How to Turn on encoded Subtitles on different Devices

Display of encoded subtitles is supported by many mp4 players, including the iOS devices, AppleTV, iTunes, QuickTime, JW Player, Flow Player, VLC, RealPlayer, and many others. In this article we're going to show you how to turn on subtitles on some of these players.

QuickTime:

Note for Windows users: the QuickTime player on Windows requires subtitled outputs to have the .m4v extension. So, to watch encoded videos with subtitles on QuickTime, you need to change the extension of the file, e.g., Bio_1.mp4 -> Bio_1.m4v

If subtitles are not on by default, go to the View menu, click on Subtitles and choose English (or the name of the language your subtitles track is on). This is valid for QuickTime on both Windows and Mac:

If you want to make the subtitles show by the default, then go to the Edit menu, choose Preferences and click on Player Preferences. On the General tab, check the Show closed captioning when available and the Show subtitles when available boxes. Then click Apply. Next time you open QuickTime, you should be able to see captions or subtitles automatically.

If you have QuickTime Pro, you can change the location and the appearance of the subtitles.

iTunes:

If subtitles are not on by default, click on the Caption bubble, next click on Subtitles and choose English (or the name of the language your subtitles track is on):

iOS devices (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch):

If subtitles are not on by default, click on the Caption bubble, next click on Subtitles and choose English (or the name of the language your subtitles track is on):

Apple TV:

Press and hold the Select button (the center of the circular control) on your remote, navigate to the Subtitles tab and select English (or the name of the language your subtitles track is on):

VLC:

Go to the Subtitles menu, click on Sub Track and choose English (or the name of the language your subtitles track is on):

If you want to make the subtitles show by the default, then go to the Tools menu, choose Preferences and click on Subtitles & OSD. On the Subtitles Language tab, next to Preferred subtitles language, write the name of language you want to make default. E.g., if you usually display English subtitles, then write English. Then click Save. Next time you open VLC, you should be able to see subtitles automatically.

VLC allows you to change the location and the appearance of subtitles.