One of the best features of the Apple TV 4K is one you might not know about

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‘What did he say?’

4K TV streamer: Apple TV 4K
(Image credit: What Hi-Fi?)

I love the Apple TV 4K. Primarily, that’s because its picture and sound quality are far superior to that of other video streamers, but it’s also because it has lots of little useability features that just make it a pleasure to use and interact with. My favourite of those is one that I use most days, but it seems that some people don’t even know it exists.

Now, I’m not saying that it’s a completely unknown feature – you (yes, you) may well already know about it – but several Apple TV owners who I’ve spoken to recently, including What Hi-Fi?’s own Lewis Empson and my very own brother, were amazed when I told them about it, and they’ve used it regularly since.

So, I’m here to make the lives of more Apple TV owners a little bit more satisfying by sharing the tip with everyone else.

The feature in question is known colloquially as the ‘what did they say?’ feature, and it’s really just a neat Siri-related trick. If you’re watching something and you miss a bit of dialogue that you think might be important, simply hold down the Siri button on the side of the Apple TV’s remote and ask "What did he/she/they say?", and the Apple TV 4K will skip back 10 seconds, turn on subtitles so you can see what was said, and then automatically turn them back off again a few seconds later.

That’s it. Simple, hey? Yet also absolute genius. Whether you’ve missed the dialogue due to mumbling, a tough accent, too many other sound effects or because your partner picked precisely the wrong time to ask whether you’ve remembered to put the bins out, you can quickly and easily repeat it with subtitles.

The feature works with the Apple TV app, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and presumably more apps that I’ve not tested, and I heartily recommend that you give it a go.

MORE:

The Apple TV 4K is comfortably the best streamer, but only if you change these settings

Read the full Apple TV 4K review

These are the best media streamers you can buy right now

Tom Parsons
Tom Parsons

Tom Parsons has been writing about TV, AV and hi-fi products (not to mention plenty of other 'gadgets' and even cars) for over 15 years. He began his career as What Hi-Fi?'s Staff Writer and is now the TV and AV Editor. In between, he worked as Reviews Editor and then Deputy Editor at Stuff, and over the years has had his work featured in publications such as T3, The Telegraph and Louder. He's also appeared on BBC News, BBC World Service, BBC Radio 4 and Sky Swipe. In his spare time Tom is a runner and gamer.

1 Comment Comment from the forums
  • wackymatt
    Here is another feature people don't know about the Apple TV4k, the lack of support of iPlayer UHD! I wish I knew this before buying as this is not covered in any reviews that I read

    I bought into the hype based on the numerous positive reviews (similar to this review) on the Apple TV 4k and decided to buy one as an upgrade to my amazon fire stick 4k max.

    What a mistake that was. Along with the lack of UHD support on the iPlayer, the standard iPlayer HD content was dreadful in picture quality when doing a side by side comparison to the Amazon stick both plugged straight into my Sony XW7000 so I could switch quickly from one to the other.

    Once I learnt how to install Netflix after a Google (The Apple box has such a poor interface, it was so frustrating to use), another comparison showed that the 4k content on the Amazon stick picture quality was superior.

    After 30 minutes of evaluation and disappointment I decided re-pack the Apple TV and send it back for a full refund. If I could find anything positive about buying this product, I would say that the remote doesn't creak whilst holding it unlike the Amazon one.
    Reply