Apple tvOS 18 gives the humble mute button its “aha!” moment

Apple TV users will receive a small, but significant feature boost in the forthcoming tvOS update, via the humble mute button.

When testing the beta version of tvOS 18 – due this autumn – a 9to5Mac reporter noticed that pressing the Siri Remote’s mute button automatically summoned something that might be useful in the absence of sound… subtitles.

When the same button is selected to unmute the television, those same subtitles go away. The feature was quietly announced within an tvOS 18 Preview page following WWDC, but failed to pick up traction at the time.

So, if you need to quieten the television for a while, but still need to follow what’s happening on screen, you’ll be able to accomplish this in a single press rather than rooting through the app you’re using in order to bring up those closed captions. As the reporter who noticed the change points out, why don’t all mute buttons work this way?

According to the report, the feature will be replicated across Apple’s range of devices where video playback is available.

So, for example, if you mute the audio when watching Apple TV+ on an iPad, Mac or iPhone you’ll probably see the subtitles appear on screen. It’s probably something that third-party apps are going to have to integrate within their offerings.

Elsewhere tvOS 18 is expected to be a more modest update. However, it does include a new InSight feature that’ll give users information about actors, characters, music and more within Apple TV+ TV shows and movies. The feature is similar to the IMDb-powered X-Ray feature available in the Prime Video app.

There’s also a new Enhance Dialogue feature that graduates beyond HomePod speakers and comes to connected devices like AirPods and HDMI connected speakers. Speaking of subtitles, they’ll now appear automatically “when the language in a show or film does not match the device language … or when [viewers] skip back while watching something.”