Chinese subtitle display problems in the new version of iPadOS 18 & iOS 18

Plex Players Mobile Devices
1

Server Version#: 1.41.0.8976
APP Version#: 8.40
Device and software version#: Apple iPad M1 , iPadOS 18.0 (22A3354) & iOS 18.0

When playing videos with SRT and ASS Chinese subtitles, it may cause the playback to be stuck and unable to watch normally due to the Chinese font. It must be played normally in Settings-Advanced-Use Old Video Player switch.

It has nothing to do with whether the subtitle file is built-in (MKV) or external. Chinese subtitles that cannot be displayed will be replaced by ▯ ▯ ▯ ▯ ▯ ▯ ▯.

This problem does not occur on iPadOS 17.7 or earlier.

This problem has existed since iPadOS 18 beta1, and I hope it can be solved as soon as possible! Thank you very much!

Link to earlier response to this issue: Bug：stutters when playing videos with Chinese SRT subtitles

The above content uses machine translation, and the original text is as follows:
服务器版本#：1.41.0.8976
APP软件版本#：8.40
设备和软件版本： Apple iPad M1 , iPadOS 18.0 (22A3354) & iOS 18.0

当播放含有SRT、ASS中文字幕的视频时，可能由于中文字体的原因将会导致播放卡顿无法正常观看，必须在 设置-高级-使用旧版视频播放器 开关 才可正常播放。

与字幕文件是否为 内置（MKV），外部 无关。无法显示的中文字幕将被替换为▯ ▯ ▯ ▯ ▯ ▯ ▯ ▯。

在iPadOS 17.7 或更早之前版本上并无此问题。

此问题从iPadOS 18 beta1 就已存在，希望能尽快解决！十分感谢！

更早反应此问题的链接：Bug：stutters when playing videos with Chinese SRT subtitles

1 Like
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Could you share a sample file? I haven’t tested anything in os 18 yet but I also don’t have many Chinese subtitles to test with.

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Firstly, I would like to clarify that English is not my native language, and all responses will be generated using machine translation. However, to avoid any misunderstandings, I will provide the original Chinese content at the end of each response in case there are any translation errors. I hope for your understanding in this matter!

Thank you very much for taking the time to address my support request amidst your busy schedule.

I have prepared 3 sample video files demonstrating the reproducible issue, as per your request. I have shared them with you via Google Drive for you and your team to evaluate.
Google Drive :发起请求 https://forums.plex.tv/t/887926 - Google Drive.

iOS 18 will be officially released on September 17, 2024 (local time in China), and this issue could significantly impact the viewing experience for users. I sincerely hope that the Plex team can address this issue as soon as possible!

Below is the relevant device information:

Server Version: 1.41.0.8992
Plex App Version: 8.39 & 8.40 (beta)
Affected device software versions: Apple iPadOS 18.0 (22A3354), iOS 18.0 (22A3354)

To reiterate, it is only available in version 18, and this problem does not exist in earlier versions before that. For example: iPadOS 17.6, 17.7; iOS 17.6, 17.7 and other earlier versions

The .eng.ass /.eng.srt subtitle file serves as a control group and can be displayed correctly under any circumstances.

首先我需要声明，我并非使用英语作为母语，所有回复的内容都会使用机器翻译。但为了确保不会产生歧义，我将会在每次回复后将简体中文的内容写在最后，以防因翻译出错导致理解上的偏差，还请谅解！

非常感谢您能在百忙之中关注到我这个支持请求。 我已按照要求制作了3个可复现状态的视频文件样本。并通过谷歌网盘向您分享，以供您和您的团队进行评估。 谷歌云盘测试视频分享地址：发起请求 https://forums.plex.tv/t/887926 - Google Drive

IOS 18 将在2024年09月17日（中国当地时间）正式推送，而这个问题将切实影响这部分用户的观看体验，再此希望Plex团队能尽快修复！

以下是设备信息：
Server Version: 1.41.0.8992
Plex App Version: 8.39 & 8.40（测试版）
受到影响的设备软件版本：Apple iPadOS 18.0 (22A3354)，iOS 18.0 (22A3354)

重申一下，仅限 18 版本，在此之前的更早版本不存在此问题。如：iPadOS 17.6，17.7；iOS 17.6，17.7 等等更早前的版本。

.eng.ass /.eng.srt 文件 是作为对照组，在任何情况下都可以正常显示

5

Thank you for the samples.
I’ll look into what is causing this issue.

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Thank you very much for your attention to this issue! But I also hope that you and your team can solve this problem as soon as possible, because there is not much time left before the official Apple push system!

非常感谢您能关注到这个问题！但我同时希望您和您的团队尽快解决这个问题，因为距离苹果正式推送系统的时间已经所剩无几了！

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I am also experienced this issue after upgrading to IOS18 on my iphone 14 Pro.

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I reproduced this and I am currently working on a fix that will hopefully go into our open beta.
This issue seems to be caused by Apple’s system font which is the default for captions.
This issue also affects other languages that require fonts to have certain glyphs.

I’ll be able to fix this by falling back to an appropriate font.

I have a workaround for tvOS if this helps:
Go to Settings > Accessibility > Hearing > Subtitles and Captioning > Style > Edit Styles
Create a New Style
For “Font”, you should be able to select “Helvetica”

This seems to work around the issue for now.

Unfortunately, I have not found a workaround for iOS.

Edit: This may not work for all languages. I’m seeing inconsistent behavior as i test more.

2 Likes
9

Just as I suspected, Apple changed the system font in iOS 18, but it seems Plex hardcoded the font name in their code without providing an option to change it. This likely caused the app to enter an infinite loop because it couldn’t find the specified font.

Ah, this has been a bug since the beta version released in June… I noticed this issue when Beta1 was released, and I thought it would be fixed before the official release. Surprisingly, the problem wasn’t addressed until after the official version was launched. As more people upgrade, they’re going to face the same issue. Nonetheless, I really appreciate your acknowledgment of the problem and your commitment to fixing the bug!

果然，被我大概猜对了。Apple 在18版本的系统中改变了字体，但Plex的代码可能写死了调用的需要调用的字体名，且没有更改选项，结果导致程序找不到字体陷入死循环。

哎，这毕竟这是一个从今年6月测试版就出现的BUG…… 当初测试版1的时候我就发现了这个问题，但我觉得BUG应该会在正式版发布前修复。但确实令我没想到，等正式版发布才开始解决问题……，可以遇见的是随着升级的的人来越来越多，大家都会面临一样的困境。
最后还是非常感谢您能承认问题，并声明修复BUG！

10

My problem was solved using this solution

11

I made a new post about a bug similar (possibly the same) as this bug (but English example). The workaround you’ve provided works for me. Changing the subtitle font to Avenir is a temporary fix.

iOS 18 messed up the system fonts (thanks apple!).

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I’m experiencing the same problem. It works on my Samsung TV, but on my iPhone with iOS 18, it shutter a lot when playing with Chinese subtitles and they are all swapped by squares. (And it works before update to ios18)

If I switch in the settings to use old player ID I have issues, it works and I can play videos with Chinese subtitles again.

I tried setting in the iOS app to always burn the subtitles, but it doesn’t change anything and still shutter the video and show squares. Looks like the burn always doesn’t work.

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Any update on this issue?
Edit: Issue is also present on macOS Sequoia. However the player has no stutter like on iPhone with iOS 18

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Yes we should have a fix for this bug in the next release.

3 Likes
15

I noticed that this issue has been fixed today, thank you very much to the plex team.
我注意到，此问题已在今天被修复，非常感谢plex团队。

Version: 8.40 (9370)
After this release, you will not be affected by the above feedback issues.

版本：8.40 (9370)
在此版本之后，将不受到以上反馈问题的影响。

16

Has it been updated yet, why is it still version 8.39.1 in my apple app store?

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Because version 8.40 is a beta version, it has not been publicly released.

18

Got it

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Hi thanks for the fixing. I confirmed that this issue has been fixed in version 1.41.0.8994, except for MacOS desktop client for Sequoia. MacOS desktop client never has the stuttering issue but font is still shown as squares. Could you help verify and fix it correspondingly in the next release? Thank you!

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Forgot to mention that my Plex server is running on Synology x64 DSM 7+, hence the version might be different from other server setup.

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I believe there might be some misunderstanding. The fix for this bug is on the player-side, not the server-side, as detailed below. If you’re still encountering this issue on macOS, the application that needs to be updated and fixed is Plex for Mac.

1 Like