Subtitles

Zuno plays the subtitles that come with your media, whether they are built into the video or stored as separate files on your server. This page covers choosing a subtitle track, changing how subtitles look, and having the right ones appear automatically.

Choosing subtitles during playback

Start a video, tap once to show the player controls, and open the Subtitles option. From there you can:

Pick any subtitle track available for the video.
Choose Auto to let Zuno enable the best track for your preferred languages.
Turn subtitles off.

For series, your most recent choice is remembered per show, including turning subtitles off, so the next episode starts the way you left it.

The subtitle formats Zuno supports

Zuno handles the common subtitle types, both embedded in the video and as separate sidecar files stored alongside it:

Plain text subtitles, such as SubRip (.srt).
Styled subtitles (Advanced SubStation Alpha, .ass and .ssa), which carry their own fonts, colours, positioning, and effects.
Image-based subtitles, such as Blu-ray (PGS) and DVD subtitles.

Styled subtitles

Styled subtitles are designed by hand, with specific fonts, colours, on-screen positions, signs and typesetting, and effects like karaoke. Zuno shows them exactly as they were authored, including any fonts built into the subtitle file, and renders them sharply at your video’s resolution.

Because styled and image-based subtitles carry their own design, the appearance settings below do not change them. Those settings apply to plain text subtitles.

Changing how subtitles look

Open Settings → Playback → Subtitle Appearance to style plain text subtitles, with a live preview that updates as you go. You can adjust:

Font, from a set of built-in typefaces.
Colour and weight.
Size, and a border outline around the text with your own choice of thickness and colour, which makes captions stand out clearly against any scene.
A shadow, and a background panel behind the text with its own colour.
Vertical position, to lift subtitles higher up the screen.

The border, shadow and background are independent, so you can combine them however you like.

Use Reset to Defaults at any time to return to Zuno’s standard look.

Subtitles over HDR

Bright captions can bloom on HDR and OLED screens. Turn on Reduce Brightness on HDR to gently dim subtitles while HDR video is playing, and use HDR Brightness to set the level that suits your display. This only affects HDR content.

Where your appearance settings apply

Subtitle appearance can sync across your devices through iCloud. Choose how under the appearance settings:

Per Device Type (the default) keeps a separate look for each kind of device, so your Apple TV and your iPad each hold a size that suits their screen.
All Devices shares one look across everything signed in to your account.
This Device Only keeps the look on this device and never syncs it.

Turning subtitles on automatically

Open Settings → Playback to set subtitles up to appear on their own:

Preferred subtitle languages: add the languages you want, in order. When a video starts, Zuno tries your first choice, then the next, and enables the best matching track it finds.
Subtitles Always On: start videos with subtitles enabled whenever a suitable track is available.

As with choosing subtitles by hand, your most recent choice is remembered per show.

Showing subtitles when you skip back

Turn on Show Subtitles on Rewind to briefly show subtitles whenever you skip backwards, so you can catch a line of dialogue you missed, then have them hide again on their own. You can set how long they stay on screen.

Downloading subtitles

On Jellyfin servers with the OpenSubtitles plugin installed and configured, you can search for and download subtitles straight from the player’s Subtitles option without leaving the video. Once a subtitle finishes downloading, it appears in the list ready to select.

If subtitles do not look right

Nothing appears: open the Subtitles option and check a track is selected, or set your preferred subtitle languages so the right one is chosen automatically.
You cannot change how some subtitles look: styled and image-based subtitles keep their own appearance and are not affected by the appearance settings.
The wrong language starts each time: set your preferred subtitle languages in order, and remember your choice is saved per show.

For more help, see Troubleshooting & FAQ and Playback problems.