Roboto was created as Android’s system typeface for Ice Cream Sandwich.
Google introduced Roboto in 2011 with Android 4.0, better known as Ice Cream Sandwich. Christian Robertson designed the family in-house for Google, with a clean sans-serif appearance intended to remain readable across the increasingly varied sizes and resolutions of Android screens.
Roboto replaced Droid Sans as Android’s principal interface typeface. Droid Sans had been designed for the smaller, lower-resolution displays of early Android hardware, while Roboto was built for a newer generation of sharper screens. Its many weights and styles also gave interface designers more flexibility.
A common mix-up is assuming that Noto Sans was Android’s original system font. Noto became important for broader language coverage, while Roboto remained the core Latin interface font. Roboto was substantially redesigned in 2014 for Android 5.0 Lollipop and Material Design.