Guide
How to add captions to a thrift flip or upcycle video on iPhone
Updated
To add captions to a thrift flip or upcycle video on iPhone, say what you found, what you’re changing and the size out loud, add a voiceover over noisy store or sewing footage, open the clip in CaptionAddr, let it transcribe the English speech on the iPhone, fix item and fabric names and delete stray words in Edit Captions, place the captions clear of the before-and-after and export a captioned copy to Photos. Videos up to 2 minutes are free; CaptionAddr Pro covers up to 30 minutes.
Why caption thrift flip videos
Thrift flip and upcycle videos, such as a secondhand haul, a jacket made into something new, a furniture refresh or a haul-to-listing clip that shows an item before you list it, are watched in a feed with the sound off. Captions let viewers follow what you found, what you changed and the details of the finished piece, and they help viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing.
This guide is for videos where secondhand finds get changed and shown again. For opening packages and showing new purchases, see the unboxing and haul guide; for repair and other hands-on how-tos, the DIY tutorial guide. CaptionAddr burns the captions into the picture, so they show wherever you post.
Caption a thrift flip video on iPhone
- Add your voice over the noisy parts. Store music, other shoppers, a sewing machine or a sander can cover your words, and CaptionAddr doesn’t remove noise. Talk once the noise stops, or record a voiceover over the finished flip and save it to Photos.
- 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.
- 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.
- Fix item and fabric names. Brand names, fabric types, era and style words and sizes are the words most likely to come out wrong, and anything said nearby in a store is captioned too. Correct or delete those words in Edit Captions. You can edit, delete and reorder words, with undo and redo.
- Keep the before-and-after in view. Choose one of the 20 fonts and a size that reads on a phone, turn on the tinted background over a patterned fabric or a busy rack, and drag the captions to an edge of the frame where they don’t cover the item.
- 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 thrift flip captions
- Say the before and the after. Say “before” and “after” at the switch, because the app doesn’t add before-and-after labels or titles.
- Read out tags and sizes. Say the size, measurements and any flaws out loud for a listing clip, because captions come from your speech, not from tags, labels or text shown on screen.
- Delete stray lyrics. Speech over store music is usually kept, but a line of a song can slip into the captions. Delete it in Edit Captions; the music still plays in the audio.
- Combine clips first. A thrift trip, the flip and the reveal are often separate clips. Join them in your video editor, save one video to Photos, then caption it.
- 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 tags, labels or text shown on screen, and it doesn’t caption tool sounds or music.
- Every voice is captioned. Your voice and any voice nearby in a store become captions, with no speaker labels to tell them apart.
- Captions only. The app doesn’t add before-and-after labels, item details, links or titles, and you can only fix, delete or reorder the transcribed words.
- No audio changes. The app doesn’t remove store music, chatter or tool 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 picks one video at a time and doesn’t trim, split 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 or listing sites.
Frequently asked questions
How do I add captions to a thrift flip video on iPhone?
Talk once the noise stops or record a voiceover, open the clip in CaptionAddr, generate captions on your iPhone, fix item and fabric names in Edit Captions, drag the captions clear of the item and export a captioned copy to Photos.
Will music playing in the store end up in my captions?
Music on its own is usually not captioned, and speech over music is usually kept. Loud music can still cause missed words or a stray lyric, so check the captions in Edit Captions and delete anything that doesn’t belong.
Can CaptionAddr read the size or brand on the tag?
No. CaptionAddr captions speech only and doesn’t read text in the video. Say the size and brand out loud, then check the spelling in Edit Captions.
Can I caption my thrift haul and the finished flip as one video?
Yes, once they’re one video. CaptionAddr picks one video at a time and doesn’t combine clips, so join them in your video editor first, then caption the finished video.
Will there be a watermark on my video?
No watermark is required. A small CaptionAddr watermark is optional and off unless you turn it on.