How to add captions to a magic trick or card trick video on iPhone

Why caption magic trick videos

Magic trick videos, such as a card trick for the camera, a close-up reveal, a trick performed for friends or a tutorial that shows how a move works, are watched in a feed with the sound off. The patter carries the trick, so captions let viewers follow the setup and the moment of the reveal, and they help viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing.

This guide is for tricks where the hands and the reveal must stay visible. For scripted sketches and bits, see the comedy skit guide; for filming people you meet outside, the street interview guide. CaptionAddr burns the captions into the picture, so they show wherever you post.

Caption a magic trick video on iPhone

1. Say the patter clearly. Speak toward the phone and name each card in full, such as “the seven of clubs.” Shuffles and table noise aren’t captioned, but they can cover quiet words, and CaptionAddr doesn’t remove noise.
2. Choose the video. Tap Select Video in CaptionAddr and pick the clip with Apple’s Photos picker. Vertical, square and landscape videos all work, and the video keeps its shape.
3. 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.
4. Fix card names and move names. Card names, suits and the names of moves are the words most likely to come out wrong, and anything a spectator says is captioned too. Correct or delete those words in Edit Captions. You can edit, delete and reorder words, with undo and redo.
5. Keep the reveal in view. Choose one of the 20 fonts and a size that reads on a phone, turn on the tinted background over a patterned close-up mat, and drag the captions to an edge of the frame where they don’t cover your hands, the cards or the reveal.
6. Export and post. Tap Export Video to save the captioned copy to Photos, then upload it to TikTok, Reels, Shorts or any other app. The watermark is off unless you turn it on.

Tips for magic trick captions

• Don’t say the secret early. Each word appears as it’s spoken, so a card you name early shows up early. Delete a word in Edit Captions if it gives the trick away; the word still plays in the audio.
• Name the card at the reveal. Say the card out loud when it’s shown, because captions come from your speech, not from the card faces or text on screen.
• Remove a spectator’s name. Delete a name from the captions in Edit Captions if you’d rather not show it; the name stays in the audio, so leave it unsaid if it shouldn’t be heard either.
• Talk over a silent routine. A trick set only to music has nothing to caption. Record a voiceover that walks through the routine, save it to Photos, then caption that video.
• Keep your original. CaptionAddr exports a new copy and leaves the original clip in your library.

Limits

• Speech only. CaptionAddr captions spoken English. It doesn’t read cards, signs or text shown on screen, and it doesn’t caption shuffles, music or sound effects.
• Every voice is captioned. Your patter and any spectator’s words both become captions, with no speaker labels to tell them apart.
• Captions only. The app doesn’t add arrows, slow-motion replays, titles or blur to hide a move, and you can only fix, delete or reorder the transcribed words.
• No audio changes. The app doesn’t remove crowd noise or change the audio; deleting a word removes it from the captions only.
• 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 is no full-sentence layout or manual per-word timing.
• Length. Free covers videos up to 2 minutes; CaptionAddr Pro covers up to 30 minutes. CaptionAddr doesn’t trim, split, slow down or combine clips. 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

Related guides

• How to add captions to a comedy skit or sketch on iPhone
• How to add captions to a street interview on iPhone
• How to add captions to YouTube Shorts

All caption guides →