How to add captions to a tech tips or app how-to video on iPhone

Why caption tech tips videos

Tech tips videos, such as a hidden phone setting, a battery tip, a camera trick or a quick “how to do this in the app” walkthrough, are often watched with the sound off and paused halfway through while the viewer tries the steps on their own phone. Captions let them read each tap in order, and they help viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing.

This guide is for tips filmed with a camera pointed at a phone or tablet, with you talking through each step. For walkthroughs captured with the built-in screen recorder, see the screen recording guide; for first looks at a new gadget, the unboxing guide. CaptionAddr burns the captions into the picture, so they show wherever you post.

Caption a tech tips video on iPhone

1. Say every tap out loud. Film the phone you’re demonstrating and name each menu, setting and button as you tap it. Captions come from your speech, so a tap you don’t say never reaches viewers watching with the sound off.
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 feature names and abbreviations. Setting names, app names, abbreviations, version numbers and letters said one at a time are the words most likely to come out wrong. Correct them in Edit Captions. You can edit, delete and reorder words, with undo and redo.
5. Keep the screen in view. Choose one of the 20 fonts and a size that reads on a phone, turn on the tinted background over a bright screen, and drag the captions above or below the phone so they don’t cover the button you’re tapping.
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 tech tips captions

• Read the path in order. Say each step of the path, such as “open settings, then display, then text size”, so viewers who pause can follow the captions tap by tap.
• Describe icons in words. Say “the gear icon” or “the three dots in the corner” instead of “tap here”, because captions can’t point.
• Clear the screen first. Turn off notifications and close anything personal before you film. CaptionAddr captions the audio and doesn’t hide or blur anything in the picture.
• One tip per video. A single tip keeps the clip short, well inside 2 minutes, and puts the result in the first captioned words.
• 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 menu labels, icons or text shown on the screen you’re filming, and it doesn’t caption tap or click sounds.
• Captions only. The app doesn’t add arrows, highlights, zoom, tap markers or blur, 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. CaptionAddr doesn’t trim or split clips, so cut a long walkthrough in Photos first. 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 screen recording on iPhone
• How to add captions to an unboxing or haul video on iPhone
• Captions for YouTube Shorts

All caption guides →