Learn how to use the built-in Apple Live Captions feature to get close to real-time transcription of any audio or video that’s playing in any app on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
Popular video streaming services offer subtitles for most of their content, and so do music services like Apple Music and Spotify.
But if you’re watching a movie, TV show, video, Instagram Reel, YouTube Shorts, or listening to a song, podcast, voice clip, or anything similar that doesn’t have subtitles but you need them, Apple has you covered.
Initially offered for transcribing FaceTime calls, you can now use Live Captions for pretty much anything, and we’ll show you how to use it to get subtitles for video and audio content on your Apple device.
And the best part is that it works offline, with transcription happening right on the device!
See subtitles for all video and audio on iPhone
1) Open the iOS Settings app and tap Accessibility.
2) Scroll down and tap Live Captions.
3) Make sure the Current Language is correct. Then, turn on the Live Captions switch at the top. And you’ll see a caption box on the screen; ignore it for now.
4) Next, open a video or audio app and play something.
5) Then, tap the Microphone source button in the Live Captions box and set it to iPhone Audio or iPad Audio. This will ensure Live Captions picks up the internal sound rather than what’s playing around you. As the video or audio plays, its subtitles will show in the Live Captions box.
When you’re using Live Captions
Expand: Tap the dual arrow icon to make the Live Captions box bigger and see more text on the screen.
Hide the box: Tap the arrow (<) icon to tuck the box to one of the sides. This means you won’t be able to see the subtitles on the screen.
Pause: If you want to temporarily suspend the Live Captions feature, tap the source button and select Pause Listening.
Clear the screen: Expand the Live Captions box, then tap the three dots icon to clear all the text from the screen.
Turn off Live Captions: Disable it from the Settings app or add the Live Captions button to iOS Control Center and toggle it easily from there.
Accuracy of Live Captions
Live Captions won’t be as accurate as an actual movie subtitle or song lyric. And it may mistype names and proper nouns. But overall, it’s pretty okay considering the processing happens right on your device without Wi-Fi or cellular data.
Note there may be a slight delay, which could affect the overall movie viewing experience.
Customize how the text looks
Just like customizing how actual subtitles look, you can also tweak the appearance of Live Captions. Return to iOS Settings > Accessibility > Live Captions > Appearance to make the text bold and change the text size, text color, background color, and idle opacity.
Use Live Captions on Mac
Similar to iOS, you can use Live Captions on your Mac when watching videos or listening to music. Go to System Settings > Accessibility > Live Captions and turn it on.
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