How to Find and Use Live Captions on Apple iphones

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How to Find and Use Hearing Help Apps on Apple iPhones

Live Captions

Voice to Text

Voice->Text of nearby voices or

Voice on other end of tel call

Live Captions is built-in (on your iPhone when you get it) if iPhone 11 or later, so you don’t have to download it

To turn it on, click on settings on your apps screen

If you don’t see the icon for Settings when you open your iPhone, scroll right by swiping left to look for more apps

Look for Accessibility option on settings screen. If you don't see it, scroll down until you see it.

When you find Accessibility, click on it.

Look for Hearing section with about 7 apps under it.

If you don’t see it on the first accessibility screen, scroll down until you find it.
See screen at right.à

Click on Live Captions.

Live Captions ßopening screen

Appearance gives you options to bold text, control text size and color and background color. Click on Appearance to get options; see Appearance screen on right. 

Click on Text Size.

Text Size

Text size gives you a slider at screen bottom to control the text size, from smaller on the left to larger on the right.

Try moving the slider along the scale.

Bold Text option

Click on On to bold the text.

Microphone Permission

If the app asks for permission to use your microphone, say yes.

To Start Captioning

If you see this button on your screen, click on it to start the captioning process.

Captioning in small window

Captioning may show in a small window. If you want to see the text in full screen, click on the diagonal two-way arrow.

Full Screen Display ßof Captions

If you want to return the captioning to the small window, click on the diagonal arrows pointing toward each other.

If you want to pause the captioning, click on the pause icon.

The microphone symbol indicates you have given the app permission to use the microphone, and that is its input, so what ever the microphone hears, it will show as text.

Voice to text on iPhoneple iPhone

Live Captions works to provide voice to text during phone calls

To Caption a Telephone Call

Turn on Live Caption.

Go back until you leave Live Caption (Live Caption will stay on)

Make your telephone call.

The text of the voice of your call partner should appear.

Live Captions vs Live Transcribe on iPhone

Live Captions

Voice to text of nearby conversations

Shows only recent few words, like TV captions

Works with all apps on iphone

Works during tel calls

Built in on iPhones

Free

Live Transcribe

Voice to text of nearby conversations

Shows text of voices for 24 hours to 3 days,

Text is retrievable to edit, print, publish, etc., like a transcript

Doesn’t work with all apps on iphone

Doesn’t work during tel calls; use separate app for that, e.g., Innocaption

Not free, except for 3-day trial, then $9.99/mo or $79.99/yr

Downloading an App on iPhone

SoundPrint is not built into your iPhone, therefore, you have to download it.

On your home screen, or where your apps are shown, look for the App Store or the Apple Store.

Click on it. 

Search for an App in App Store

If Search appears at the top, you can enter the app name you are looking for in the dialog box with the magnifying glass, below the term Search.

If the term Search does not appear at the top of your screen, click on the Search icon at the bottom.

This is what you get when the search function finds your app.

Download the App

Some info on the app is displayed, such as ratings, age, category, developer, the app’s logo, if any, and maybe some illustrations. Sometimes cost information is provided or it says that it’s free.

To download the app on to your iPhone, click on Get.

Click on Install.

Click on Open.

Find that quiet restaurant

Go to SoundPrint to find quiet restaurants, bars, other places locally or anywhere

Download the SoundPrint app to your cell phone

Measure sound level at places you go with cell app

Submit measurement to web-based national database so others can find it.

Soundprint Search Function

Shows a Map with decibel readings

SoundPrint – Find that quiet restaurant

Quiet: 70 dBA or below Safe for hearing, great for conversation

Moderate: 70 - 75 dBASafe for hearing, conducive to conversation

Loud: 75 - 80 dBALikely safe for hearing, difficult for conversation

VERY LOUD: 80 dBA or aboveNot safe for hearing, exposure can cause hearing loss

How to Do a Soundcheck

Click on SoundCheck at bottom of screen

Click on Start

Timer will start at 15 seconds and countdown to 0.

Hold phone about a foot above table

Don’t talk during sound check

You can submit sound check to national database if you want, but not required.

Microphone Use Permission

Allow SoundPrint to access the microphone, if you want to take a sound level reading.

Sound Level Display

What cell phones have a decibel meter built-in? 

SoundPrint is available via the iPhone and an Android version.  Note that some select Android devices have an objective decibel meter (currently, the main flagship Samsung models) while other Android models (i.e. Pixel, LG, Motorola, Nokia), at least for now, do not. 

Samsung Phones that have an objective decibel meter are: S8, S8+, S9, S9+, S10, S10+, S10 Lite, S20, S20+, S20 Ultra, S21, S21+, S21 Ultra, S22, S22+, S22 Ultra, S23, S23+, S23 Ultra. This only applies to smartphones, not the "Samsung Note Tablets."

For the Android models that do not have an objective decibel meter (the non-Samsung flagship models), there is a subjective input SoundCheck where the user subjectively determines whether a venue is Quiet, Moderate, Loud or Very Loud.

ALDA Delaware Valley NJ, aka The Time to Hear is Here sm Ron Gottardi, ron@ALDAdelval.org, tel: 856-608-7984, website: ALDAdelval.org © 2024, 2026 Ron Gottardi

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