SpannableString word = new SpannableString("The quick fox jumps over the lazy dog");  

SpannableStringBuilder multiWord = new SpannableStringBuilder();

multiWord.append("The Quick Fox");

multiWord.append("jumps over");

multiWord.append("the lazy dog");  

1. /**
2. * Set the style span to Spannable, such as SpannableString or SpannableStringBuilder
3. * @param what --- the style span, such as StyleSpan
4. * @param start --- the starting index of characters to which the style span to apply
5. * @param end --- the ending index of characters to which the style span to apply
6. * @param flags --- the flag specified to control
7. */
8. setSpan(Object what, int start, int end, int flags);

package com.android.effective;  

import java.util.regex.Matcher;  

import java.util.regex.Pattern;  

import android.app.Activity;  

import android.graphics.Color;  

import android.graphics.Typeface;  

import android.os.Bundle;  

import android.text.Spannable;  

import android.text.SpannableString;  

import android.text.SpannableStringBuilder;  

import android.text.style.AbsoluteSizeSpan;  

import android.text.style.BackgroundColorSpan;  

import android.text.style.ForegroundColorSpan;  

import android.text.style.QuoteSpan;  

import android.text.style.RelativeSizeSpan;  

import android.text.style.ScaleXSpan;  

import android.text.style.StrikethroughSpan;  

import android.text.style.StyleSpan;  

import android.text.style.TypefaceSpan;  

import android.text.style.URLSpan;  

import android.text.util.Linkify;  

import android.widget.TextView;  

public class TextViewFontActivity extends Activity {  

    @Override  

    public void onCreate(Bundle bundle) {  

        super.onCreate(bundle);  

        setContentView(R.layout.textview_font_1);  

        // Demonstration of basic SpannableString and spans usage  

        final TextView textWithString = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.text_view_font_1);  

        String w = "The quick fox jumps over the lazy dog";  

        int start = w.indexOf('q');  

        int end = w.indexOf('k') + 1;  

        Spannable word = new SpannableString(w);  

        word.setSpan(new AbsoluteSizeSpan(22), start, end,   

                Spannable.SPAN_INCLUSIVE_INCLUSIVE);  

        word.setSpan(new StyleSpan(Typeface.BOLD), start, end,   

                Spannable.SPAN_INCLUSIVE_INCLUSIVE);  

        word.setSpan(new BackgroundColorSpan(Color.RED), start, end,   

                Spannable.SPAN_INCLUSIVE_INCLUSIVE);  

        textWithString.setText(word);  

        // Demonstration of basic SpannableStringBuilder and spans usage  

        final TextView textWithBuilder = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.text_view_font_2);  

        SpannableStringBuilder word2 = new SpannableStringBuilder();  

        final String one = "Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better!";  

        final String two = "The quick fox jumps over the lazy dog!";  

        final String three = "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with " +  

                "the blood of patroits and tyrants!";  

        word2.append(one);  

        start = 0;  

        end = one.length();  

        word2.setSpan(new StyleSpan(Typeface.BOLD_ITALIC), start, end, Spannable.SPAN_EXCLUSIVE_EXCLUSIVE);  

        word2.append(two);  

        start = end;  

        end += two.length();  

        word2.setSpan(new ForegroundColorSpan(Color.CYAN), start, end,   

                Spannable.SPAN_EXCLUSIVE_EXCLUSIVE);  

        word2.append(three);  

        start = end;  

        end += three.length();  

        word2.setSpan(new URLSpan(three), start, end, Spannable.SPAN_EXCLUSIVE_EXCLUSIVE);  

        textWithBuilder.setText(word2);  

        // Troubleshooting when using SpannableStringBuilder  

        final TextView textTroubles = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.text_view_font_3);  

        SpannableStringBuilder word3 = new SpannableStringBuilder();  

        start = 0;  

        end = one.length();  

        // Caution: must first append or set text to SpannableStringBuilder or SpannableString  

        // then set the spans to them, otherwise, IndexOutOfBoundException is thrown when setting spans  

        word3.append(one);  

        // For AbsoluteSizeSpan, the flag must be set to 0, otherwise, it will apply this span to until end of text  

        word3.setSpan(new AbsoluteSizeSpan(22), start, end, 0);//Spannable.SPAN_INCLUSIVE_INCLUSIVE);  

        // For BackgroundColorSpanSpan, the flag must be set to 0, otherwise, it will apply this span to end of text  

        word3.setSpan(new BackgroundColorSpan(Color.DKGRAY), start, end, 0); //Spannable.SPAN_INCLUSIVE_INCLUSIVE);  

        word3.append(two);  

        start = end;  

        end += two.length();  

        word3.setSpan(new TypefaceSpan("sans-serif"), start, end,   

                Spannable.SPAN_INCLUSIVE_INCLUSIVE);  

        // TODO: sometimes, flag must be set to 0, otherwise it will apply the span to until end of text  

        // which MIGHT has nothing to do with specific span type.  

        word3.setSpan(new StyleSpan(Typeface.BOLD_ITALIC), start, end, 0);//Spannable.SPAN_INCLUSIVE_INCLUSIVE);  

        word3.setSpan(new ScaleXSpan(0.618f), start, end, Spannable.SPAN_INCLUSIVE_INCLUSIVE);  

        word3.setSpan(new StrikethroughSpan(), start, end, 0);//Spannable.SPAN_INCLUSIVE_INCLUSIVE);  

        word3.setSpan(new ForegroundColorSpan(Color.CYAN), start, end, Spannable.SPAN_INCLUSIVE_INCLUSIVE);  

        word3.setSpan(new QuoteSpan(), start, end, 0); //Spannable.SPAN_INCLUSIVE_INCLUSIVE);  

        word3.append(three);  

        start = end;  

        end += three.length();  

        word3.setSpan(new RelativeSizeSpan((float) Math.E), start, end, Spannable.SPAN_INCLUSIVE_INCLUSIVE);  

        word3.setSpan(new ForegroundColorSpan(Color.BLUE), start, end, Spannable.SPAN_INCLUSIVE_INCLUSIVE);  

        textTroubles.setText(word3);  

        // Highlight some patterns  

        final String four = "The gap between the best software engineering " +  

                "practice and the average practice is very wide¡ªperhaps wider " +  

                " than in any other engineering discipline. A tool that disseminates " +  

                "good practice would be important.¡ªFred *s";  

        final Pattern highlight = Pattern.compile("the");  

        final TextView textHighlight = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.text_view_font_4);  

        SpannableString word4 = new SpannableString(four);  

        Matcher m = highlight.matcher(word4.toString());  

        while (m.find()) {  

            word4.setSpan(new StyleSpan(Typeface.BOLD_ITALIC), m.start(), m.end(),   

                    Spannable.SPAN_INCLUSIVE_INCLUSIVE);  

            word4.setSpan(new ForegroundColorSpan(Color.RED), m.start(), m.end(),   

                    Spannable.SPAN_INCLUSIVE_INCLUSIVE);  

            word4.setSpan(new StrikethroughSpan(), m.start(), m.end(),   

                    Spannable.SPAN_INCLUSIVE_INCLUSIVE);  

        }  

        textHighlight.setText(word4);  

        // Set numbers, URLs and E-mail address to be clickable with TextView#setAutoLinkMask  

        final TextView textClickable = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.text_view_font_5);    

        final String contact = "Email: mvp@microsoft.com\n" +  

                "Phone: +47-24885883\n" +  

                "Fax: +47-24885883\n" +  

                "HTTP: www.microsoft.com/mvp.asp";  

        // Set the attribute first, then set the text. Otherwise, it won't work  

        textClickable.setAutoLinkMask(Linkify.ALL); // or set 'android:autoLink' in layout xml  

        textClickable.setText(contact);

    }

}