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    How to Use Live Captions on iPhone (iOS 16 and Later)

    iPhone's Live Captions display spoken words as on-screen text during calls, videos, and FaceTime — great for anyone hard of hearing.

    5 min read 6 stepsApril 20, 2026Verified April 2026
    1

    Check your iPhone is compatible

    ~20s
    Live Captions requires an iPhone 11 or later running iOS 16 or newer. To check your iOS version, go to Settings, tap General, then "About." Look for the Software Version number — it should start with 16 or higher. If your version is lower, go to Settings > General > Software Update and install the latest available update.
    2

    Turn on Live Captions in Accessibility settings

    ~24s
    Go to Settings and tap Accessibility. Scroll down to the "Hearing" section and tap "Live Captions (Beta)." Toggle Live Captions on. The first time you enable it, your iPhone may download a small language file to support the on-device transcription.

    Quick Tip

    In the same Live Captions settings screen, you can increase the caption text size using the font size slider — helpful if the default text is too small to read comfortably.

    3

    Use Live Captions during a phone call

    ~21s
    When you answer or make a phone call, the Live Captions bar appears automatically at the top of your screen. It shows what the other person is saying as they speak. Your own voice is not captioned. The bar remains on screen for the duration of the call — you can tap anywhere else on the screen and it stays visible.
    4

    Use Live Captions during FaceTime

    ~15s
    Start a FaceTime call as you normally would. The caption bar appears automatically. During group FaceTime calls, captions display for all participants — a small label above the caption text shows whose words are being transcribed when multiple people are speaking.
    5

    Use Live Captions with other apps and videos

    ~24s
    Live Captions works with any app that plays audio — YouTube, Netflix, Zoom, podcast apps, Instagram videos, and more. As long as the feature is enabled, the caption bar appears any time speech is detected. You do not need to do anything different inside each app.

    Quick Tip

    If you want to temporarily pause captions without turning the feature off, tap the pause button on the caption bar. Tap it again to resume.

    6

    Move and resize the caption bar

    ~27s
    Press and hold the caption bar and drag it to a different position on your screen — top or bottom. Tap the expand icon (an arrow in the corner of the bar) to make the caption area taller so more text is visible at once. The bar can be repositioned as often as you like.

    Quick Tip

    Live Captions is also available on Mac (macOS 13 Ventura or later) through System Settings > Accessibility > Live Captions, and on Apple TV through the Accessibility settings.

    You Did It!

    You've completed: How to Use Live Captions on iPhone (iOS 16 and Later)

    Need more help? Get Expert Help from a TekSure Tech

    Live Captions is an accessibility feature Apple introduced in iOS 16 that displays spoken audio as text on your iPhone screen in real time. It works during phone calls, FaceTime, videos, and third-party apps like Zoom or YouTube. The captions appear automatically at the top or bottom of your screen as speech happens — no typing or interaction required.

    To use Live Captions, you need an iPhone 11 or later running iOS 16 or newer. The feature uses on-device processing, meaning the transcription happens entirely on your phone and your audio is never sent to Apple's servers. This makes it both fast and private.

    You turn on Live Captions through the Accessibility settings. Go to Settings, tap Accessibility, scroll down to the "Hearing" section, and tap "Live Captions." Toggle it on. Once enabled, a floating caption bar appears at the top of your screen whenever audio with speech is playing.

    During a phone call, the captions appear automatically and show what the other person is saying. The transcription is not perfect — accents, fast speech, and background noise can reduce accuracy — but it captures the gist of a conversation well enough to follow along even if you miss some words. Your own voice is not captioned.

    FaceTime also benefits from Live Captions. When you are in a FaceTime video call, the caption bar shows the spoken words from the other participants. If you are on a group FaceTime call, captions appear for all speakers.

    For videos and apps, Live Captions captures any audio playing on your phone. This includes YouTube, Netflix, podcasts, news apps, social media videos, and voice messages.

    You can move the caption bar by pressing and holding it and dragging it to any position on your screen. Tap the expand icon to make the text area larger. A font size slider in the Live Captions settings lets you make the captions bigger if the default size is hard to read.

    Live Captions is also available on Mac (macOS 13 Ventura or later) and on Apple TV — you can enable it through the Accessibility settings on each device.

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    Official Resources

    GCFGlobal — Free Digital SkillsAARP Technology TipsSenior Planet

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    How to Use Live Captions on iPhone (iOS 16 and Later) — Step-by-Step Guide | TekSure