Attributed String UILabel text is shrunken

Question

I am writing an app that requires labels w/ musical accidental symbols, called sharp and flat (♯ and ♭, respectively). Specifically, I need a label that says c♯. It is irrelevant to the question what these two symbols mean within a musical context. My app's main font is Open Sans. However, because Open Sans doesn't specify a character for the sharp and flat symbols, it uses a generic sharp and flat symbol that I find unattractive. However, I know that Helvetica Neue (or the iOS system font) has some well made symbols for sharp and flat, so I decided to change the label's text to an attributed string so I could make the c Open Sans, and the ♯ Helvetica Neue (both size 24). I did this through the interface builder. Even though everything looks exactly the way I want in the storyboard, when I launch it in the iOS Simulator, the labels with attributed strings are significantly shrunken from the other labels. I should note that the label has 3 AutoLayout constraints, though these contrasts are positionally related only, not size related.

Things I have tried (unsuccessfuly):

• Using only one font
• Doubling the font size (was too big)
• Removing autolayout constraints

I would greatly appreciate it if someone could explain how to correctly create these labels. I am happy to provide any more information that is needed.

Thank you

Answer 1

I discovered that the problem is that NSAttributedString does not (yet) support custom fonts through Interface builder. It looks like I will have to subclass. This question essentially boils down to be the same as this one: Attributed string with custom fonts in storyboard does not load correctly