Guide

No fansub yet? Watch a raw Japanese or Korean stream with subtitles on iPhone

To watch a raw Japanese or Korean stream while it airs, use an app that listens to the audio your iPhone is playing and translates it as it is spoken: Hono Translate floats the subtitles over YouTube, TikTok, Weverse, SHOWROOM or whatever app the stream is in, on the same iPhone, with no account and no second device, and it is free to try. A fansub needs the broadcast to be over and someone willing to do it; during a live there is neither, and for a smaller streamer, a radio show or a late-night talk there may never be one.

Which option fits your case

Your situationWhat works
A recording that has already been fansubbedThe fansub
A YouTube video with Japanese or Korean captionsYouTube's Auto-translate
A Korean Weverse live, with Digital MembershipWeverse's own subtitles
A live, as it airsAn app that translates the audio
A raw that nobody is going to subtitleAn app that translates the audio

The first three are worth checking before anything else, and the full list of what to try, in order goes through each of them. This guide is about the last two rows: the moment the stream is on, and the streams no one will ever get to.

Watch the raw with subtitles, step by step

  1. Start the stream in its own app — YouTube, Weverse, TikTok, Twitch, SHOWROOM, Niconico, SOOP or any other — and leave it playing.
  2. Open Hono Translate and choose the language being spoken, Japanese or Korean, and the language you read.
  3. Tap Start translating sound, confirm on the iOS sheet, then tap the empty space below the sheet.
  4. The subtitle window floats up on its own and the iPhone returns to the Home Screen. Go back to the stream.

The window floats over the stream and new lines appear as people speak. You can watch on headphones: iOS hands the app the audio directly, so the volume and the room make no difference. The app never learns which app is playing, which is why the same four steps cover every platform, including ones this page does not name.

What a fansub still does better

It is worth being plain about this, because a fansub and live subtitles are not the same thing, and a fan will notice the difference at once.

  • Names. Subbers know how the fandom spells each member, each nickname and each in-joke. A general-purpose translator does not, and may spell a name differently or translate it literally.
  • On-screen text. Japanese and Korean variety leans on captions burned into the picture. The app translates the voice only, not what is written on the screen.
  • Context. A fansub can add a note explaining a pun or a reference. Live subtitles have no time to.
  • Timing. A fansub is timed to the second. Live subtitles trail the speaker slightly, because a phrase has to be heard before it can be translated.

What live subtitles give you that a fansub cannot

  • Now, not tomorrow. You follow the live with everyone else, instead of reading the reactions first and the translation later.
  • Streams nobody subtitles. A small VTuber, a radio show, a fan meeting stream, a SHOWROOM room — most of it never gets a fansub at all.
  • Nothing to find or download. You stay in the official app, watching the official stream.

Tips for a live

  • Pick the spoken language before you start. It is fixed for the session. If a stream switches from Japanese to Korean for a long stretch, stop, change it and start again. The language you read can change at any time.
  • Talk transcribes better than singing. Background music, several members talking over each other and a noisy crowd all cost accuracy. A talk segment reads far better than a stage.
  • No iOS screen recording at the same time. iOS allows one broadcast session, and the app is using it. To keep a clip with the subtitles in it, use the app's own recording.
  • If the window disappears, another app opened its own picture-in-picture. The audio is still being shared; tap Open Subtitle Window to bring it back.

Questions

Is it as good as a fansub?

No. It gets the meaning of most sentences across while the stream is on, but it will not match a fansub on names, on-screen captions or jokes. It is for the live, and for the streams that will never be subtitled.

Does it work on SHOWROOM, Niconico, SOOP or bilibili?

Yes. It reads the audio your iPhone is playing rather than connecting to the platform, so any app that plays sound works the same way.

Does it work on VTuber streams and TV shows?

Yes, on anything your iPhone plays: VTuber streams on YouTube or Twitch, variety shows, dramas in a streaming app. Voice effects and loud background music make it less accurate.

Does it translate the captions on the screen?

No. It translates what is being said. Text burned into the picture, and the chat, are not translated.

Which languages can I read it in?

Japanese and Korean speech can be read in English, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German and the other languages Apple's translator handles on iPhone. The exact lists come from iOS itself.

Will the streamer or the platform know?

No. Recognition and translation run on your iPhone. Nothing is sent to the platform, and nothing leaves the device.

Can an iPhone app hear the sound another app is playing? Do I need a second phone?

Yes, and one iPhone is enough. Through screen sharing — the iOS sheet you confirm when you start — iOS hands the sound that is playing to the app you pick. Hono Translate takes that audio from iOS, not from the microphone, so headphones are fine, and its subtitles float in a Picture-in-Picture window over TikTok, YouTube or any other app.

For the setup on a particular platform, see how to translate any livestream on iPhone.

Guides for specific apps

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