The YouTube app may not have all the features it should, but sometimes it surprises in a good way. In this case, we'll tell you a trick so you can Watch videos with subtitles without having to open them And also, how to get the most out of subtitle options to watch content without sound, understand other languages, and improve your own experience when uploading videos.
It is very simple, you just have to put your phone on silenceSome phones automatically lower their media volume to 0% when you put them on silent. If this isn't the case, you'll have to manually set the volume to the minimum. YouTube will then automatically indicate which videos have subtitles with a small notification on the thumbnail or at the bottom of the player, so you'll know at a glance which videos you can continue reading without needing to turn the audio on.
An easy and useful trick: silence your mobile phone to detect subtitles
A very useful trick if you want to watch videos without sound because, for example, you've forgotten your headphones and you're in a quiet place. By lowering the media volume to zero, YouTube tries to compensate for the lack of sound by highlighting which videos have audio. subtitles availableThis is especially practical on mobile, where many people consume content in public places or on public transport, without being able to turn up the volume.
Furthermore, this behavior aligns with how many people watch video today: several studies indicate that a very high percentage of users Play videos on your mobile phone without audioSubtitles allow you to follow the content, understand the main message, and even interact with the video (comments, likes, subscriptions) without needing to hear anything.
However, it's not all sunshine and roses, as it tells you if there are subtitles. but not if they are automatically generated or the languageIn case you didn't know, YouTube has an option to automatically generate subtitles based on what it hears. They work pretty well in English, to be honest, but in Spanish they sometimes don't quite work, although they're much better now than they were years ago; the result might not be entirely accurate.
Even so, in most videos you'll be able to follow the content without much trouble, and even, given the context of the sentence, to deduce expressions that have not been perfectedAlways keep in mind that if the subtitles don't have it written on the back that they are automatically generated, they are probably better, since they will have been made by a user, who we assume knows how to do it and is willing to do it well.
On the other hand, there's the issue of language. If your interest, more than subtitles to understand what a video you can't hear is saying, is to understand what a person is saying in another languageThis visual warning from YouTube won't tell you what language the subtitles are in. And it's much harder to find subtitles in a language other than the video's original language, except on large channels or projects with a big community.
Language can be a barrier, but subtitles help a lot.
To find videos with subtitles, you'll usually have to look at videos from channels or YouTubers with a large following, like PewDiePie (the YouTuber with the most subscribers in the world), where fans often subtitle the videos, or channels with professionals behind them, like TED (a channel of talks on various current topics), to name a few examples. On these types of channels, it's common to find... subtitles in various languages, created collaboratively or by professional teams.
YouTube offers automatic subtitles in a huge list of languages: from Spanish, English, French, and German, to less common languages like Lithuanian, Icelandic, and Zulu. If the creator activates this feature, the platform can automatically generate subtitles, and from there, the user can view them. translate them into another language using the player's automatic subtitle translation option.
However, automatic subtitles may not correspond to what is said in the video for several reasons: bad pronunciation, accents, dialects, or background noiseIt's always advisable to review and correct any parts that weren't transcribed correctly if you're the video creator, or to keep these limitations in mind if you're just watching the content.
If your goal is to learn languages or consume foreign content, subtitles allow you to follow videos in languages you don't yet speak fluently. You can activate subtitles in the video's original language and, when available, also enable automatic translation into your language, which is very helpful for better understand vocabulary and expressions.
YouTube subtitles for watching videos without sound: key settings and tricks
If you're interested in finding and getting the most out of videos with subtitles that you can watch silently, in addition to the trick of lowering your phone's volume, you should adjust the global settings of your account and the player. This ensures that Subtitles should be displayed by default whenever they are available. and that the text's appearance is comfortable to read.
Enable subtitles to be displayed on all your YouTube videos
- Go to Account settings.
- Balance Reproduction and performance.
- Check the box Always show subtitles so that the subtitles you upload to the platform always appear.
- Brand Display automatic subtitles using speech recognition (when available) so that the subtitles automatically generated by YouTube are always displayed on videos. The transcript is good but contains errors; it's worth reviewing it or deciding whether it's better to display them despite the typos.
- Click on Save.
Show subtitles when embedding a video
On your website or blog, you can embed videos by specifying the language you want to display in the subtitle code. To do this Go to a YouTube video, tap Share, and then Embed.
You will see a code to embed the video and some options Below for customization. At the end of the URL we need to add some tags to force subtitles:
- rel=0: Disable video suggestions after playback ends.
- hl: sets the language for the video controls.
- is Spanish Language.
- cc_lang_pref: sets the language for the video subtitles.
- cc_load_policy: forces the video to be displayed with subtitles.
- Code to embed YouTube video forcing Spanish subtitles (replace what is marked with XXX with the video code):
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XXXcódigodelvídeoXXX?rel=0&hl=es&cc_lang_pref=es&cc_load_policy=1" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
- Code to embed YouTube video forcing English subtitles (replace what is marked with XXX with the video code):
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XXXcódigodelvídeoXXX?rel=0&hl=en&cc_lang_pref=en&cc_load_policy=1" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
In our example the code isUF8uR6Z6KLc» frameborder=»0″ allow=»autoplay; encrypted-media» allowfullscreen> Therefore, at the end of the URL you we add:
?rel=0&hl=en&cc_lang_pref=en&cc_load_policy=1
In our example the Code forcing Spanish subtitles is
Since that video has many more languages, if you want to embed it In English, you need to add ?rel=0&hl=en&cc_lang_pref=en&cc_load_policy=1 to the end of the URL:
Force subtitles to be displayed when sharing a link
If you've read the previous section, you'll understand that you can add a code to a YouTube link to force playback on the subtitle of your choice. Simply remember that the video code consists of the numbers and letters that appear in the video's URL to the right of the equals sign (=).
- Link forcing Spanish subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/embed/videocode?rel=0&hl=en&cc_lang_pref=en&cc_load_policy=1
In our example: https://www.youtube.com/embed/UF8uR6Z6KLc?&hl=es&cc_lang_pref=es&cc_load_policy=1
- Link forcing English subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/embed/videocode?rel=0&hl=en&cc_lang_pref=en&cc_load_policy=1
In our example: https://www.youtube.com/embed/UF8uR6Z6KLc?&hl=en&cc_lang_pref=en&cc_load_policy=1
This won't work if the video doesn't have subtitles or if you paste the code at the end of the URL of a YouTube video you're watching, because you have to replace watch by embed for the subtitles parameter to take effect.
What did you think of this trick? Did you know him? Do you think YouTube should always display information about whether videos have subtitles?
Watching your phone on silent and relying on subtitles has become a natural way to watch YouTube videos. By knowing this trick and adjusting your subtitle settings, you can Identify at a glance which videos are suitable to watch without soundto better understand other languages and enjoy much more content anywhere and in any situation, without depending on headphones.