How to Get Live Captions During Phone Calls

Live captions display spoken words as on-screen text during phone calls and videos — helpful for hearing loss, noisy environments, or following along more accurately.

In this guide (4 steps):

1.Enable Live Caption on Android (Google Pixel and most Android phones)
2.Use Google's Phone App Call Captions on Pixel
3.Enable Phone Call Captions on iPhone
4.Use Caption Call services for landlines

Enable Live Caption on Android (Google Pixel and most Android phones)

~42s

On Google Pixel and many Android phones running Android 10 or later: press a volume button on the side of your phone → a small caption icon (a box with lines representing text) appears below the volume slider. Tap it to turn on Live Caption. A caption bar appears at the bottom of your screen transcribing any audio playing. This works for videos, podcast, voice messages, and even phone calls. To access through settings: SettingsAccessibilityLive Caption → toggle ON.

Quick Tip

Quick Tip: Live Caption also works during phone calls on Pixel phones. When you receive or make a call, the caption bar appears at the bottom of the screen automatically (if Live Caption is enabled) showing what the other person is saying.

Use Google's Phone App Call Captions on Pixel

~26s

Google Pixel phones (3a and later) have a dedicated call captioning feature in the Phone app. Open the Phone app → tap the three-dot menu → SettingsAccessibility → "Call captions." Turn it on. During any phone call, real-time captions of both sides of the conversation appear on screen. You can pause, resume, and review the transcript after the call. This is significantly more accurate than standard voice-to-text because it processes audio in real time.

Enable Phone Call Captions on iPhone

~36s

iPhone does not have the same live call captioning as Pixel, but offers similar features: Go to SettingsAccessibilityLive Captions (Beta) → turn on "Live Captions." This captions audio from apps, phone calls, and FaceTime calls. Also useful: SettingsAccessibilityAudio/Visual → "Phone Noise Cancellation" reduces background noise during calls, making it easier to hear. For iPhone FaceTime specifically, Live Captions appear as a scrolling text bar during the call.

Quick Tip

Quick Tip: Live Captions on iPhone is available on iPhone 11 and later. The feature is labeled "Beta" in settings, which means it is still being improved — accuracy is generally good but not perfect.

Use Caption Call services for landlines

~22s

For traditional landline phones: Caption Call and CaptionCall are free services (funded by the FCC) for people with hearing loss. You get a special phone with a screen that displays real-time captions of every call. CapTel phones are similar. These require a broadband internet connection but are completely free for qualifying users. Apply at captionedtelephone.com. The service includes a free captioned phone and professional setup.

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Captions — text transcriptions of spoken words appearing in real time — are no longer just for television. Modern smartphones can caption phone calls, video calls, and any audio playing on the device. This is transformative for anyone with hearing loss or who struggles to hear in noisy environments.

Google's Android phones have the most advanced captioning tools. iPhones also offer captioning through accessibility settings. This guide covers the most practical captioning options for everyday phone calls and general device audio.

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