THE FILE RIGHT NEXT TO THE FILM
SRT subtitles on iPhone and CarPlay. One file, named to match.
To watch a movie with SRT subtitles on iPhone and CarPlay, keep the .srt file in the same folder as the video and give it the video’s name: Film.srt, Film.en.srt or Film.mkv.srt. Dashow finds that pairing on its own over SMB and WebDAV and lists it under Audio & Subtitles. Imported .srt and .vtt files join the same menu.
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A sidecar subtitle sits in the same folder and carries the video’s name: Film.srt, Film.en.srt or Film.mkv.srt.
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The track is named from the code at the front of the tag, so Film.zh-Hans.forced.srt lists as Chinese.
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Only .srt and .vtt are read as sidecar files, and the name match ignores capitalisation.
How it works
Your quick start
- 01
Put both files together
Keep the .srt beside the video in the same folder on your SMB or WebDAV share.
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Give it the video’s name
Rename the subtitle to the video’s name, so Film.mkv is joined by Film.srt or Film.en.srt.
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Open Audio & Subtitles
Start the video in Dashow and pick the track from the player’s Audio & Subtitles menu.
Keep the SRT file in the folder with the film.
A sidecar subtitle is a plain text file that lives outside the video rather than inside it. Put it in the same folder as the film on your NAS or in your WebDAV folder, where the video already sits. Dashow reads that folder when you open the video and pairs the two with no import step.
Subfolders are a separate place. A file at Subs/Film.srt and a film in the folder above it are two different listings, so move the SRT up to sit next to the video. For a copy you imported to the phone, bring the .srt in from Files the same way you brought the video in.
The name is what makes the match.
Three name shapes are recognised. Take the video’s name without its extension and add .srt, as in Film.srt. Take the video’s full file name including its extension and add .srt, as in Film.mkv.srt. Or put a tag between the two, as in Film.en.srt. Matching ignores case, so FILM.SRT pairs with Film.mkv. Film.srt and Film.mkv.srt pair just as well, so keep whichever one the download already gave you.
The tag has a size limit that keeps unrelated files apart. A tag longer than 16 characters, or one carrying more than two dot-separated parts, is read as another video’s name rather than a language, so Film.Extended.Cut.Directors.srt belongs to a film of that name and not to Film.mkv. Only .srt and .vtt are read as sidecars.
The tag before the extension is read as the language.
Film.en.srt arrives labelled English. Film.zh-Hans.forced.srt arrives as Chinese: the label is built from the code at the front of the tag, and a regional or forced qualifier stays in the file name for your own sorting. The tag is whatever sits between the video’s name and the subtitle extension, so a folder holding Film.en.srt, Film.fr.srt and Film.de.srt gives you three named choices instead of three identical rows.
Use the same language codes you already see on the phone: en, fr, de, ja, zh-Hans. A second part after the code carries a qualifier, as in zh-Hans.forced, and the file still pairs. The label comes from the file name rather than from the text inside, so renaming Film.srt to Film.ja.srt is enough to make it show up as Japanese.
Turn SRT subtitles on from the Audio & Subtitles menu.
Start the video and open Audio & Subtitles in the player. Every text track Dashow has found for that film is listed there: the sidecar files sitting beside it, the text tracks carried inside the container, and anything you imported. One list, one tap. A film with no sidecar beside it still shows whatever text tracks the container carries.
Importing covers the file already on the phone. Bring the .srt or .vtt in from Files and it joins the same menu. Those two extensions are the ones Dashow reads: SubRip text, and WebVTT as the W3C defines it. An AirDropped subtitle lands in Files too, so the same import works for it.
A Jellyfin, Emby or Plex film brings its own list.
Server libraries handle the pairing at their end. A Jellyfin or Emby film lists its server-side text subtitles, which covers both the sidecar files sitting in the library folder and the SubRip text tracks the server has indexed. A Plex film lists its sidecars. Each one is fetched on demand, at the moment you pick it.
A remembered subtitle language does the picking. Once a language is remembered, Dashow selects a matching server subtitle on its own when no embedded track speaks it, so the next episode opens with the subtitle already on. Over SMB and WebDAV there is no server index to ask, which is why the file name carries the whole job there.
Caption size and colour come from iOS Settings.
Imported subtitles follow the system caption style. iOS owns the look. Size, font, colour, edge and background all come from Settings → Accessibility → Subtitles & Captioning. Change the caption size in that panel and the text is larger the next time you press play, across every video in the library. The background setting is what keeps white text readable over a bright scene.
Subtitles kept beside a downloaded copy read with no network at all, so the pairing you set up on the home Wi-Fi still holds at a campsite, on a plane, or at a charging stop with an hour to fill. One case belongs elsewhere: a track that is listed and still shows nothing, or shows boxes instead of accents, goes to the guide on subtitles not showing on iPhone.
