Apple will start offering sign language interpretation on Apple Original movies in the Apple TV app on Nov. 13, with American Sign Language and British Sign Language available for the racing film F1. The option arrives the same day Being Heumann, a drama about disability rights activist Judy Heumann, begins streaming worldwide. Apple announced the feature on Nov. 10.
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Apple frames the interpretation as a crafted performance rather than a machine-made overlay. The company says it was designed and tested by Deaf and native signers, and that each performance is built to fit the film it accompanies. Sarah Herrlinger, Apple’s senior director of Global Accessibility Policy and Initiatives, is quoted in the announcement saying, “Accessibility is a core value at Apple.” For many Deaf viewers, American Sign Language is a first language with its own grammar, which is why a signed track can offer something that English captions alone do not.
Turning on the Sign Language button in Apple TV settings
According to Apple’s announcement, viewers first switch the feature on in the Apple TV app settings. After that, a Sign Language option appears on supported Apple Original titles, and pressing the Sign Language button during playback brings up a menu over the movie. Supported titles carry a Sign Language icon, and the search bar understands phrases such as “with ASL.” A new collection called Movies & Shows with American Sign Language gathers the supported titles in one place, so nobody has to open each film page to find out. Apple’s release does not describe the size or position of the interpreter, saying only that the Sign Language menu appears over the movie.
The software bar is version 27.2 or later of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS or visionOS, while supported third-party devices need the latest version of the app. Apple TV itself costs $14.99 per month, with a seven-day free trial for new subscribers. Apple also advertises a limited-time offer of three months free for customers who buy and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV 4K or Mac, limited to one offer per Family Sharing group, with plans renewing automatically until cancelled.
Apple TV launched on Nov. 1, 2019, and Apple says it is offered in 170 countries and regions on more than 1 billion screens. Apple Original films, documentaries and series have collected 919 awards and 3,829 nominations. The sign language option is confined to Apple Original titles in Apple’s announcement, so licensed films and shows in the app sit outside it.
Being Heumann and the 1977 sit-in
Apple Original Films’ Being Heumann was directed by Siân Heder, the Academy Award winner behind CODA, and stars Ruth Madeley as Judy Heumann, with Mark Ruffalo as the bureaucrat she confronts. Rebekah Taussig co-wrote the screenplay. The story follows Heumann and a coalition of activists in 1977, when their protest became the longest occupation of a federal building in U.S. history; Apple sets the action in San Francisco and puts the number of protesters at more than 100. The film opened in select theaters on Nov. 6, closed the 40th AFI Fest in Los Angeles on Oct. 25, and reaches Apple TV on Nov. 13.
Daniel Durant, who appears in the film, also directed its sign language interpretation. Apple quotes him calling it incredibly meaningful to see the language represented onscreen. Putting a cast member in charge of the interpretation fits the company’s stated approach of leaning on Deaf and native signers. Heder’s earlier film with Apple Original Films, CODA, is the other reason the pairing draws attention: Being Heumann is her second collaboration with the company, and the sit-in drama arrives with its accessibility option attached from the first day of streaming.
F1 in ASL and BSL, and Apple’s Formula 1 footprint
F1 is the one title Apple names with two sign languages, American Sign Language and British Sign Language. The sport behind that film has its own Apple TV footprint: in October 2025 Apple said it was becoming the exclusive new broadcast partner for Formula 1 in the U.S., and a March 2026 post announced that the season was starting exclusively on Apple TV in the U.S. Apple’s Nov. 10 release does not state which sign language Being Heumann will carry at launch, only that the feature debuts alongside the film. The two languages are named for F1 alone, so whether later titles will offer one or both is not something the announcement settles.
Greyhound, Way of the Warrior Kid and what Apple left open
Apple lists Way of the Warrior Kid and Greyhound as later-this-year additions, with more Apple Original titles to follow, but gives no release dates for the interpretation on either. The Sign Language icon, the “with ASL” search phrase and the dedicated collection are the three places where supported titles are meant to be found, which is how additions should surface as they arrive. Deaf stories are not new to the platform: in December 2024 Apple announced the documentary Deaf President Now, about the historic Gallaudet University protests.
Apple’s own wording leaves the scope open. The company says more Apple Original titles will follow Way of the Warrior Kid and Greyhound, and it offers no count or schedule beyond Nov. 13 and the later-this-year window.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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