Why live captions matter
Live captionsFast summary
Make your livestream understandable for everyone
Castream turns your voice into live captions instantly—even with accents, background noise, or fast speaking.
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- Accessibility for viewers who are hard of hearing or watching with audio off.
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- Better retention—captioned streams keep people watching longer.
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- Platform consistency—captions appear on every destination you stream to.
Why captions boost engagement
- People scroll less when captions hook them in the first seconds.
- Mobile audiences often watch muted—captions fix that instantly.
- Non-native English speakers rely on subtitles to follow your content.
- Replays become more searchable and digestible when captions are stored.
Whisper-level accuracy
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- Handles fast speech, accents, and slang better than standard APIs.
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- Recovers well even in mildly noisy environments.
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- Optimized for low-latency streaming.
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- Works the same from mobile or desktop.
How Castream Live Captions work
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. Capture audio | Castream reads audio from your phone or OBS feed. |
| 2. Whisper transcription | Your speech is turned into text in real time. |
| 3. Caption rendering | Captions are generated with consistent timing + style. |
| 4. Multiplatform output | Every destination receives synced captions instantly. |
Works everywhere you broadcast
- YouTube Live (captions auto-ingested)
- Twitch (supported caption formats)
- Facebook Live
- RTMP destinations that accept subtitle channels
- Castream web player with built-in subtitle track
Mobile creators
- Captions run directly on your phone—no laptop needed.
- Lower latency for IRL streams and vertical content.
- Better for windy/outdoor environments thanks to smoothing.
Desktop & studio setups
- No plugins required—just send audio to Castream.
- Captions stay in sync even as bitrates fluctuate.
- Perfect for podcasts, webinars, gaming, and long shows.
Boost discoverability with transcripts (coming soon)
- Automatic transcripts saved to your Vault for editing or reposting.
- Searchable replays—viewers can jump to the moment they care about.
- Topic detection for highlights and chapter creation.
- Use transcripts to generate Shorts/Reels automatically (AI Assistant).
Tips for cleaner captions
- Use a mic close to your mouth—Whisper performs best with direct audio.
- Avoid overlapping voices; designate who’s speaking if there are multiple hosts.
- Do a 10–15 second test stream to verify sync and clarity.
- Use consistent phrasing for segments (e.g., “Okay, next topic…”).
Need help?
Tell us your audio setup and we’ll help tune your captions for clarity.
support@castream.io