[Feature]: auto translation #1369
Description
Before submitting
- I searched existing issues and discussions for this request.
- This request describes one focused feature or improvement.
Problem
I watched an English-language video on YouTube that had automatic Arabic subtitles; however, these automatic subtitles are not available in Flow. Could you please look into this and resolve the issue?
Proposed behavior
None
Relevant area
Lyrics, subtitles, comments, or live chat
Alternatives considered
None
Privacy, security, and resource impact
None
Additional context
No response
Reacted by WaseemY007
Activity
WaseemY007 commentedon Oct 22, 2026
I conquer...
The toast message says: "translation unavailable.. showing English"
The arabic videos shows Arabic cc with no issues
A-EDev commentedon Nov 14, 2026
Thanks for the report, and for confirming the "Translation unavailable" message.
We found the cause. YouTube refuses auto-translated captions when they are requested through the network library Flow uses (OkHttp), and serves the same request over Cronet, Chrome's network stack, which is what NewTube uses. On the same phone, network and video, every translated request over OkHttp was refused and every one over Cronet loaded, Arabic included.
#2066 fetches captions over the Cronet that is built into Android 14 and newer, so auto-translated captions will load there once it reaches a nightly. The language comes from Settings › Player & playback › Preferred Subtitle Language.
Android 13 and older don't have Cronet built in. Bundling our own copy would add about 6 MB to the app (about 24 MB to the universal APK), so that is on hold until we free up some space in the app. Until then, on those versions (and with Flow's proxy setting on), Flow keeps showing the original captions when a translation is refused.