I have recently bought a BT TV box. Subtitles are available on all mainline programmes but they are not available on programmes on BBC IPlayer or ITV Hub. Is this common or do I have a fault?
A quick check on the One O’Clock News, running behind time now on the BBC iPlayer; I could not get subtitles on my YouView box either, and I don’t believe it is faulty.
‘Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful’ Wm Morris
Hi @Sandbug Welcome to the forum Can you please provide some examples of programmes that don't have subtitles on these apps so we can check this? Thanks, Sarah
Hi @Sandbug Welcome to the forum Can you please provide some examples of programmes that don't have subtitles on these apps so we can check this? Thanks, Sarah
If you turn on BBC1 right now, 10:41, you can see Rip Off Britain on BBC 1, with subtitles.
If you switch to the same programme on the BBC iPlayer, there are no subtitles. Even if you press OK again to get the iPlayer menus up, there is no S to press.
I think the same will apply to the subsequent programme, Homes Under The Hammer, if you can’t get to a plugged-in YouView box quickly enough.
EDIT: Then I tried this on my Samsung TV. Same thing - subtitles on the broadcast BBC1, no subtitles on the iPlayer app on the Samsung. Even when I pressed OK again to get the iPlayer menu up, there was no S I could press.
So not a YouView problem per se, but perhaps a BBC iPlayer one?
‘Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful’ Wm Morris
Repeated the above on my iPad iPlayer. No subtitles, no offer of subtitles.
But it gets worse... I put on The Secrets She Keeps, which does have an S, and does show subtitles, on the iPad.
So I then tried this on YouView, and on the Samsung TV, in their respective iPlayer apps.
Both showed the S, both let me (apparently) turn subtitles on, neither actually showed any, even though I let the programme run for five minutes on each, as subtitles can take a little while to show up.
So I think this must be a BBC iPlayer app problem; not just on YouView, though as it affects YouView, you might want to query it with them.
There don’t seem to be any recent reports of this issue, though, on BBC Help, or on a wider Google search.
‘Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful’ Wm Morris
Indeed, some programmes have that option, an S flag that you see when you pause the programme. But I’m not getting subtitles on the iPlayer for any programmes, even those with the S. (Which is supposed to be sticky by the way, so once turned on, it should stay on for subsequent programmes).
But as someone who has had the subtitles working, it would be very useful if you could try them now, and report back if they still work for you or not.
Since my recollection is that we used to have them, on the TV at least if not on the YouView box as well, but they are now no longer working.
Even for programmes with the S flag, let alone those that have subtitles live, but no offer of them on catchup.
‘Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful’ Wm Morris
@Roy Seems fine to me for The Secrets She Keeps (tried 1st and last episodes) on BBc Iplayer Beta on Youview and episode 1 on Samsung Iplaayer ep 1 has subtitles.
In an unprecedentedly bad piece of UI design, the legend on the BBC iPlayer Subtitles button means the exact opposite of what it looks like 🤯
In effect, it means ‘Press this button and you will get...’ so when it says ‘Subtitles Off’, it is actually the case that subtitles are on.
Which is actually shown by a white bar under the S; when that is there, they are on. Which you can see as S (in inverse video) without moving to the button.
So now, yes I get subtitles on The Secrets She Keeps, on TV and on YouView.
Still doesn’t explain why there was no S symbol to toggle on Rip Off Britain or Homes Under The Hammer this morning, and I can’t yet repeat my tests on the same TV and YouView box as this morning as my wife is watching something, but all the other ones are working now I know the legend is **** backwards.
However, there is still something odd about the current live programme - ‘Impossible’, currently live on the TV on BBC1 with subtitles, has no S when watched from the BBC iPlayer app on the TV. And the YouView box behaves exactly the same.
But Rip Off Britain and HUTH, now they are over, have gained their subtitles back on the BBC iPlayer.
So if @Sandbug is in either of these BBC iPlayer scenarios - (i) misunderstanding Subtitles On and Off like I did, or (ii) trying this on a programme currently being broadcast live, then he won’t get subtitles shown.
But both issues are likely the same on the BBC iPlayer app on his TV as on his YouView box.
I’ll let some other brave soul sort out the itv Hub here.......
‘Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful’ Wm Morris
Live programmes on iPlayer do not have subtitles at the moment as it's not something that's available. There is a trial that BBC are running at the moment for subtitles on live iPlayer content however this is only available via the BBC iPlayer website (more info here).
We expect that most VOD content should have subtitles (there will be some which do not) but this should be consistent across iPlayer platforms.
@Sandbug ITV hub does not currently subtitles available so it is expected behaviour for this particular app (more info here). If the content you were watching on iPlayer was not live content, can you let us know what you were watching (including any episode/series details) so we can check this?
Hi Sarah. Having conducted some more checks, I agree that programmes on ITV Hub on Youview do not have subtitles, which is regrettable. The same programmes when watched on my laptop, do have subtitles. It is welcome to find that programmes on BBC iPlayer when watched on Youview do have subtitles as they do when watched on my laptop. So, my question is when are we going to have subtitles on ITV Hub programmes on Youview? Regards. Sandbug
I am disappointed to find that subtitles are still not available viewing ITV Hub on BT You view. However they work fine on the ITV Hub app on Android. Any idea when this will be sorted?
Here we are - another TWO YEARS further on from Mike's post and the situation is exactly the same. ITV Hub was bad in this respect BUT ITVX is a disgrace considering all the hype that has surrounded its launch. And no-one has seen fit to add any comment in the meantime!
Here we are - another TWO YEARS further on from Mike's post and the situation is exactly the same. ITV Hub was bad in this respect BUT ITVX is a disgrace considering all the hype that has surrounded its launch. And no-one has seen fit to add any comment in the meantime!
@annebria are you able to give us some more information about the issues you're seeing with subtitles and ITVX?
Here we are - another TWO YEARS further on from Mike's post and the situation is exactly the same. ITV Hub was bad in this respect BUT ITVX is a disgrace considering all the hype that has surrounded its launch. And no-one has seen fit to add any comment in the meantime!
Comments
Welcome to the forum
Can you please provide some examples of programmes that don't have subtitles on these apps so we can check this?
Thanks,
Sarah
If you turn on BBC1 right now, 10:41, you can see Rip Off Britain on BBC 1, with subtitles.
If you switch to the same programme on the BBC iPlayer, there are no subtitles. Even if you press OK again to get the iPlayer menus up, there is no S to press.
I think the same will apply to the subsequent programme, Homes Under The Hammer, if you can’t get to a plugged-in YouView box quickly enough.
EDIT: Then I tried this on my Samsung TV. Same thing - subtitles on the broadcast BBC1, no subtitles on the iPlayer app on the Samsung. Even when I pressed OK again to get the iPlayer menu up, there was no S I could press.
So not a YouView problem per se, but perhaps a BBC iPlayer one?
@Sarah
Repeated the above on my iPad iPlayer. No subtitles, no offer of subtitles.
But it gets worse... I put on The Secrets She Keeps, which does have an S, and does show subtitles, on the iPad.
So I then tried this on YouView, and on the Samsung TV, in their respective iPlayer apps.
Both showed the S, both let me (apparently) turn subtitles on, neither actually showed any, even though I let the programme run for five minutes on each, as subtitles can take a little while to show up.
So I think this must be a BBC iPlayer app problem; not just on YouView, though as it affects YouView, you might want to query it with them.
There don’t seem to be any recent reports of this issue, though, on BBC Help, or on a wider Google search.
But as someone who has had the subtitles working, it would be very useful if you could try them now, and report back if they still work for you or not.
Since my recollection is that we used to have them, on the TV at least if not on the YouView box as well, but they are now no longer working.
Even for programmes with the S flag, let alone those that have subtitles live, but no offer of them on catchup.
Which is actually shown by a white bar under the S; when that is there, they are on. Which you can see as S (in inverse video) without moving to the button.
So now, yes I get subtitles on The Secrets She Keeps, on TV and on YouView.
Still doesn’t explain why there was no S symbol to toggle on Rip Off Britain or Homes Under The Hammer this morning, and I can’t yet repeat my tests on the same TV and YouView box as this morning as my wife is watching something, but all the other ones are working now I know the legend is **** backwards.
However, there is still something odd about the current live programme - ‘Impossible’, currently live on the TV on BBC1 with subtitles, has no S when watched from the BBC iPlayer app on the TV. And the YouView box behaves exactly the same.
So if @Sandbug is in either of these BBC iPlayer scenarios - (i) misunderstanding Subtitles On and Off like I did, or (ii) trying this on a programme currently being broadcast live, then he won’t get subtitles shown.
But both issues are likely the same on the BBC iPlayer app on his TV as on his YouView box.
Live programmes on iPlayer do not have subtitles at the moment as it's not something that's available. There is a trial that BBC are running at the moment for subtitles on live iPlayer content however this is only available via the BBC iPlayer website (more info here).
We expect that most VOD content should have subtitles (there will be some which do not) but this should be consistent across iPlayer platforms.
@Sandbug ITV hub does not currently subtitles available so it is expected behaviour for this particular app (more info here). If the content you were watching on iPlayer was not live content, can you let us know what you were watching (including any episode/series details) so we can check this?
Thanks,
Sarah
Having conducted some more checks, I agree that programmes on ITV Hub on Youview do not have subtitles, which is regrettable. The same programmes when watched on my laptop, do have subtitles. It is welcome to find that programmes on BBC iPlayer when watched on Youview do have subtitles as they do when watched on my laptop.
So, my question is when are we going to have subtitles on ITV Hub programmes on Youview?
Regards.
Sandbug
The Community is dripping with comments about itvX, even including subtitles issues - just not in this particular thread.
Go to Home, above top left, and you will see them.