iMovie can't make captions from what's said in a video. Someone asked on Apple's forums in 2016 whether it could detect speech and add subtitles1, and it still can't. Of Apple's other video apps, Clips used to write your words on screen as you talked and is no longer available to new users, while Final Cut Pro now makes captions on the device, in U.S. English only.
I make CapiCap, a captioning app, so I have an interest here. Below is where each of Apple's apps stands, from Apple's own pages, which I checked on 17 October 2026, and then how I'd caption a video you edited in iMovie.
iMovie
iMovie on iPhone, iPad and Mac has no speech-to-text. You can add a title to a clip and type its text, which becomes part of the picture, but you type and time every line yourself2. For a minute of someone talking, that's dozens of titles.
Clips
Clips had the closest thing Apple made to automatic captions. Its Live Titles wrote your words on the video while you recorded, in 36 languages when it launched in 20173. Apple stopped updating it, and it "will no longer be available for download for new users as of October 10, 2025"4. If you downloaded it before then, you can get it again from your purchases and keep using it on iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 or earlier.
Final Cut Pro
Final Cut Pro for Mac (from version 12.3) and Final Cut Pro for iPad (from 3.3) got Generate Captions on 30 June 2026. Apple says it uses on-device AI, after a one-time download of the language model, and that it's available only in U.S. English5.
Final Cut Pro for Mac is $299.99 once, or part of Apple Creator Studio at $12.99 a month or $129 a year; the iPad version comes with Creator Studio. It needs a Mac with Apple silicon, or an iPad with an M1 or later, A16 or A17 Pro chip6.
So it suits people who already edit in Final Cut Pro, in U.S. English: the captions stay editable on the timeline, and the Mac version exports .srt7. For any other language, or without a pro editor, read on.
Side by side
| Captions from speech | Languages | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| iMovie | No, titles are typed by hand | — | Free |
| Clips | Live Titles, while recording; not available to new users | 36 at launch | Free, for people who already have it |
| Final Cut Pro | Yes, on the device | U.S. English | $299.99 (Mac) or $12.99 a month |
| CapiCap | Yes, on the device | 99+ | 3 exports a month free; $9.99 once for unlimited |
Captioning an iMovie video with CapiCap
CapiCap does one job: it puts captions on a video you already have. It runs OpenAI's Whisper speech model on your iPhone, iPad or Mac, so the video isn't uploaded, and it works in 99+ languages.
- Finish the edit first. Export the video from iMovie to Photos or Files. Captions are timed to the audio, so add them to the final cut.
- Open CapiCap and tap Choose Video. It transcribes the speech on the device, faster than real time on recent iPhones, iPads and Macs.
- Fix any words, then pick a look. Tap a caption to correct it. Open Style to pick one of twelve looks, or set the font, colors, outline and position yourself.
- Export. Tap Export, then Export video for a new video with the captions burned in, at the original resolution and frame rate. Export .srt gives you a subtitle file instead.
Three exports a month are free, with no watermark, and Lifetime access, $9.99 once in the US, removes the limit. CapiCap doesn't trim, add music or translate, so iMovie stays your editor and CapiCap only adds the captions.
Sources
Checked 17 October 2026.
- Apple Support Communities, Can iMovie detect speech and add subtitles automatically? (2016).
- Apple, Add titles in iMovie on iPhone, and the iMovie App Store listing.
- Apple Newsroom, Apple introduces Clips (March 2017): Live Titles in 36 languages.
- Apple Support, About the Clips app (11 October 2025).
- Apple Newsroom, Apple Creator Studio gets smarter, faster and more connected (30 June 2026).
- Apple, Final Cut Pro and Apple Creator Studio.
- Apple, Generate subtitles automatically in Final Cut Pro for Mac and Export closed captions.
