AetherAether / Using Aether
Audio and subtitles
Choosing audio and subtitle tracks, language preferences, subtitle style, sync controls, dialogue enhancement, subtitle files and OpenSubtitles.
Choosing tracks
- Before playback: a title's page has an Audio & Subtitles section listing every track. Tap one to start with it; the section also explains what Aether's automatic choice will pick, and why.
- During playback: open the player's settings (on Apple TV, swipe down) and choose Audio or Subtitles.
Language preferences
In Settings ▸ Playback ▸ Audio & Subtitles:
| Setting | Choices |
|---|---|
| Audio Language | Source default, or a language |
| Fallback Audio Language | None, Original language, or a language — used when the first choice isn't in the file |
| Subtitle Language | Source default, Off, or a language |
| Fallback Subtitle Language | As above |
| Auto-Select Subtitles | Auto, Full (default), Forced Only or Never |
| Subtitles on Rewind | Off, 10, 15 (default), 20 or 30 seconds — briefly shows subtitles after you skip back, when subtitles are off |
Subtitle style
Settings ▸ Playback ▸ Audio & Subtitles ▸ Subtitle Style:
| Option | Values (default first) |
|---|---|
| Size | Standard, Small, Large, Extra Large |
| Font | Default, Avenir, Rounded, Serif, Monospaced |
| Style | Default, Outline, Drop Shadow, Background Box, None |
| Position | Bottom, Raised, Top |
| Placement | In Black Bars, Over Video |
With everything at its default, the system's caption style (from the device's accessibility settings) applies. Styled ASS subtitles, and subtitles your server burns into the picture, keep their own look.
Sync
In the player's Playback Options:
- Subtitle Sync — move subtitles Earlier or Later in 0.5-second steps, or Reset Sync.
- Audio Sync — move the sound up to ±2 seconds in 0.1-second steps, for PrismCore and Prism playback. On the Mac it is available with Prism only.
Enhance Dialogue
Enhance Dialogue in the player's settings makes speech easier to follow: Off, Enhance or Enhance More. It is not available with Prism or when the server is transcoding. With Apple's player playing the original file it lifts the centre channel of a multichannel soundtrack (where dialogue lives) and lowers the rest, and on stereo raises the middle of the mix and lowers the sides. With PrismCore it uses dialogue-enhanced tracks the engine builds, which need a soundtrack with a centre channel — so for stereo titles played through PrismCore the control is not shown.
Subtitle files and picture subtitles
- Sidecar files. On SMB, WebDAV and local sources,
.srt,.vtt,.assand.ssafiles next to a video are matched by name — for exampleDune.cs.forced.srtfor a Czech forced track..supand.idxfiles play with Prism. - Picture-based subtitles (PGS from Blu-ray, DVD and DVB) are turned into text on the device by PrismCore — on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Vision Pro — so they work with Picture in Picture and AirPlay and keep Atmos and Dolby Vision playing.
- Closed captions carried in the video (CEA-608, common in TV recordings) appear as subtitle tracks; Aether never switches them on by itself.
OpenSubtitles
Sign in with your own OpenSubtitles account in Settings ▸ Services & Sync ▸ Sign In to OpenSubtitles. Downloads count against your account's own daily allowance, and Aether shows how many Downloads Left Today you have. Then use Find Subtitles Online… on a title's page or at the top of the player's Subtitles menu. Downloaded subtitles are kept with the title; through a Nexus server they are shared with your household.
Music in a title
What's This Song? in the player identifies music playing in a film or episode, and Songs in This Title lists what was found. With Recognize Music Automatically (Settings ▸ Playback) songs are recognized as you watch. Recognition listens to the title's own audio, never the microphone. It is a Supporter feature; without Supporter you see a sample.