text-vertical

  
TODO
Latest Update Stable Release Release Candidate Beta Release Alpha Release
September 23, 2026 - - 1.0.0-beta02 -

Declaring dependencies

To add a dependency on Text, you must add the Google Maven repository to your project. Read Google's Maven repository for more information.

Add the dependencies for the artifacts you need in the build.gradle file for your app or module:

Groovy

dependencies {
    implementation "androidx.text:text-vertical:1.0.0-beta02"
}

Kotlin

dependencies {
    implementation("androidx.text:text-vertical:1.0.0-beta02")
}

For more information about dependencies, see Add build dependencies.

Feedback

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Create a new issue

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Text-Vertical

Version 1.0

Version 1.0.0-beta02

September 23, 2026

androidx.text:text-vertical:1.0.0-beta02 and androidx.text:text-vertical-compose:1.0.0-beta02 are released. Version 1.0.0-beta02 contains these commits.

Important Changes

  • We have added test cases to ensure backward compatibility down to API 24 (Android 7.0), and the results have been highly positive!
  • The libraries now target Kotlin 2.2 and require kotlinc 2.2 (I82396, b/498369605)
  • The vertical text libraries now compile against SDK 37. Apps that use them must compile against SDK 37 and use AGP 9.1.0 or later. (I0f757, b/562182206)

Bug Fixes

  • EmphasisSpan.position now moves the emphasis mark. AnnotationPosition.Before puts the mark above horizontal text and right of vertical text. AnnotationPosition.After puts it on the opposite side. (Ic9bfd, b/559972132)
  • Fixed the emphasis mark scale in horizontal text layout. The reserved line height no longer assumes an unscaled mark. (I6d7fe, b/562254557)
  • Fixed the backport for vertical text advances. The backport ignored the requested offset on API levels less than 34. (I8877a, b/495457561)
  • Fixed horizontal ruby text reserving too much vertical space on API levels below 28, which could leave a line taller than necessary. (Iceb60, b/561323466)
  • The tests for vertical ruby and text orientation now run on all supported API levels. (If07d4, b/495457561)
  • androidx.lifecycle:lifecycle-runtime dependency was updated to 2.10.0. This version is required for bundled lifecycle runtime lint checks to run with AGP version 9.5.0-alpha04 or later. (I7264b, b/556807521)
  • Fixed RubySpan.position being ignored in horizontal text layout. AnnotationPosition.After now correctly renders ruby text below the base text. (Iaffa1, b/559972124, b/561323466)
  • Fixed RubySpan.position being ignored in vertical text layout. AnnotationPosition.After now correctly renders ruby text on the left side of the base text. (I0be1c, b/495457561)
  • Upgrade Compose dependencies to 1.11.4 (I9ef07, b/536925341)

Version 1.0.0-beta01

August 26, 2026

androidx.text:text-vertical:1.0.0-beta01 and androidx.text:text-vertical-compose:1.0.0-beta01 are released. Version 1.0.0-beta01 contains these commits.

API Changes

  • Changed VerticalTextScope from an interface to a concrete class. (I44e71, b/549288808)

Bug Fixes

  • Updated documentation for combineUpright. (Ib534b, b/548992014)
  • Removed incorrect API 36 minimum requirement documentation from VerticalText. (I4f8e9, b/549288799)
  • Used calculated ascent ratio for vertical baseline offset in backport mode (07339d7, b/502088091)

Version 1.0.0-alpha06

July 29, 2026

androidx.text:text-vertical:1.0.0-alpha06 and androidx.text:text-vertical-compose:1.0.0-alpha06 are released. Version 1.0.0-alpha06 contains these commits.

Important Changes

  • This release marks the final planned alpha version of the library.
  • Finalized and refined the parameters in the VerticalText composable

API Changes

  • Introduced VerticalTextStyle for vertical text layout. (I647a8, b/512424512)
  • Introduced a new public DSL (VerticalTextScope and buildVerticalText) in the text-vertical-compose library (I6faa7, b/502088091)
  • Introduce VerticalText composable (I96509, b/502088091)

Bug Fixes

  • Clarified documentation for VerticalTextLayout fallback behavior on older API levels. (Ia7ccc, b/449184326)

There are no release notes for this artifact.

Text Vertical Version 1.0

Version 1.0.0-alpha05

April 22, 2026

androidx.text:text-vertical:1.0.0-alpha05 and androidx.text:text-vertical-compose:1.0.0-alpha05 are released. Version 1.0.0-alpha05 contains these commits.

New Features

  • Added Composable functions to support vertical text layout, aligning with Google's Compose-first initiative.

API Changes

  • Introduced :text:text-vertical-compose library artifact. (I939e4)
  • Added lineCount property to VerticalTextLayout class. (I93884, b/502088091)

Bug Fixes

Version 1.0.0-alpha04

April 08, 2026

androidx.text:text-vertical:1.0.0-alpha04 is released. Version 1.0.0-alpha04 contains these commits.

New Features

  • Refactored all public classes to provide more convenient, idiomatic Kotlin APIs for general usage, while maintaining strong Java interoperability.

API Changes

  • Added a default zero-argument constructor to FontShearSpan for Java compatibility (I73065, b/493692287).
  • Removed the Parcelable implementation in RubySpan and EmphasisSpan (I49884, b/493693386).
  • Refactored EmphasisSpan for better compatibility (I34c40, b/493693310).
  • Refactored AnnotationPosition to improve API surface (I10dce, b/493693386).
  • Converted TextOrientation to an enum class, refactored AnnotationPosition to a sealed class, and removed RubySpan.Builder (Ib4a77, b/493693386).
  • Added the AnnotationPosition enum and refactored the RubySpan class (Ibfcff, b/493692426).
  • Refactored TextOrientation for general usage and improved internal text scaling extensions (I82152, b/493692428).

Version 1.0.0-alpha03

March 25, 2026

androidx.text:text-vertical:1.0.0-alpha03 is released. Version 1.0.0-alpha03 contains these commits.

New Features

  • VerticalTextLayout now supports the horizontal layout, to display special spans in Japanese such as Ruby and Emphasis (Boten).

API Changes

Version 1.0.0-alpha02

October 08, 2025

androidx.text:text-vertical:1.0.0-alpha02 is released. Version 1.0.0-alpha02 contains these commits.

New Features

  • Added VerticalTextLayout#isVerticalTextLayoutSupported() method to check capability of vertical text (Ie2802, b/442608654)

API Changes

Version 1.0.0-alpha01

August 27, 2025

androidx.text:text-vertical:1.0.0-alpha01 is released. Version 1.0.0-alpha01 contains these commits.

New Features

  • A new vertical text library to support vertical text layout mainly for Japanese, by leveraging the new VERTICAL_TEXT_FLAG flag added in Android 16.
  • Added VerticalTextLayout that displayed vertical text with proper line breaks, mixed orientation (e.g., horizontal Latin characters within a vertical line), and ruby text. (8b3a10)
  • Added FontShearSpan for italic-like style in vertical text. (1ffd78)
  • Added EmphasisRun for emphasis marks. (fe12d9)