Accessibility - hearing and speech
Subtitles and Captioning
Most people call this turning on subtitles and styling them.
Closed captions and subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing can be turned on system wide, with a custom style for size, colour and background.
This setting is present on your iPhone.
- We have this path on file but have not yet confirmed it against an official source.
Where to find it - iOS 13 and later
- Settings
- Accessibility
- Subtitles & Captioning
What it does
Apps that support the system setting show captions automatically. Style lets you create a large, high contrast preset, which is far more readable than the default.
What changes
When it is on
Captions appear automatically where available.
When it is off
You turn captions on per video.
Should you turn it on?
Good reasons to turn it on
- Captions appear without hunting for a control.
- A custom style can be much larger and clearer.
Good reasons to turn it off
- Captions cover part of the picture.
- Not every app respects the system setting.
Battery
No real change
Privacy
No real change
Performance
No real change
Cellular data
No real change
Storage
No real change
Out of the box: Off.
Questions people actually ask
- How do I turn subtitles on for everything?
- Settings, then Accessibility, then Subtitles and Captioning, then Closed Captions and SDH.
If it is not working
- Create a custom style with a solid background for the best readability.
- Live Captions is the separate feature that transcribes audio with no captions of its own.