Subtitle translation not working

[martusi61]

Subtitle translation has stopped working for a few days now. I've tried changing various options for the subtitles in YouTube add-on and input stream, without success. However, if during playback, from the subtitle menu, I change the language and activate and deactivate the function, after trying several times, I can sometimes get the translation. This is documented in the log file.

Please provide any relevant information about your setup

• Add-on YouTube Version: 7.2.0.3
• Add-on Input stream Version: 21.5.15
• Kodi Version: 21.2.0
• Kodi GUI Language: Italian
• Operating System: Android TV 11
• Operating System Language: Italian

kodi_log.zip

[MoojMidge]

YouTube are rate limiting requests for subtitles. You can try one of the more recent beta versions which have some related changes that may improve the situation.

https://github.com/anxdpanic/plugin.video.youtube/releases/tag/v7.3.0%2Bbeta.2

After installing the beta version please ensure that you run the Setup Wizard to make sure that correct subtitle settings are applied.

[martusi61]

Unfortunately, the situation hasn't changed; in fact, sometimes it seems more difficult to activate the translation.Anyway, thank you very much for your interest.

[MoojMidge]

sometimes it seems more difficult to activate the translation

Can you get an updated log?

[martusi61]

Here it is, today out of three videos the first one saw the translation in about 2 minutes, the last one instead was viewed immediately.

kodi_log.zip

[MoojMidge]

After installing the beta version please ensure that you run the Setup Wizard to make sure that correct subtitle settings are applied.

Need to do this and ensure that a performance preset is chosen to ensure that appropriate subtitle formats are used.

Alternatively can do it manually by enabling YouTube addon > Settings > General > Stream features > WebVTT subtitles

While the choice of subtitle formats may not have any impact on the issue, some other third party clients have forced the use of SRT subtitles in an attempt to avoid the rate limiting.

However you are currently being rate limited while already using SRT subtitles, and in my limited testing it was SRT subtitles that were rate limited while WebVTT subtitles were not.

Try again using WebVTT subtitles.

[martusi61]

I did several tests, first of all I enabled "WebTV subtitle", as you recommended, without success, then I activated the settings wizard thus resetting all the My previous edits, still without success. After running these tests, I haven't seen a single translation.However, I noticed that if I choose to preload the subtitles, then in the videos the translation choice does not appear, if I choose "no", instead, I get the automatically generated language plus the translation even if empty.I hope this helps you, I remain at your disposal for any other tests, for me it is really important to translate the subtitles because I use different languages to keep myself informed on various events of the world.

[MoojMidge]

if I choose to preload the subtitles, then in the videos the translation choice does not appear

That is by design - only the primary selected language is downloaded.

Otherwise you will end up needing to download all the subtitle files before video playback starts, delaying playback to download a potentially large number of files that will never be used, and also increasing the chances of being rate limited or blocked by YouTube.

I get the automatically generated language plus the translation even if empty

Can you get a log of this using the WebVTT subtitles?

[martusi61]

Sorry for the delay, I was out. I enabled WebVTT with "No" to preloading subtitles. I couldn't see the translation in the first video. Luckily, the second one had...The audio track was already translated. The third one surprised me because the translated subtitles arrived immediately after selecting them.I hope this helps. Thanks and keep up the good work.

kodi_log.zip

[martusi61]

In the meantime, prompted by the lack of subtitle translation in the add-on, I switched to viewing on my tablet and my smartphone, but I noticed that even on the latter the translated subtitles do not appear, exactly like with the add-on.I then switched to Android TV, the same one where I installed Kodi with the add-on, and finally the translated subtitles appear!In all three systems I use the same Google YouTube account. It seems therefore that the player you connect to is essential in handling subtitles.

[MoojMidge]

It is interesting that the same problem is occurring even using official clients. Makes it seem more like a YouTube bug, and also means that it is unlikely that an effective solution can be found for use in this addon.

Can you identify the type and version of the YouTube app you are using on your tablet, phone and TV?

[martusi61]

Surely.
Smartphone Huawei P30, Android 10 Vers.Youtube 20.34.37 (it does not work)
Tablet Xiaomi Pad 6, Android 14, Vers.Youtube 20.34.37 (it does not work)
TV BOX Mecool KM7 Android TV (certified), Android 11, Vers.Youtube 5.30.304/web_20250827_12_RC00 (this work)

[martusi61]

I also tried NewPipe, an alternative YouTube player, behaves exactly like smartphones and tablets, only some videos have translations.At the moment the only one that works with all videos is the client for my Android TV, all the others do not show translated subtitles, but only automatically generated ones..

[MoojMidge]

You can try and install this test version of the addon https://github.com/MoojMidge/plugin.video.youtube/archive/refs/heads/v7.3.zip and see if improves anything.