Subtitles not streaming to Apple TV when using airplay

Question

Level 1

23 points

Subtitles not streaming to Apple TV when using airplay

So when I watch videos/movies online with subtitles on my iPad, everything is fine. But as soon as I use the airplay feature, the video and audio go on my television screen perfectly, but the subtitles do not show on the screen like how they normally do on my iPad. Does anyone know the solution to this? I've turned on subtitles by going to settings > General > Accessibility but that didn't do anything. I also held select down but the message i received was "subtitles are not available for this content". Why am I able to see the subtitles when watching the iPad normally but not when using airplay?

Posted on Jul 22, 2016 5:19 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

Diana.McCall

Level 7

21,249 points

Jul 23, 2016 2:05 PM in response to danielM12

Hi,

I don't think you can fix this. When you AirPlay, the video stream identifier is sent to ATV, which connects and plays it. But that stream is just the movie. When you view it in the browser, the CC are being merged into the video by the server. Without a browser on ATV, there's no way to request the CC. Sorry.

Reply

Answer 2

danielM12 Author

Level 1

23 points

Jul 23, 2016 12:43 PM in response to Diana.McCall

I really am not sure but I think you're onto something. Here's an example of a video I tried to watch on my ipad using airplay to my TV: http://fmovies.to/film/inception.zlzm/pr3q69

The subtitles can be turned on and off so they aren't part of the video I guess. Is there no way to make it work how I'd like?

Reply

Answer 3

Jul 23, 2016 11:52 AM in response to danielM12

Are the subtitles part of the video or are you receiving them from a separate file? If it's a separate file, the iPad app is merging them with the video for your display. But AirPlay is just downloading the video stream from the internet, and doesn't know anything about the other file.

Reply

Answer 4

May 25, 2017 2:57 PM in response to danielM12

HI! Old Q I know but the subs are called up on the Apple tv, not the iPad / iPhone. The answer fan be found in the Apple KB. Hold the silver Button down a second or two. Or tap the corresponding area on the new remote.

the ATV does not simply mirror the iOS Units screen when a movie is watched. The server is asked to stream directly to the ATV. So the ATV has to ask for subs. Unfortunately i have not been able to set a preference. Also. Less scrupolous sites for streaming does not have their streaming server set up correctly. 😉

Reply