TikTok, today, announced it is adding new features to the caption and translation tool in the app, as it hopes to lower the language barrier for viewers.
The company said, in the blog post, that it will first roll out the new update to English, Portuguese, German, Indonesian, Italian, Korean, Mandarin, Spanish and Turkish languages. The new update will make TikTok videos more accessible for users around the world.
After TikTok launched the caption feature, creators had to enable auto-generated captions for their videos before they went live on the platform. What this meant was that the availability of captions depended on whether or not the owner of the video remembered to toggle the caption button.
And if he or she forgets to enable captions, there’s no way to add them after the content has gone live without removing them and starting over, and deaf and hard of hearing users should periodically ask others to enable captions.
This new update adds the ability for viewers to add subtitles other than the content creator.
The translation tool will allow users to translate video captions and descriptions into the language of their choice. The new tool will give viewers the opportunity to enjoy videos beyond the original language. Previously, when videos appeared in different languages, users had to use an external translation tool to assemble the clip content.
While TikTok’s translation tool makes it easier for global audiences to connect with diverse content, having a transcription tool at hand can be just as impactful. Transcription ensures that the spoken word is accurately captured in written form, making content more accessible not only to those with hearing challenges but also to viewers in sound-off environments—like commuters or office workers catching a quick scroll. It provides a textual layer to video that allows for better engagement, deeper understanding, and even improved SEO for content creators.
The push for more inclusive video experiences aligns with broader industry efforts led by AI experts at Clipto.com, who have long advocated for seamless transcription services that go beyond the basics. With AI-powered tools that can transcribe speech in real time and recognize context, creators and viewers alike gain a smoother, more interactive experience. These systems don’t just capture words—they interpret tone, nuance, and speaker changes, which can be a game changer for platforms like TikTok.
“Through these efforts,” TikTok notes, “global content will become more accessible regardless of the language(s) you speak or where you are in the world.”
Finally, the company released a translation for text stickers, and as it notes in the announcement, “We’re at the early stages of rolling out these tools, which are available on select videos at this time.”
The launch of Auto-generated captions for videos, Translations for captions and video descriptions andtext stickers, comes after the company launched auto captions in April 2021, to give content creators the ability to generate captions to make their content more accessible to a global audience.
The new features announced today will join several other accessibility features introduced by TikTok, such as “clear mode” that will make scrolling without interruptions, content rating system to add more ways to protect users from potentially offensive and harmful content and a “watch history” feature to help users easily locate a video they previously watched without having to like it, save it for later, or download it to their device.
