How to Translate a Video's Subtitles on iPhone

Translated subtitles let people who don't speak your language follow your video. You keep your own voice, and viewers read along in theirs. On an iPhone you can do it in one app: it transcribes what's said, translates it, and you save the video with the new subtitles.

This guide uses CapCap, the iPhone app we make. Translation is included in the free plan.

Step 1: Start a project

Open CapCap, tap New Project and pick the video from Photos.

Step 2: Pick both languages

• Video language is the language spoken in the video.
• Translation language is the language you want the subtitles in.

Under Output mode, choose Captions only. The other option, Translate audio + captions, also replaces the voice with a dubbed one. Dubbing has its own guide.

Step 3: Transcribe

Tap Transcribe now. CapCap transcribes the speech, translates it and times the translated lines to the video.

Step 4: Check the translation

Machine translation handles everyday speech well. It struggles with names, jokes, slang and words that mean something specific in your field. If you know someone who speaks the language, ask them to watch it once. If not, look out for:

• names of people, places and products, which sometimes get translated when they shouldn't;
• lines that run too long to read in the time they're on screen. Shorten them, or drag the caption's edges on the timeline to give them more time.

Tap any sentence to edit it.

Step 5: Export

Tap Export, then Save Video to Photos App to get the video with the translated subtitles drawn in. For YouTube, you can also export the translation as a subtitle file with Export Subtitle (SRT) File. Viewers can then pick it from the subtitles menu. See how to export SRT subtitles for YouTube.

Making more than one language

To make another language version, open the same project and caption it again with a different translation language. Captioning a project again doesn't use up another of your free videos. Export each version before you switch, so you have a separate file for every language.

Translated subtitles or dubbing?

Subtitles keep your real voice and tone, and they're quick to check. Dubbing reaches people who don't want to read, such as younger viewers or anyone watching while doing something else, but a synthetic voice is easier to notice. If you're not sure, start with subtitles and see which languages bring viewers.