Choose and adjust subtitles

Silo is in active development before 1.0. These guides are updated frequently.

Choose a subtitle track

While a title is playing, open the subtitle list and choose a track:

• Web: select the captions button in the player controls.
• iPhone and iPad: open Audio & Subtitles.
• Android phones and tablets: open Audio and subtitles.
• Apple TV and Android TV: open the playback options and choose the Subtitles tab.

Choose Off to hide subtitles. The same language can appear more than once when the title has several subtitle tracks in that language.

When Silo converts the video for your device, the mobile and TV apps get a text subtitle from inside the video file along with the video, so it appears as soon as playback starts. Turning on a subtitle from inside the file, or switching to another one, restarts the video at the same spot, which takes a moment.

If the language you want isn’t there, find, upload, or generate subtitles.

Set your usual language and look

In the web app, open Settings > Language & Subtitles. The mobile and TV apps have a Subtitles page under Settings. There you can choose:

• your subtitle language
• when subtitles appear (the behavior setting)
• whether to show forced subtitles, which cover only selected dialogue or on-screen text
• the size, font, color, background, and position of the text

You can also change the look while you watch: choose Appearance… in the web subtitle menu, Appearance in Playback Settings on iPhone and iPad, or Subtitle style under Playback settings > Playback Options on Android phones and tablets.

Some subtitles are pictures or carry their own styling, so not every setting changes them. To use a different look on one device, see Preferences.

Fix subtitles that are out of sync

Silo syncs each subtitle you download or upload to the video’s audio when it’s added, so most need no delay. Sync fixes subtitles that start too early or too late, run at the wrong speed because they were made for a version with a different frame rate, or slowly drift because they come from a different cut of the film. Other subtitles, such as AI subtitles and subtitle files beside the video, are synced the first time someone plays them. The lines on screen move to the new timing without a notice.

Only SRT, WebVTT, ASS, and SSA subtitles can be synced. Subtitles inside the video file keep their own timing, and so do other formats, such as .sub files.

Sync a subtitle to the audio

In the web app, select the subtitle in the subtitle menu and choose Sync to audio under Timing. Anyone who can play the title can sync its subtitles, and the new timing applies to everyone who watches it. Reset timing goes back to the subtitle’s original timing, also for everyone. Demo servers don’t allow either; the menu then shows This server doesn’t allow changing subtitle timing.

While Silo syncs, a card in the top-right corner of the player shows how far it got, also in fullscreen: Listening to the audio…, then Matching lines to speech…. Listening takes most of the time. Once Silo has the new timing, the card shows Applying new timing… until the corrected lines are on screen, then Subtitles synced with the change, such as −3.0 s. The card also follows the automatic sync of a subtitle you downloaded or uploaded. When someone else changes the timing of the subtitle you’re watching, the player shows Subtitle timing updated once the new lines load.

Sync never changes the subtitle file. Silo saves the correction and applies it each time it sends the subtitle. Editing or replacing a subtitle file beside the video, or replacing the video, drops the correction. Silo syncs the subtitle again the next time someone plays it.

The mobile and TV apps and Jellyfin apps play the synced timing the next time they load the subtitle. To start a sync or follow one, use the web app.

Check how a subtitle was synced

In the web app, the subtitle menu shows how each subtitle was synced, under its name:

• Syncing… 40%: Silo is still working on it.
• Synced −3.2 s: Silo moved it earlier or later by that much. If it also corrected the speed, the line ends with the change, such as · 25→23.976 fps or · ×1.0008 speed.
• Already in sync: the timing was already right.
• Doesn’t match this video: the subtitle doesn’t line up with the audio, usually because it was made for a different release or title. Silo leaves its timing alone. Choose another file that matches your copy of the title; a delay won’t fix it.
• Sync failed: Silo couldn’t finish. Select the subtitle to see why under Timing: the subtitle changed during the sync, the video has no audio Silo can read, or the server was busy. If the subtitle changed or the server was busy, try Sync to audio again.

Change the delay on one device

If subtitles still show up too early or too late, change the subtitle delay. The delay applies only on the device you’re using, on top of the synced timing:

• Web: in the subtitle menu, use - and + next to Delay. Reset sets it back to zero.
• iPhone and iPad: open Playback Settings and choose Subtitle Delay.
• Android phones and tablets: open Playback settings > Playback Options > Audio & subtitle sync > Subtitle delay.
• Apple TV and Android TV: open the Subtitles tab and choose Delay.

Change it a little at a time and replay a line to check.