The mute button gets a welcome, no-brainer upgrade in iOS 18 and tvOS 18

Not every piece of technology or feature needs upgrading over time. Some things work just fine the way they are, and any tweaking or “enhancements” will only make things worse.

I would have thought that a TV’s mute button was one such leave-it-alone feature. It’s simple, uncomplicated, and should stay that way. But Apple has changed my mind by introducing a no-brainer upgrade to the mute button in tvOS 18, iOS 18, and more: auto-subtitles.

Activating subtitles every time you mute

When using an Apple TV running tvOS 18, hitting the mute button on your Siri Remote will now automatically turn on subtitles. Then when you un-mute, the subtitles go away.

It’s that simple.

How have mute buttons not always worked this way?

And why did I never realize they were missing this awesome little feature?

No more needing to fiddle with the subtitle settings panel. No stopping playback altogether when you could just mute and keep watching. The simple, timeless mute button is legitimately getting better in 2024 across Apple’s various devices.

• Don’t have a Siri Remote with a mute button? You can get the 3rd generation remote here on Amazon.

Subtitles on mute for all Apple platforms

tvOS is likely the platform you use the mute button most, but the same feature is also available on iPhones running iOS 18, iPads on iPadOS 18, and even Macs running macOS Sequoia. So no matter where you’re watching, you can benefit from the new muting functionality.

Auto-subtitles upon mute are a feature of the default system video player, so if you’re watching something in another video player you may or may not get this benefit. Hopefully though, in time other popular video apps will build their own support for engaging subtitles when you mute.

What do you think of this new feature coming in tvOS 18 and iOS 18? Let us know in the comments.