Apple TV app for Android Gains support for Enhanced Caption Behaviors in new Update
Abner Li reported for 9to5 Google today about the recently-released Apple TV app for Android getting an update to version 1.1, which brings with it a couple clearly newsworthy features relevant to accessibility. To wit, Apple has added support for subtitles captions to automatically appear on screen when the TV’s volume is either muted or turned all the way down, as well as when a user rewinds playback 30 seconds.
As Li writes, both features have been stalwarts on Apple’s tvOS platform for years.
How this seemingly mundane app update is pertinent to accessibility manifests in two ways. First, that captioning shows up when the device’s volume is off makes perfect sense in an accessibility context. Without them, dialogue or music would be inaccessible. Likewise, the same effect when skipping back 30 seconds—a feature Li rightly notes is damned clever—makes dialogue accessible insofar as perhaps someone’s hearing, for example, couldn’t pick up on someone’s accent and/or whisper the first time through a scene. Put together, both pieces of functionality act as de-facto accessibility features: not expressly designed for disabled people, but nevertheless an accessibility aid to anyone who needs, in this case, captions for whatever reason(s).
Lastly, here’s another primer on the (albeit subtle yet meaningful) difference between captions. It’s a topic I’ve brought up before because, admittedly, it’s like nails on a chalkboard for me whenever I see the terms being used interchangeably. In the simplest terms, captions are for disability, whereas subtitles are for language. Captions make the spoken word accessible to those who are Deaf and/or hard-of-hearing; subtitles, on the other hand, make foreign languages more accessible to non-speakers. While it’s undoubtedly true both features do effectively the same job—flash words on the screen in an effort to maximize comprehension—the truth is they both are bespoke concepts that exist for different reasons. You may think I’m being a pesky-ass pedant, and maybe I am to some degree, but bear with me. Take CODA on Apple TV+ for instance. The entirety of the movie is subtitled under the rightful assumption not everyone who watches it speaks American Sign Language. Thus, the subtitles exist to accommodate for the “disability” of not speaking ASL. As a real-life CODA myself, I’ve watched the film many times and never need the subtitles because I can speak fluent ASL. I’m a rare breed, but therein lies the distinction. Captions help those who can’t hear, whereas subtitles help those who didn’t grow up using ASL as their native tongue.
Apple announced the Apple TV app (finally) arriving on Android back in February.
