Automatically generated captions are now available for all feed videos on Instagram and captions will be turned on by default. TikTok introduced this feature in April 2021, so it’s not surprising that Instagram did the same.
Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri said that “It’s a long time coming, but we’re excited to share a new tool that empowers those in the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities. Videos on Instagram will now have auto-generated captions, where you have the option to turn them off or on.”
What is wrong with Instagram’s Auto-Captions?
Even though it is a late but great feature, it’s still not good enough.
Let’s look at all the features that it’s currently missing.
1. Customization:
Your videos on Instagram feed will have black and white text captions along the bottom of the screen and you cannot change the font, size or location. You cannot change the color of the text either. Needless to say, you can do all of those and more on Subcap. You can also add emojis soon with our upcoming update.
2. Editing:
You don’t have the option to edit the auto-captions on Instagram. They will be auto-generated and that means lots of wrong captions which are doomed to become funny memes. Don’t risk it and edit your captions via Subcap.
3. Limited Language Options:
Instagram IGTV’s auto-generated captions are only available in 17 languages for now. Subcap supports 125 languages and their variants with great accuracy.
4. No Auto-Captioning for Stories or Reels:
Instagram hasn’t made any announcements about the auto-captions feature for Stories and Reels. In the meantime, you can use Subcap and post your videos on every social media platform including TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram Reels and Stories, IGTV, Facebook, Twitter, or via E-Mail, Whatsapp, etc.
As you can see above, Instagram’s auto-captioning feature is great for accessibility and more. However, it’s not quite there yet.
If you’d like to try Subcap, click the links below.
If you’d like to know why it’s a good idea to caption all your videos, read our blog post about it.