How to add captions to a tutoring or homework help video on iPhone

Why caption tutoring videos

Tutoring and homework help videos, such as a math problem worked step by step, a grammar rule explained, a science concept drawn on a whiteboard or a quick test-prep walkthrough, are often watched at a desk, on a bus or late at night with the sound off. Captions let students follow every step without sound, and they help viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing.

This guide is for tutors and creators explaining a problem or concept on paper, a whiteboard or a table. For advice clips students make for each other, see the study tips guide; for problems worked on a tablet or app screen, the screen recording guide. CaptionAddr burns the captions into the picture, so they show wherever you post.

Caption a tutoring video on iPhone

1. Say every step out loud. Keep the iPhone close in a quiet room and read each number, symbol and step as you write it, or record a voiceover afterward. Captions come from your speech, so anything you only write down won’t be captioned.
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 numbers and subject terms. Numbers, fractions, units, variable names and subject terms 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 work in view. Choose one of the 20 fonts and a size that reads on a phone, turn on the tinted background over a busy page, and drag the captions where they don’t cover the problem, your writing or the answer.
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 tutoring video captions

• State the question first. Read the problem or name the topic in the first seconds, so the first captioned words tell students whether the video is for them.
• Read symbols as words. Say “x squared”, “divided by” or “equals” clearly, because captions show the words you say, not the symbols you write.
• Match number styles. A number can come out as digits or as a word, so check each one in Edit Captions and keep them consistent.
• Delete stray words. Remove words picked up from a student, a television or another room in Edit Captions.
• Keep your original. CaptionAddr exports a new copy and leaves the original clip in your library.

Limits

• Words, not equations. Captions show spoken words in uppercase letters, so they don’t display equations, symbols, diagrams or worked answers.
• Captions only. The app doesn’t add titles, step numbers, highlights or answer boxes, and you can only fix, delete or reorder the transcribed words.
• Every voice is captioned. If a student speaks in the clip, their words become captions too, with no speaker labels to tell you apart.
• 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, so split a long session into shorter clips 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 study tips or student advice video on iPhone
• How to add captions to a screen recording on iPhone
• Captions for YouTube Shorts

All caption guides →