Live Captions on Android and iPhone: How to Turn Them On and Off

To turn on live captions on Android, press a volume button and tap the Live Caption icon under the volume controls, or go to Settings > Accessibility > Live Caption. On an iPhone 11 or later, go to Settings > Accessibility > Live Captions and turn it on. To turn them off, use the same switch, or drag the caption box off the bottom of the screen (Android) or swipe it sideways (iPhone).

That's the short version. The catch: live captions on Android and iPhone have more than one switch, and the one you find first isn't always the one that keeps bringing them back.

Dana watches videos on the train with the sound off, so she switched on Live Caption on her Pixel one morning. A week later, captions kept popping up over every podcast at home, and a little caption icon sat in her volume panel. She'd turned the feature on with one tap and couldn't find how to get rid of it. (Dana is an illustration, not a real person.)

This guide gives you every way to turn live captions on and off on Android, Samsung Galaxy and iPhone, which phones and languages support them, and a fix list for captions that won't go away. Every step comes from Google's, Samsung's and Apple's own help pages, checked on November 13, 2026.

Quick answer: live captions on Android and iPhone

A naming tip before you start: Android calls it Live Caption (captions for sound playing on your phone). Apple calls it Live Captions, and on iPhone it can caption both phone audio and people in the room. Google's separate app for conversations in the room is Live Transcribe; our live transcribe apps guide covers it and other caption apps.

How to turn on Live Caption on Android

Google's Live Caption help page gives two ways in, as of November 2026.

From the volume controls (fastest):

1. Press a volume button.
2. Under the volume controls, tap More, then Live Caption, then Done. On many phones the Live Caption icon sits right under the volume slider.

From Settings:

1. Open Settings > Accessibility > Live Caption.
2. Turn on Use Live Caption.
3. If you can't find it, search Settings for "Live Caption". If it isn't there at all, Google says to check with your phone's maker.

The first time, your phone needs Wi-Fi to download the language pack. After that, captions run on the phone itself. Google's page says captions are "never stored" and "never leave your device", and Live Caption doesn't use mobile data.

Once it's on, Live Caption captions videos, podcasts, voice messages and, on Pixel and selected phones, phone calls. Double-tap the caption box to grow it from 2 to 12 lines.

Samsung Galaxy

Samsung keeps Live Caption one level deeper. Per Samsung's support page:

1. Open Settings > Accessibility > Hearing enhancements.
2. Tap Live Caption, then turn on Use Live Caption.

Samsung notes that Live Caption "only works for select devices". Galaxy phones also have their own speech-to-text tools, which our Samsung speech to text guide walks through.

How to turn off Live Caption on Android

This is where most people get stuck, because there are several switches. Here is every way to turn live captions off on Android, from quickest to most thorough.

1. Drag the caption box away. Google's page says: "To hide captions and turn off Live Caption: Drag the caption box off the bottom of your screen."
2. Tap the icon again. Press a volume button and tap the Live Caption icon to switch it off.
3. Use the main switch. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Live Caption (Samsung: Settings > Accessibility > Hearing enhancements > Live Caption) and turn off Use Live Caption.
4. Remove the icon from the volume panel. In Live Caption settings, set Live Caption icon in volume control to hide. This stops accidental taps from turning captions back on.
5. Turn off call captions only. In the same settings, turn off Call captioning if you want captions on videos but not on calls.

Two more things can switch captions off without you asking. Live Caption turns off automatically in battery saver mode, and it doesn't work on music, so a song won't show captions even when the feature is on.

Turning off the extras only: the same settings let you hide profanity and sound labels, and switch off Expressive captions (capital letters and stretched words that show tone, Android 14 or later in US English).

Want to keep what was said in a meeting, not just read it as it scrolls past? Live Caption throws the text away. ParrotNotes records the conversation and gives you a transcript and summary you can search later.

How to turn on Live Captions on iPhone

Apple's iPhone User Guide says Live Captions works on iPhone 11 or later, as of November 2026.

1. Open Settings > Accessibility > Live Captions.
2. Turn on Live Captions.
3. Tap Appearance to change the text, size and color.

Then choose what it listens to. Tap the Live Captions window, then tap Microphone to caption people talking around you, or iPhone Audio to caption sound from apps such as Podcasts. You can copy the captions and paste them into Notes or Messages, or make the window full screen.

In FaceTime: during a video call, tap the screen, tap the More button, then tap Live Captions. Apple's FaceTime guide says the window shows who is speaking.

On phone calls: the Keep Call Captions setting decides what's saved.

• 1 Minute: captions are cleared when the call ends, and you can't copy, screenshot or screen record them.
• 1 Hour: captions stay for an hour after the call and can be copied. Apple says every participant hears a short announcement at the start: "This call is being transcribed".

If you want a written record of a call itself, our guide on how to transcribe a phone call covers the options, including consent.

How to turn off Live Captions on iPhone

1. Main switch: Settings > Accessibility > Live Captions, then turn off Live Captions.
2. Hide the window for now: swipe the Live Captions window left or right. It also hides itself when no audio is detected. Tap the small Live Captions button to bring it back.
3. Pause instead of turning off: tap the window, then Pause Listening.
4. One-click toggle: Apple's shortcut guide lets you triple-click the side button (or the Home button on iPhone SE) to turn accessibility features of your choice on or off. Set it under Settings > Accessibility > Accessibility Shortcut. You can also add hearing controls to Control Center.
5. FaceTime only: tap the screen, tap the More button, then tap Stop next to Live Captions.

Note that pausing captions during a call with the 1 Hour setting plays a second announcement to everyone: "This call is no longer being transcribed".

Which phones and languages support live captions

Android (Google's list, November 2026):

Translated captions need Live Translate, which Google lists for Pixel 6 and later only.

iPhone (Apple's iOS Feature Availability page, November 2026): Live Captions works on iPhone 11 or later in Cantonese (China mainland, Hong Kong), English (Australia, Canada, India, Singapore, UK, US), French (Canada, France), German (Germany), Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese (China mainland, Taiwan) and Spanish (Mexico, Spain, US). Many older guides still say "US and Canada only"; that was the 2022 launch.

Captions keep popping up? Fixes by symptom

Marcus, a sales rep, kept getting asked by clients why his calls were "being transcribed". He'd set Keep Call Captions to 1 Hour months earlier to copy a delivery address. Switching it back to 1 Minute stopped the announcement. (Marcus is an illustration, not a real person.)

Live Caption in Chrome, on a Chromebook, Mac or Windows

Captions that follow you to a computer come from a different switch. Per each maker's help page, as of November 2026:

• Chrome on Windows or Mac: More (three dots) > Settings > Accessibility > Live Caption, on or off (Google Chrome help).
• Chromebook: Settings > Accessibility > Manage accessibility features > Audio and captions > Live Caption. It's also in Quick Settings.
• Windows 11 (22H2 or later): Windows key + Ctrl + L, or Settings > Accessibility > Captions > Live captions.
• Mac with Apple silicon: Apple menu > System Settings > Accessibility > Live Captions.

When you need a saved transcript, not captions

Live captions are built for reading words as they're spoken. Android never stores them, and iPhone keeps only what you copy. To keep a meeting or long conversation and act on it later, a recording app fits better.

ParrotNotes is not a caption layer for your whole phone: it doesn't caption videos or other apps, and it doesn't capture phone calls. It records an in-person meeting, lecture or conversation on iPhone or Android, even with the screen locked, then gives you a searchable transcript and an AI summary with action items. Transcription needs an internet connection.

Leah runs a weekly team meeting and is hard of hearing. She follows along with Live Captions on her iPhone, and records the same meeting in ParrotNotes. The captions get her through the hour. The ParrotNotes summary is what she sends round afterwards. (Leah is an illustration, not a real customer.)

ParrotNotes free plan (per the pricing page, November 2026): 100 minutes of recording a month, up to 30 minutes per recording, an AI summary on every recording, and AI insights such as action items on 5 recordings a month. Pro is $19.99 a month ($14.99 a month billed yearly) for 3,000 minutes a month, up to 3 hours per recording, plus text that appears as you speak and transcription in 99+ languages. Ask before you record other people; our one-party consent guide explains the rules (general information, not legal advice).

Want a transcript of your next meeting? Download ParrotNotes free and record it from your phone.

Conclusion

Live captions take one switch to turn on and, often, two to turn fully off:

• Android: Settings > Accessibility > Live Caption (Samsung: under Hearing enhancements). To stop it for good, turn off Use Live Caption and hide the icon in the volume panel.
• iPhone 11 or later: Settings > Accessibility > Live Captions, and check Keep Call Captions if callers hear an announcement.

Apple warns that caption accuracy varies and shouldn't be relied on in high-risk or emergency situations, which is good advice for any phone. If you need a different caption app, see our live transcribe apps guide. If you need the words kept, try ParrotNotes free.