iPhone Live Captions Reviewed: Does It Work in Noisy Places?

My hearing has worsened this year. Whenever I’m out with friends, I struggle to follow the conversation. It makes me reluctant to socialise, and when I do, I often feel disconnected — like I’m not really there, just a version of the person people expected to see. There’s little point in talking because I can’t process the response. To make it worse, my hearing is good enough to pick up background noise, so cafes and bars can feel overwhelming. Woo. Yay. 

While out recently, I wondered: have we reached a point where my phone could provide live subtitles for the conversation at my table? It turns out, yes — sort of. iOS has a feature called Live Captions, which adds subtitles for spoken audio and any app on your phone. There’s also Live Listen, which uses your phone as a remote microphone to provide captions, but that only works with certain hearing aids (not mine) and AirPods. Live Captions doesn’t require any special hearing device. 

How to Enable Live Captions on iPhone

• Go to Settings > Accessibility > Live Captions and turn it on.
• Tap Appearance to customise the text size and colour.
• By default, captions appear across all apps. To enable them only for certain apps, such as FaceTime or RTT, adjust this under In-App Live Captions.

Once enabled, you can choose whether to use the microphone or internal audio as the source. I tested it in a cafe using the microphone. 

Real-World Test: Does It Work?

Initially, I was impressed: as I spoke, my words appeared on screen. Unfortunately, when others spoke, their words followed mine without indicating who was talking. It produced one continuous stream of text. Punctuated, yes, but not helpful if you wanted a clear record of who said what. 

The second problem was that conversations from nearby tables bled into the captions, and because there was no colour coding or speaker identification, you couldn’t tell if the words came from your table or elsewhere. 

Lastly, in a busy cafe or bar, the captions were often inaccurate — to the point of being useless. For example: 

Oh, my gosh. It was the nice, floppiest, big, long, sixture off. Yeah. And they… just sort of, like, moults and chocolate. It was amazing. 

I think… that was about a chocolate pudding? For context: 

This is hardware we were staying in our hotel. And one night, we’d gone out, we’d had a meal, we didn’t feel, we didn’t fancy the puddings on the menu, possibly a bit fuller now. And we had a little bit of a small, lovely warm evening. And as we were walking back, we walked past that coolest place and there was no queue. I always looked at each other because we’d both until tail night. And we were like, Oh, my gosh. It was the nice, floppiest, big, long, sixture off. Yeah. And they… just sort of, like, moults and chocolate. It was amazing. 

This was my wife talking about a churros cafe near our hotel in Madrid. I know because I just about heard the conversation. If this transcript was all you had, it’s a mess — and in a way, a good representation of my hearing. 

Another example: 

That’s the one where you see the machine. an old knife popping it into the oil and they come out with a nice warm crack. Oh, yeah. Oh, no, that would be better. Yeah. So l won’t watch like, and what’s the brand that everyone likes? Fifty Queen? Yeah. I’ve all reads about them, but they’re just big… I don’ like 

Any guesses? We were talking about those seaside doughnut shops. 

Is Live Captions Worth It?

Maybe in a quiet space, with clear speaker distinction, this feature could be useful. A gallery, for instance — I often work in those on photography commissions — might be a better test. It could even help as a reference log while working. 

The real barrier, though, is internal: my own sense of “not being disabled enough” to justify using it. Live Captions could make day-to-day life easier, but I hesitate — because using it feels like an imposition, like I’d constantly need to explain myself. I have no issue wearing and talking about my hearing aids, but live transcribing conversations on my phone feels like a step further.

Links

• Inklusion. A kickass guide to making literature events accessible to disabled people.
• Blogs - Our Right To Thrive - Julie Farrell’s webinar on thriving from a creative neurodivergent perspective.. In her forthcoming webinar Julie Farrell will talk about the lived experience of disabling barriers from a creative, neurodivergent perspective.
• Notes on Managing ADHD. Strategies and tactics for staying productive.
• Laura Manach :bongoCat: (@cmconseils). A list of 12 ADHD-friendly tips for getting stuff done !
• A Rivery Mind / Thinking with Bridges. My work ‘out there’ (outside of my home and studio) now quietens for the Summer. I have some lovely one day events and CPD sessions I’m facilitating in August, but apart from that…
• TONAL - Rivers Beyond Sewage - Queerness, neurodiversity and beavers with artist James Aldridge.