Guide
How to add captions to an event recap, party or birthday video on iPhone
Updated
To add captions to an event recap, party or birthday highlight video on iPhone, put your clips together into one video with a voiceover or a short spoken recap, open it in CaptionAddr, let it transcribe the English speech on the iPhone, delete stray words from music and background chatter in Edit Captions, place the captions clear of faces and export a captioned copy to Photos. Videos up to 2 minutes are free; CaptionAddr Pro covers up to 30 minutes.
Why caption event recap videos
Recap and highlight videos, such as a birthday party, a game night, a graduation party or a weekend get-together cut down to a minute, are watched in feeds and group chats, often with the sound off. The audio is usually loud music and crowd noise, so captions are what carry your story of the day, and they help viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing.
This guide is for recaps made from several clips with your voice telling the story. For a recorded toast or speech, see the wedding toast guide; for narrated photos, the photo slideshow guide. CaptionAddr burns the captions into the picture, so they show wherever you post.
Caption an event recap on iPhone
- Make one video with your voice. Put your clips together in your video editor and record a voiceover, or film a short spoken recap to camera. CaptionAddr opens one video at a time, and captions come from the speech in it.
- Choose the video. Tap Select Video in CaptionAddr and pick the recap with Apple’s Photos picker. Vertical, square and landscape videos all work, and the video keeps its shape.
- Let the captions generate. Captions start as soon as the video opens; keep the app open; the English speech is transcribed on your iPhone, not on a server.
- Delete stray words. Background chatter, shouting and song lyrics can turn into captions you didn’t mean. Delete them in Edit Captions and fix any misheard words. You can edit, delete and reorder words, with undo and redo.
- Keep faces in view. Choose one of the 20 fonts and a size that reads on a phone, turn on the tinted background over party lights and bright decorations, and drag the captions where they don’t cover faces or the cake.
- Export and share. Tap Export Video to save the captioned copy to Photos, then upload it to TikTok, Reels, Shorts or any other app, or send it to the group chat. The watermark is off unless you turn it on.
Tips for event recap captions
- Turn the music down under your voice. Lower the background track in your video editor before you caption. CaptionAddr doesn’t change the audio, and a clear voice gives the most accurate captions.
- Introduce each moment. Say “then we opened presents” or “the best part was the dance-off” as the clips change, because the app doesn’t add titles or chapter cards.
- Expect the songs to stay uncaptioned. Long stretches of music or group singing are usually left without captions, while speech over music is still captioned. Delete any lyric that slips through.
- Watch for guests’ voices. Anyone who speaks clearly in a clip is captioned too, with no speaker labels. Keep the voices that add to the story and delete the rest.
- Keep your original. CaptionAddr exports a new copy and leaves the original clip in your library.
Limits
- One video at a time. CaptionAddr doesn’t combine, trim or split clips, so make the recap in your video editor first.
- Speech only. CaptionAddr captions spoken English. It doesn’t caption music, cheering or sound effects, and it doesn’t read text shown on screen.
- No audio changes. The app doesn’t lower music or remove crowd noise; deleting a word removes it from the captions only.
- Captions only. The app doesn’t add titles, dates, stickers or chapter cards, and you can only fix, delete or reorder the transcribed words.
- English only. CaptionAddr transcribes English speech and doesn’t translate.
- Single-word captions. Words appear one at a time, timed automatically, always in uppercase; there are no speaker labels, full-sentence layouts or manual per-word timing.
- Length. Free covers videos up to 2 minutes; CaptionAddr Pro covers up to 30 minutes. The App Store shows the current Pro price in your currency.
- Burned-in captions only. There is no SRT, VTT or text export, and the app doesn’t post to social platforms.
Frequently asked questions
How do I add captions to a party or event recap video on iPhone?
Put your clips together into one video with a voiceover or spoken recap, open it in CaptionAddr, generate captions on your iPhone, delete stray words in Edit Captions, drag the captions clear of faces and export a captioned copy to Photos.
Can I caption several party clips at once?
No. CaptionAddr opens one video at a time and doesn’t combine clips. Join them into one recap in your video editor first, then caption the finished video.
Will it caption the birthday song or the music?
Usually not. Stretches of music or group singing are left without captions, while speech over music is still captioned. If a lyric slips through, delete it in Edit Captions.
Can I add the date or a title like “happy birthday”?
No. Captions come from the speech in the video, and you can only fix, delete or reorder the transcribed words. Say it out loud in your voiceover, and it becomes part of the captions.
Will guests’ voices be captioned too?
Yes, if they speak clearly in the clip, with no speaker labels. You can delete their words in Edit Captions, but they still play in the audio, because CaptionAddr doesn’t change or mute the audio.