWatcher textAutoResizeWatcher(final TextView view, final int MIN_SP, final int MAX_SP) {
    return new TextWatcher() {
        @Override
        public void beforeTextChanged(CharSequence charSequence, int i, int i1, int i2) {}

        @Override
        public void onTextChanged(CharSequence charSequence, int i, int i1, int i2) {}

        @Override
        public void afterTextChanged(Editable editable) {

            final int widthLimitPixels = view.getWidth() - view.getPaddingRight() - view.getPaddingLeft();
            Paint paint = new Paint();
            float fontSizeSP = pixelsToSp(view.getTextSize());
            paint.setTextSize(spToPixels(fontSizeSP));

            String viewText = view.getText().toString();

            float widthPixels = paint.measureText(viewText);

            // Increase font size if necessary.
            if (widthPixels < widthLimitPixels){
                while (widthPixels < widthLimitPixels && fontSizeSP <= MAX_SP){
                    ++fontSizeSP;
                    paint.setTextSize(spToPixels(fontSizeSP));
                    widthPixels = paint.measureText(viewText);
                }
                --fontSizeSP;
            }
            // Decrease font size if necessary.
            else {
                while (widthPixels > widthLimitPixels || fontSizeSP > MAX_SP) {
                    if (fontSizeSP < MIN_SP) {
                        fontSizeSP = MIN_SP;
                        break;
                    }
                    --fontSizeSP;
                    paint.setTextSize(spToPixels(fontSizeSP));
                    widthPixels = paint.measureText(viewText);
                }
            }

            view.setTextSize(fontSizeSP);
        }
    };
}

private float pixelsToSp(float px) {
    float scaledDensity = getResources().getDisplayMetrics().scaledDensity;
    return px/scaledDensity;
}

private float spToPixels(float sp) {
    float scaledDensity = getResources().getDisplayMetrics().scaledDensity;
    return sp * scaledDensity;
}

This approach will increase or decrease the font size as needed to fit the text, respecting the MIN_SP and MAX_SP bounds received as parameters.

I found the following to work nicely for me. It doesn't loop and accounts for both height and width. Note that it is important to specify the PX unit when calling setTextSize on the view.

Paint paint = adjustTextSize(getPaint(), numChars, maxWidth, maxHeight);
setTextSize(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_PX,paint.getTextSize());

Here is the routine I use, passing in the getPaint() from the view. A 10 character string with a 'wide' character is used to estimate the width independent from the actual string.

private static final String text10="OOOOOOOOOO";
public static Paint adjustTextSize(Paint paint, int numCharacters, int widthPixels, int heightPixels) {
    float width = paint.measureText(text10)*numCharacters/text10.length();
    float newSize = (int)((widthPixels/width)*paint.getTextSize());
    paint.setTextSize(newSize);

    // remeasure with font size near our desired result
    width = paint.measureText(text10)*numCharacters/text10.length();
    newSize = (int)((widthPixels/width)*paint.getTextSize());
    paint.setTextSize(newSize);

    // Check height constraints
    FontMetricsInt metrics = paint.getFontMetricsInt();
    float textHeight = metrics.descent-metrics.ascent;
    if (textHeight > heightPixels) {
        newSize = (int)(newSize * (heightPixels/textHeight));
        paint.setTextSize(newSize);
    }

    return paint;
}

At google IO conference in 2017, google introduced autoSize property of TextView

https://youtu.be/fjUdJ2aVqE4

<android.support.v7.widget.AppCompatTextView
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"
        android:text="@string/my_text"
        app:autoSizeTextType="uniform"
        app:autoSizeMaxTextSize="10sp"
        app:autoSizeMinTextSize="6sp"
        app:autoSizeStepGranularity="1sp"/>

I hope this helps you

import android.content.Context;
import android.graphics.Rect;
import android.text.TextPaint;
import android.util.AttributeSet;
import android.widget.TextView;

/* Based on 
 * from http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2617266/how-to-adjust-text-font-size-to-fit-textview
 */
public class FontFitTextView extends TextView {

private static float MAX_TEXT_SIZE = 20;

public FontFitTextView(Context context) {
    this(context, null);
}

public FontFitTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
    super(context, attrs);

    float size = this.getTextSize();
    if (size > MAX_TEXT_SIZE)
        setTextSize(MAX_TEXT_SIZE);
}

private void refitText(String text, int textWidth) {
    if (textWidth > 0) {
        float availableWidth = textWidth - this.getPaddingLeft()
                - this.getPaddingRight();

        TextPaint tp = getPaint();
        Rect rect = new Rect();
        tp.getTextBounds(text, 0, text.length(), rect);
        float size = rect.width();

        if (size > availableWidth)
            setTextScaleX(availableWidth / size);
    }
}

@Override
protected void onMeasure(int widthMeasureSpec, int heightMeasureSpec) {
    super.onMeasure(widthMeasureSpec, heightMeasureSpec);
    int parentWidth = MeasureSpec.getSize(widthMeasureSpec);
    int parentHeight = MeasureSpec.getSize(heightMeasureSpec);
    refitText(this.getText().toString(), parentWidth);
    this.setMeasuredDimension(parentWidth, parentHeight);
}

@Override
protected void onTextChanged(final CharSequence text, final int start,
        final int before, final int after) {
    refitText(text.toString(), this.getWidth());
}

@Override
protected void onSizeChanged(int w, int h, int oldw, int oldh) {
    if (w != oldw) {
        refitText(this.getText().toString(), w);
    }
}
}

NOTE: I use MAX_TEXT_SIZE in case of text size is bigger than 20 because I don't want to allow big fonts applies to my View, if this is not your case, you can just simply remove it.

My need was to resize text in order to perfectly fit view bounds. Chase's solution only reduces text size, this one enlarges also the text if there is enough space.

To make all fast & precise i used a bisection method instead of an iterative while, as you can see in resizeText() method. That's why you have also a MAX_TEXT_SIZE option. I also included onoelle's tips.

Tested on Android 4.4

/**
 *               DO WHAT YOU WANT TO PUBLIC LICENSE
 *                    Version 2, December 2004
 *
 * Copyright (C) 2004 Sam Hocevar <[email protected]>
 *
 * Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim or modified
 * copies of this license document, and changing it is allowed as long
 * as the name is changed.
 *
 *            DO WHAT YOU WANT TO PUBLIC LICENSE
 *   TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION
 *
 *  0. You just DO WHAT YOU WANT TO.
 */

import android.content.Context;
import android.text.Layout.Alignment;
import android.text.StaticLayout;
import android.text.TextPaint;
import android.util.AttributeSet;
import android.util.TypedValue;
import android.widget.TextView;

/**
 * Text view that auto adjusts text size to fit within the view.
 * If the text size equals the minimum text size and still does not
 * fit, append with an ellipsis.
 *
 * @author Chase Colburn
 * @since Apr 4, 2011
 */
public class AutoResizeTextView extends TextView {

    // Minimum text size for this text view
    public static final float MIN_TEXT_SIZE = 26;

    // Maximum text size for this text view
    public static final float MAX_TEXT_SIZE = 128;

    private static final int BISECTION_LOOP_WATCH_DOG = 30;

    // Interface for resize notifications
    public interface OnTextResizeListener {
        public void onTextResize(TextView textView, float oldSize, float newSize);
    }

    // Our ellipse string
    private static final String mEllipsis = "...";

    // Registered resize listener
    private OnTextResizeListener mTextResizeListener;

    // Flag for text and/or size changes to force a resize
    private boolean mNeedsResize = false;

    // Text size that is set from code. This acts as a starting point for resizing
    private float mTextSize;

    // Temporary upper bounds on the starting text size
    private float mMaxTextSize = MAX_TEXT_SIZE;

    // Lower bounds for text size
    private float mMinTextSize = MIN_TEXT_SIZE;

    // Text view line spacing multiplier
    private float mSpacingMult = 1.0f;

    // Text view additional line spacing
    private float mSpacingAdd = 0.0f;

    // Add ellipsis to text that overflows at the smallest text size
    private boolean mAddEllipsis = true;

    // Default constructor override
    public AutoResizeTextView(Context context) {
        this(context, null);
    }

    // Default constructor when inflating from XML file
    public AutoResizeTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        this(context, attrs, 0);
    }

    // Default constructor override
    public AutoResizeTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) {
        super(context, attrs, defStyle);
        mTextSize = getTextSize();
    }

    /**
     * When text changes, set the force resize flag to true and reset the text size.
     */
    @Override
    protected void onTextChanged(final CharSequence text, final int start, final int before, final int after) {
        mNeedsResize = true;
        // Since this view may be reused, it is good to reset the text size
        resetTextSize();
    }

    /**
     * If the text view size changed, set the force resize flag to true
     */
    @Override
    protected void onSizeChanged(int w, int h, int oldw, int oldh) {
        if (w != oldw || h != oldh) {
            mNeedsResize = true;
        }
    }

    /**
     * Register listener to receive resize notifications
     * @param listener
     */
    public void setOnResizeListener(OnTextResizeListener listener) {
        mTextResizeListener = listener;
    }

    /**
     * Override the set text size to update our internal reference values
     */
    @Override
    public void setTextSize(float size) {
        super.setTextSize(size);
        mTextSize = getTextSize();
    }

    /**
     * Override the set text size to update our internal reference values
     */
    @Override
    public void setTextSize(int unit, float size) {
        super.setTextSize(unit, size);
        mTextSize = getTextSize();
    }

    /**
     * Override the set line spacing to update our internal reference values
     */
    @Override
    public void setLineSpacing(float add, float mult) {
        super.setLineSpacing(add, mult);
        mSpacingMult = mult;
        mSpacingAdd = add;
    }

    /**
     * Set the upper text size limit and invalidate the view
     * @param maxTextSize
     */
    public void setMaxTextSize(float maxTextSize) {
        mMaxTextSize = maxTextSize;
        requestLayout();
        invalidate();
    }

    /**
     * Return upper text size limit
     * @return
     */
    public float getMaxTextSize() {
        return mMaxTextSize;
    }

    /**
     * Set the lower text size limit and invalidate the view
     * @param minTextSize
     */
    public void setMinTextSize(float minTextSize) {
        mMinTextSize = minTextSize;
        requestLayout();
        invalidate();
    }

    /**
     * Return lower text size limit
     * @return
     */
    public float getMinTextSize() {
        return mMinTextSize;
    }

    /**
     * Set flag to add ellipsis to text that overflows at the smallest text size
     * @param addEllipsis
     */
    public void setAddEllipsis(boolean addEllipsis) {
        mAddEllipsis = addEllipsis;
    }

    /**
     * Return flag to add ellipsis to text that overflows at the smallest text size
     * @return
     */
    public boolean getAddEllipsis() {
        return mAddEllipsis;
    }

    /**
     * Reset the text to the original size
     */
    public void resetTextSize() {
        if(mTextSize > 0) {
            super.setTextSize(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_PX, mTextSize);
            //mMaxTextSize = mTextSize;
        }
    }

    /**
     * Resize text after measuring
     */
    @Override
    protected void onLayout(boolean changed, int left, int top, int right, int bottom) {
        if(changed || mNeedsResize) {
            int widthLimit = (right - left) - getCompoundPaddingLeft() - getCompoundPaddingRight();
            int heightLimit = (bottom - top) - getCompoundPaddingBottom() - getCompoundPaddingTop();
            resizeText(widthLimit, heightLimit);
        }
        super.onLayout(changed, left, top, right, bottom);
    }


    /**
     * Resize the text size with default width and height
     */
    public void resizeText() {
        int heightLimit = getHeight() - getPaddingBottom() - getPaddingTop();
        int widthLimit = getWidth() - getPaddingLeft() - getPaddingRight();
        resizeText(widthLimit, heightLimit);
    }

    /**
     * Resize the text size with specified width and height
     * @param width
     * @param height
     */
    public void resizeText(int width, int height) {
        CharSequence text = getText();
        // Do not resize if the view does not have dimensions or there is no text
        if(text == null || text.length() == 0 || height <= 0 || width <= 0 || mTextSize == 0) {
            return;
        }

        // Get the text view's paint object
        TextPaint textPaint = getPaint();

        // Store the current text size
        float oldTextSize = textPaint.getTextSize();

        // Bisection method: fast & precise
        float lower = mMinTextSize;
        float upper = mMaxTextSize;
        int loop_counter=1;
        float targetTextSize = (lower+upper)/2;
        int textHeight = getTextHeight(text, textPaint, width, targetTextSize);
        while(loop_counter < BISECTION_LOOP_WATCH_DOG && upper - lower > 1) {
            targetTextSize = (lower+upper)/2;
            textHeight = getTextHeight(text, textPaint, width, targetTextSize);
            if(textHeight > height)
                upper = targetTextSize;
            else
                lower = targetTextSize;
            loop_counter++;
        }

        targetTextSize = lower;
        textHeight = getTextHeight(text, textPaint, width, targetTextSize);

        // If we had reached our minimum text size and still don't fit, append an ellipsis
        if(mAddEllipsis && targetTextSize == mMinTextSize && textHeight > height) {
            // Draw using a static layout
            // modified: use a copy of TextPaint for measuring
            TextPaint paintCopy = new TextPaint(textPaint);
            paintCopy.setTextSize(targetTextSize);
            StaticLayout layout = new StaticLayout(text, paintCopy, width, Alignment.ALIGN_NORMAL, mSpacingMult, mSpacingAdd, false);
            // Check that we have a least one line of rendered text
            if(layout.getLineCount() > 0) {
                // Since the line at the specific vertical position would be cut off,
                // we must trim up to the previous line
                int lastLine = layout.getLineForVertical(height) - 1;
                // If the text would not even fit on a single line, clear it
                if(lastLine < 0) {
                    setText("");
                }
                // Otherwise, trim to the previous line and add an ellipsis
                else {
                    int start = layout.getLineStart(lastLine);
                    int end = layout.getLineEnd(lastLine);
                    float lineWidth = layout.getLineWidth(lastLine);
                    float ellipseWidth = paintCopy.measureText(mEllipsis);

                    // Trim characters off until we have enough room to draw the ellipsis
                    while(width < lineWidth + ellipseWidth) {
                        lineWidth = paintCopy.measureText(text.subSequence(start, --end + 1).toString());
                    }
                    setText(text.subSequence(0, end) + mEllipsis);
                }
            }
        }

        // Some devices try to auto adjust line spacing, so force default line spacing
        // and invalidate the layout as a side effect
        setTextSize(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_PX, targetTextSize);
        setLineSpacing(mSpacingAdd, mSpacingMult);

        // Notify the listener if registered
        if(mTextResizeListener != null) {
            mTextResizeListener.onTextResize(this, oldTextSize, targetTextSize);
        }

        // Reset force resize flag
        mNeedsResize = false;
    }

    // Set the text size of the text paint object and use a static layout to render text off screen before measuring
    private int getTextHeight(CharSequence source, TextPaint originalPaint, int width, float textSize) {
        // modified: make a copy of the original TextPaint object for measuring
        // (apparently the object gets modified while measuring, see also the
        // docs for TextView.getPaint() (which states to access it read-only)
        TextPaint paint = new TextPaint(originalPaint);
        // Update the text paint object
        paint.setTextSize(textSize);
        // Measure using a static layout
        StaticLayout layout = new StaticLayout(source, paint, width, Alignment.ALIGN_NORMAL, mSpacingMult, mSpacingAdd, true);
        return layout.getHeight();
    }

}

Warning, bug in Android Honeycomb and Ice Cream Sandwich

Androids versions: 3.1 - 4.04 have a bug, that setTextSize() inside of TextView works only for the 1st time (1st invocation).

Bug is described here: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=22493 http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=17343#c9

workaround is to add new line character to text assigned to TextView before changing size:

final String DOUBLE_BYTE_SPACE = "\u3000";
textView.append(DOUBLE_BYTE_SPACE);

I use it in my code as follow:

final String DOUBLE_BYTE_SPACE = "\u3000";
AutoResizeTextView textView = (AutoResizeTextView) view.findViewById(R.id.aTextView);
String fixString = "";
if (android.os.Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= android.os.Build.VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB_MR1
   && android.os.Build.VERSION.SDK_INT <= android.os.Build.VERSION_CODES.ICE_CREAM_SANDWICH_MR1) {  
    fixString = DOUBLE_BYTE_SPACE;
}
textView.setText(fixString + "The text" + fixString);

I add this "\u3000" character on left and right of my text, to keep it centered. If you have it aligned to left then append to the right only. Of course it can be also embedded with AutoResizeTextView widget, but I wanted to keep fix code outside.

I wrote a blog post about this.

I created a component called ResizableButton based on Kirill Grouchnikov's blog post about custom components used in the new android market app. I placed the src code here.

On the other hand, mosabua read my post and told me he was going to open source his implementation which was faster than mine. I hope he release it soon enough :)

As a mobile developer, I was sad to find nothing native that supports auto resizing. My searches did not turn up anything that worked for me and in the end, I spent the better half of my weekend and created my own auto resize text view. I will post the code here and hopefully it will be useful for someone else.

This class uses a static layout with the text paint of the original text view to measure the height. From there, I step down by 2 font pixels and remeasure until I have a size that fits. At the end, if the text still does not fit, I append an ellipsis. I had requirements to animate the text and reuse views and this seems to work well on the devices I have and seems to run fast enough for me.

/**
 *               DO WHAT YOU WANT TO PUBLIC LICENSE
 *                    Version 2, December 2004
 * 
 * Copyright (C) 2004 Sam Hocevar <[email protected]>
 * 
 * Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim or modified
 * copies of this license document, and changing it is allowed as long
 * as the name is changed.
 * 
 *            DO WHAT YOU WANT TO PUBLIC LICENSE
 *   TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION
 * 
 *  0. You just DO WHAT YOU WANT TO.
 */

import android.content.Context;
import android.text.Layout.Alignment;
import android.text.StaticLayout;
import android.text.TextPaint;
import android.util.AttributeSet;
import android.util.TypedValue;
import android.widget.TextView;

/**
 * Text view that auto adjusts text size to fit within the view.
 * If the text size equals the minimum text size and still does not
 * fit, append with an ellipsis.
 * 
 * @author Chase Colburn
 * @since Apr 4, 2011
 */
public class AutoResizeTextView extends TextView {

    // Minimum text size for this text view
    public static final float MIN_TEXT_SIZE = 20;

    // Interface for resize notifications
    public interface OnTextResizeListener {
        public void onTextResize(TextView textView, float oldSize, float newSize);
    }

    // Our ellipse string
    private static final String mEllipsis = "...";

    // Registered resize listener
    private OnTextResizeListener mTextResizeListener;

    // Flag for text and/or size changes to force a resize
    private boolean mNeedsResize = false;

    // Text size that is set from code. This acts as a starting point for resizing
    private float mTextSize;

    // Temporary upper bounds on the starting text size
    private float mMaxTextSize = 0;

    // Lower bounds for text size
    private float mMinTextSize = MIN_TEXT_SIZE;

    // Text view line spacing multiplier
    private float mSpacingMult = 1.0f;

    // Text view additional line spacing
    private float mSpacingAdd = 0.0f;

    // Add ellipsis to text that overflows at the smallest text size
    private boolean mAddEllipsis = true;

    // Default constructor override
    public AutoResizeTextView(Context context) {
        this(context, null);
    }

    // Default constructor when inflating from XML file
    public AutoResizeTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
        this(context, attrs, 0);
    }

    // Default constructor override
    public AutoResizeTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) {
        super(context, attrs, defStyle);
        mTextSize = getTextSize();
    }

    /**
     * When text changes, set the force resize flag to true and reset the text size.
     */
    @Override
    protected void onTextChanged(final CharSequence text, final int start, final int before, final int after) {
        mNeedsResize = true;
        // Since this view may be reused, it is good to reset the text size
        resetTextSize();
    }

    /**
     * If the text view size changed, set the force resize flag to true
     */
    @Override
    protected void onSizeChanged(int w, int h, int oldw, int oldh) {
        if (w != oldw || h != oldh) {
            mNeedsResize = true;
        }
    }

    /**
     * Register listener to receive resize notifications
     * @param listener
     */
    public void setOnResizeListener(OnTextResizeListener listener) {
        mTextResizeListener = listener;
    }

    /**
     * Override the set text size to update our internal reference values
     */
    @Override
    public void setTextSize(float size) {
        super.setTextSize(size);
        mTextSize = getTextSize();
    }

    /**
     * Override the set text size to update our internal reference values
     */
    @Override
    public void setTextSize(int unit, float size) {
        super.setTextSize(unit, size);
        mTextSize = getTextSize();
    }

    /**
     * Override the set line spacing to update our internal reference values
     */
    @Override
    public void setLineSpacing(float add, float mult) {
        super.setLineSpacing(add, mult);
        mSpacingMult = mult;
        mSpacingAdd = add;
    }

    /**
     * Set the upper text size limit and invalidate the view
     * @param maxTextSize
     */
    public void setMaxTextSize(float maxTextSize) {
        mMaxTextSize = maxTextSize;
        requestLayout();
        invalidate();
    }

    /**
     * Return upper text size limit
     * @return
     */
    public float getMaxTextSize() {
        return mMaxTextSize;
    }

    /**
     * Set the lower text size limit and invalidate the view
     * @param minTextSize
     */
    public void setMinTextSize(float minTextSize) {
        mMinTextSize = minTextSize;
        requestLayout();
        invalidate();
    }

    /**
     * Return lower text size limit
     * @return
     */
    public float getMinTextSize() {
        return mMinTextSize;
    }

    /**
     * Set flag to add ellipsis to text that overflows at the smallest text size
     * @param addEllipsis
     */
    public void setAddEllipsis(boolean addEllipsis) {
        mAddEllipsis = addEllipsis;
    }

    /**
     * Return flag to add ellipsis to text that overflows at the smallest text size
     * @return
     */
    public boolean getAddEllipsis() {
        return mAddEllipsis;
    }

    /**
     * Reset the text to the original size
     */
    public void resetTextSize() {
        if (mTextSize > 0) {
            super.setTextSize(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_PX, mTextSize);
            mMaxTextSize = mTextSize;
        }
    }

    /**
     * Resize text after measuring
     */
    @Override
    protected void onLayout(boolean changed, int left, int top, int right, int bottom) {
        if (changed || mNeedsResize) {
            int widthLimit = (right - left) - getCompoundPaddingLeft() - getCompoundPaddingRight();
            int heightLimit = (bottom - top) - getCompoundPaddingBottom() - getCompoundPaddingTop();
            resizeText(widthLimit, heightLimit);
        }
        super.onLayout(changed, left, top, right, bottom);
    }

    /**
     * Resize the text size with default width and height
     */
    public void resizeText() {

        int heightLimit = getHeight() - getPaddingBottom() - getPaddingTop();
        int widthLimit = getWidth() - getPaddingLeft() - getPaddingRight();
        resizeText(widthLimit, heightLimit);
    }

    /**
     * Resize the text size with specified width and height
     * @param width
     * @param height
     */
    public void resizeText(int width, int height) {
        CharSequence text = getText();
        // Do not resize if the view does not have dimensions or there is no text
        if (text == null || text.length() == 0 || height <= 0 || width <= 0 || mTextSize == 0) {
            return;
        }

        if (getTransformationMethod() != null) {
            text = getTransformationMethod().getTransformation(text, this);
        }

        // Get the text view's paint object
        TextPaint textPaint = getPaint();

        // Store the current text size
        float oldTextSize = textPaint.getTextSize();
        // If there is a max text size set, use the lesser of that and the default text size
        float targetTextSize = mMaxTextSize > 0 ? Math.min(mTextSize, mMaxTextSize) : mTextSize;

        // Get the required text height
        int textHeight = getTextHeight(text, textPaint, width, targetTextSize);

        // Until we either fit within our text view or we had reached our min text size, incrementally try smaller sizes
        while (textHeight > height && targetTextSize > mMinTextSize) {
            targetTextSize = Math.max(targetTextSize - 2, mMinTextSize);
            textHeight = getTextHeight(text, textPaint, width, targetTextSize);
        }

        // If we had reached our minimum text size and still don't fit, append an ellipsis
        if (mAddEllipsis && targetTextSize == mMinTextSize && textHeight > height) {
            // Draw using a static layout
            // modified: use a copy of TextPaint for measuring
            TextPaint paint = new TextPaint(textPaint);
            // Draw using a static layout
            StaticLayout layout = new StaticLayout(text, paint, width, Alignment.ALIGN_NORMAL, mSpacingMult, mSpacingAdd, false);
            // Check that we have a least one line of rendered text
            if (layout.getLineCount() > 0) {
                // Since the line at the specific vertical position would be cut off,
                // we must trim up to the previous line
                int lastLine = layout.getLineForVertical(height) - 1;
                // If the text would not even fit on a single line, clear it
                if (lastLine < 0) {
                    setText("");
                }
                // Otherwise, trim to the previous line and add an ellipsis
                else {
                    int start = layout.getLineStart(lastLine);
                    int end = layout.getLineEnd(lastLine);
                    float lineWidth = layout.getLineWidth(lastLine);
                    float ellipseWidth = textPaint.measureText(mEllipsis);

                    // Trim characters off until we have enough room to draw the ellipsis
                    while (width < lineWidth + ellipseWidth) {
                        lineWidth = textPaint.measureText(text.subSequence(start, --end + 1).toString());
                    }
                    setText(text.subSequence(0, end) + mEllipsis);
                }
            }
        }

        // Some devices try to auto adjust line spacing, so force default line spacing
        // and invalidate the layout as a side effect
        setTextSize(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_PX, targetTextSize);
        setLineSpacing(mSpacingAdd, mSpacingMult);

        // Notify the listener if registered
        if (mTextResizeListener != null) {
            mTextResizeListener.onTextResize(this, oldTextSize, targetTextSize);
        }

        // Reset force resize flag
        mNeedsResize = false;
    }

    // Set the text size of the text paint object and use a static layout to render text off screen before measuring
    private int getTextHeight(CharSequence source, TextPaint paint, int width, float textSize) {
        // modified: make a copy of the original TextPaint object for measuring
        // (apparently the object gets modified while measuring, see also the
        // docs for TextView.getPaint() (which states to access it read-only)
        TextPaint paintCopy = new TextPaint(paint);
        // Update the text paint object
        paintCopy.setTextSize(textSize);
        // Measure using a static layout
        StaticLayout layout = new StaticLayout(source, paintCopy, width, Alignment.ALIGN_NORMAL, mSpacingMult, mSpacingAdd, true);
        return layout.getHeight();
    }

}

Warning. There is an important fixed bug affecting Android 3.1 - 4.04 causing all AutoResizingTextView widgets not to work. Please read: https://stackoverflow.com/a/21851157/2075875

Actually a solution is in Google's DialogTitle class... though it's not as effective as the accepted one, it's a lot simpler and is easy to adapt.

public class SingleLineTextView extends TextView {

  public SingleLineTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs, int defStyle) {
    super(context, attrs, defStyle);
    setSingleLine();
    setEllipsize(TruncateAt.END);
  }

  public SingleLineTextView(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) {
    super(context, attrs);
    setSingleLine();
    setEllipsize(TruncateAt.END);
  }

  public SingleLineTextView(Context context) {
    super(context);
    setSingleLine();
    setEllipsize(TruncateAt.END);
  }

  @Override
  protected void onMeasure(int widthMeasureSpec, int heightMeasureSpec) {
    super.onMeasure(widthMeasureSpec, heightMeasureSpec);

    final Layout layout = getLayout();
    if (layout != null) {
      final int lineCount = layout.getLineCount();
      if (lineCount > 0) {
        final int ellipsisCount = layout.getEllipsisCount(lineCount - 1);
        if (ellipsisCount > 0) {

          final float textSize = getTextSize();

          // textSize is already expressed in pixels
          setTextSize(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_PX, (textSize - 1));

          super.onMeasure(widthMeasureSpec, heightMeasureSpec);
        }
      }
    }
  }

}

Here's yet another solution, just for kicks. It's probably not very efficient, but it does cope with both height and width of the text, and with marked-up text.

@Override
protected void onMeasure(final int widthMeasureSpec, final int heightMeasureSpec)
{
    if ((MeasureSpec.getMode(widthMeasureSpec) != MeasureSpec.UNSPECIFIED)
            && (MeasureSpec.getMode(heightMeasureSpec) != MeasureSpec.UNSPECIFIED)) {

        final float desiredWidth = MeasureSpec.getSize(widthMeasureSpec);
        final float desiredHeight = MeasureSpec.getSize(heightMeasureSpec);

        float textSize = getTextSize();
        float lastScale = Float.NEGATIVE_INFINITY;
        while (textSize > MINIMUM_AUTO_TEXT_SIZE_PX) {
            // Measure how big the textview would like to be with the current text size.
            super.onMeasure(MeasureSpec.UNSPECIFIED, MeasureSpec.UNSPECIFIED);

            // Calculate how much we'd need to scale it to fit the desired size, and
            // apply that scaling to the text size as an estimate of what we need.
            final float widthScale = desiredWidth / getMeasuredWidth();
            final float heightScale = desiredHeight / getMeasuredHeight();
            final float scale = Math.min(widthScale, heightScale);

            // If we don't need to shrink the text, or we don't seem to be converging, we're done.
            if ((scale >= 1f) || (scale <= lastScale)) {
                break;
            }

            // Shrink the text size and keep trying.
            textSize = Math.max((float) Math.floor(scale * textSize), MINIMUM_AUTO_TEXT_SIZE_PX);
            setTextSize(TypedValue.COMPLEX_UNIT_PX, textSize);
            lastScale = scale;
        }
    }
    super.onMeasure(widthMeasureSpec, heightMeasureSpec);
}