I love the Apple TV 4K. This is mainly because its picture and sound quality is far superior to other video streamers, but also because it has a lot of little handy features that make it a joy to use and interact with. My favorite of these is one that I use almost every day, but it seems that some people don’t even know it exists.
I am not saying that this is a completely unknown feature – you (yes, You) may already know about it – but several Apple TV owners I spoke to recently, including Which hi-fi system? My own Lewis Empson and my own brother were amazed when I told them about it and they have used it regularly ever since.
I’m here to make the lives of more Apple TV owners a little more satisfying by sharing the tip with everyone else.
The feature in question is colloquially known as the “What did they say?” feature, and it’s really just a neat Siri-related trick. If you’re watching something and miss a part of the dialogue that you think might be important, just hold down the Siri button on the side of the Apple TV’s remote and ask “What did he/she/they say?” and the Apple TV 4K will jump back 10 seconds, turn on subtitles so you can see what was said, and then automatically turn them off again a few seconds later.
That’s it. Simple, right? And yet absolutely brilliant. Whether you missed the dialogue because you were mumbling, have a thick accent, too many other sound effects, or because your partner chose exactly the wrong time to ask if you remembered to put out the trash cans, you can quickly and easily repeat it with subtitles.
The feature works with the Apple TV app, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, and probably more apps that I haven’t tested, and I highly recommend you give it a try.
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