Apple TV adds sign language interpreters, starting with F1 and Being Heumann

Apple said on November 10 that the Apple TV app will let viewers watch selected titles with a sign language interpreter. The feature goes live on November 13, alongside the global streaming premiere of Being Heumann.

Four titles now, more promised

The option is switched on in the Apple TV app settings. Once it is enabled, a Sign Language button appears during playback of supported Apple Original titles. Those titles carry a Sign Language icon, and search understands short phrases such as “with ASL”. Apple is also adding a collection called “Movies & Shows with American Sign Language”, meant as a single place to browse them.

The first titles are Being Heumann and the film F1. According to Apple, F1 will have both American Sign Language (ASL) and British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation. Apple names Way of the Warrior Kid and Greyhound as coming “later this year”, and says more Apple Originals will follow without giving titles or dates for them.

A footnote in the release sets the software requirement: iOS 27.2, iPadOS 27.2, macOS 27.2, tvOS 27.2 or visionOS 27.2 or later, or supported third-party devices running the latest app software. The Apple TV service costs $14.99 per month with a seven-day free trial, and Apple lists the app as available in 170 countries and regions. The release does not say whether every sign language option is offered in every one of those regions, or which BSL or ASL titles will be offered where.

Signers, not software, shape the performance

Apple stresses that the interpretation was designed and tested by Deaf and native signers, and that each performance is made to suit the film it accompanies. Daniel Durant, who appears in Being Heumann, directed the film’s sign language interpretation. In the release he said it took “a lot of care to ensure every translation captured the emotion and meaning of the story.”

The release does not describe how the interpreter is shown on screen. It does not say whether the picture can be moved or resized, and it does not say whether the feature works with AirPlay or with every supported third-party device. The claim that the experience is easy to set up and well tested comes from Apple and has not been independently checked.

A small start next to Netflix’s catalog push

Four named titles is a modest beginning when set against what rivals have been reporting. In July, Netflix agreed a deal with SignUp Media to add ASL to its Kids & Family content, according to a report by Stuff that cites IndieWire. That covered about 200 hours across 73 titles, finished in two months, using human interpreters rather than AI. The report gave no consumer launch date.

The same search turned up an approach at HBO Max that relies on separate versions of titles with and without ASL, rather than a toggle, according to search results summarizing its accessibility page. Apple’s per-title button sits closer to the on/off model, and it adds the BSL option for F1, which the Netflix report does not mention.

The two catalogs are different in kind. Apple’s library is built around its own productions, and the release only promises interpretation on Apple Original titles. Netflix’s initial batch is aimed at children’s and family viewing. Which approach reaches Deaf viewers faster will depend on how quickly Apple adds titles after the first four. Apple’s footnote ties the feature to the 27.2 software generation, so anyone on an older device would need to update first.

The film that launches it

The timing is deliberate. Being Heumann follows disability rights activist Judy Heumann, played by Ruth Madeley, and the 1977 sit-in in San Francisco. It was directed by Siân Heder, who also directed CODA. Apple describes CODA as the first film with a predominantly Deaf cast to win the Best Picture honor. Screen Daily reports that the film opened the Toronto International Film Festival and had a US theatrical release on November 6, with streaming the following week; its review lists the runtime as 127 minutes.

Sarah Herrlinger, Apple’s senior director of Global Accessibility Policy and Initiatives, called the feature “an exciting step forward” for Deaf audiences. For viewers, the practical change is that interpretation becomes a built-in setting rather than a separate browser extension or a different version of a title. The open questions are coverage and consistency: how fast the list grows, and whether non-US viewers get BSL or other sign languages beyond the two Apple has named.