Twitter launches automatic subtitles for videos: how they work

Through a tweet, Twitter has announced the introduction of automatic subtitles for videos on Android, iOS and web: here's how they work and how to use them

After Jack Dorsey's farewell, Twitter has decided to relaunch itself even before the start of the new year, through the introduction of some exclusive features, which make browsing on the platform much more pleasant and comfortable. The social network has certainly drawn inspiration from rivals for many of them, let's be clear, but the effort is still appreciable.

You'll remember, in fact, the announced changes to the format of the "Explore" section in TikTok style, with a vertical (and full-screen) organization of content on the smartphone app. Also on the launch pad are a button to rate tweets negatively and the ability to upload longer videos. Although it will still take some time to see it through, in the meantime we can console ourselves with reactions and automatic subtitles to videos, a feature long awaited by fans of the platform. Unfortunately, there are some limitations, but they will be easily solved with subsequent updates.

Twitter: automatic subtitles arrive

According to a tweet, automatic subtitles will be available in over 30 languages and will appear only in the original language of the movie. There will be no translation, therefore. To announce the news, Twitter used a cute GIF in which a white cat, just using subtitles, introduces the feature. The kitty then states "it's about time, right?". The short clip concludes with a nice exhortation to cinemas to also include subtitles at the bottom of movies.

As far as software platforms are concerned, automatic subtitles will make their debut on Android, iOS and also on Twitter from web browsers. In the first two cases, they'll be automatically active when the video is silent, while from the browser you'll be able to make use of the appropriate CC button, present within the playback pane, to activate or deactivate them manually.

Twitter: when automatic subtitles arrive

As confirmed by Twitter Support's tweet, automatic subtitles are already available for videos uploaded starting December 15, while older ones won't be able to benefit from them. A cumbersome, but surely effective, solution could be to remove them and re-upload them on the platform, thus taking advantage of a feature that we have been waiting for a long time on this social network.

Unfortunately, there will be no possibility of translation in one's own language, as it is possible to do on YouTube, but it cannot be excluded that further future updates will bring with them this option, which is particularly useful to break down language barriers.