The Problem with Traditional Font Management
- Recurrent Network Requests: Without proper font caching, the browser could repeatedly request fonts each time a page loads.
- Flash of invisible text (FOIT): Delays can cause the text to appear late.
- Flash of unstyled text (FOUT): Fallback fonts may initially display before switching to the web font.
- Manual Configuration Complexity: Developers had to manually configure CSS properties like font-display.
- Inefficient Format and Resource Usage: Browsers might download larger or outdated font formats.
How to Implement Next.js Fonts?
next/font offers two key advantages:
Additionally, next/font supports all Google Fonts with performance and privacy in mind. Font and CSS files are downloaded at build time and self-hosted.
import { Inter } from 'next/font/google';
const inter = Inter({
subsets: ['latin'],
display: 'swap',
});
export const RootLayout = ({ children }) => {
return (
{children}
);
};
WARNING: Load each font only once (as a singleton). Loading the same font across multiple files can result in multiple instances being hosted.
Using Variable Fonts
Variable Fonts eliminate the need for multiple files for different styles and weights. A single file can significantly reduce overall size. Benefits:
- Multiple styles in one file reduces bandwidth usage
- Better caching since only one file
- Helps with FOUT as different styles load simultaneously
- Complete control over typography (any weight, optical size)
Keypoints
- Layout Stability: next/font prevents flickering and layout shifts.
- Efficient Loading: Bundles fonts directly with applications.
- Self-Hosting: Downloads and serves Google Fonts locally.
- Simplified API: Easy-to-use API for font management.
