New feature on TVNZ+/Apple TV?

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eracode

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#320342 2-Aug-2025 19:16

During The Chase streamed live on TVNZ+ via Apple TV tonight, I muted the TV and text appeared on-screen. Never seen that before (under those circs) but it turns out that subtitles are now being provided when the TV is muted.

On The Chase, it was small-ish text to one side of the screen, white for one speaker and yellow for the other - and immediate and accurate. Welcome and sort of blew me away.

I know TVNZ+ provide subtitles on some shows - but this seems different, being triggered only by muting. No idea if it’s a TVNZ+ app enhancement or an Apple thing. Limited testing on TVNZ other shows is inconclusive. Someone will know. Maybe I missed the memo on something.

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#3399420 2-Aug-2025 19:22

Came in with tvOS 18 about a year ago I think. Obviously dependant on whatever you are watching having subtitles.

EDIT: Yep, here you go : https://www.apple.com/nz/newsroom/2024/09/tvos-18-is-now-available/

Subtitles now automatically appear at just the right moments, including when users mute, when they skip back while watching, or when the language in a show or movie does not match the device language.

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#3399428 2-Aug-2025 20:05

Yes, thanks but I’m not sure that’s the answer. I’m familiar with the enhancements that came with tvOS 18 - enhance dialogue, subtitles after rewind etc - and although your link mentions ‘subtitles on mute’ , I have muted The Chase countless times since tvOS 18 was released (nearly a year ago) and never seen subtitles on mute until now. I’ve never seen that on any show on ATV when the TV is muted.

Maybe TVNZ just updated their ATV app to take advantage of the subtitles on mute feature.

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#3399430 2-Aug-2025 20:22

I mentioned it above, but the subtitles obviously need to be there in the first place. Most likely TVNZ have just added subtitles recently so the ATV now has something to display.

eracode

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#3399431 2-Aug-2025 20:23

I think I did miss the memo. I now find that on ATV when I go Settings > Video and Audio > Automatic Subtitles, there’s a setting for ‘Show When Muted’.

Thing is, I’ve never noticed that setting before, haven’t changed it and it’s set to ‘on’ - and I’ve never seen it in action before.

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#3399436 2-Aug-2025 20:43

Just tested this on another TVNZ+ show, Little Disasters, which has ordinary subtitles available. However if those subtitles are turned off, the ‘subtitles on mute’ doesn’t work - which I expect it should.

Seems that ‘subtitles on mute’ is very show-specific on the part of TVNZ.

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#3399441 2-Aug-2025 21:05

Have you got a DVB-S receiver? There's multiple subtitle streams / teletext etc. Wonder if it lines up with only 1 stream on the IP stream?

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eracode

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#3399447 2-Aug-2025 21:09

RunningMan:

Have you got a DVB-S receiver? There's multiple subtitle streams / teletext etc. Wonder if it lines up with only 1 stream on the IP stream?

No - it’s ATV straight into a LG C1 TV with a Sonos HT setup.

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#3399448 2-Aug-2025 21:11

No, I mean do you separately have a sat receiver that you could compare to the ATV.

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#3399449 2-Aug-2025 21:12

RunningMan:

No, I mean do you separately have a sat receiver that you could compare to the ATV.

No.

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#3399450 2-Aug-2025 21:38

Just tested this with a couple of recent series and a movie on Netflix (via ATV). As expected, ‘subtitles on mute’ did not work. I’ve muted Netflix countless times since tvOS 18 arrived and never seen it.

Also tested it just now with whatever show is currently streaming live on TVNZ+ - and there it was. As you can see, it’s not like any other TVNZ subtitles seen before:

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GSManiac

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#3399467 3-Aug-2025 07:41

I’ve noticed this too when watching the chase via Apple TV.

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#3399794 4-Aug-2025 07:43

What's driving us nuts is it doesn't turn off again after we've muted.

Seems to be a tvnz thing, this all started maybe 2 weeks ago.

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#3399798 4-Aug-2025 07:49

Turning off the Subtitles While Mute does seem to have fixed it.

Even killing the tvnz app and restarting it wouldn't stop the subtitles once they started, so not sure if an apple or tvnz bug, but no other apps have done it.

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#3399808 4-Aug-2025 08:47

Unrelated to subtitles when muted, but I do enjoy the 10 seconds or so of subtitles when rewinding on ATV - it's usually because I have missed what was said that i do a quick skip backwards, so this fits the brief perfectly.

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#3399811 4-Aug-2025 09:05

Handsomedan:

Unrelated to subtitles when muted, but I do enjoy the 10 seconds or so of subtitles when rewinding on ATV - it's usually because I have missed what was said that i do a quick skip backwards, so this fits the brief perfectly.

Yeah, love that feature, it's a nice touch.

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