NotebookLM is primarily advertised as an AI-powered research assistant, suggesting it's mainly designed for research purposes. However, I've found that using it only for research and study undersells what the tool is really capable of. I've used it for completely random tasks, like watching Netflix shows and reading books, but one of my favorite uses has been watching YouTube videos.
While I've been using it to consume YouTube content for quite a while now, I recently set up a "Watch Later" queue within NotebookLM, and it's undoubtedly one of the best ways to keep my YouTube viewing organized. Since then, I've been leaning more and more toward watching videos with NotebookLM rather than the traditional way.
That's opened my eyes to a lot of limitations that come with using NotebookLM for YouTube. Don't get me wrong -- the tool works surprisingly well for YouTube videos, but it obviously wasn't built with video watching as its main purpose. And that's exactly what pushed me to try another tool. After testing out a bunch of different ones, one finally stood out. To the point where I can confidently say this tool is even better than NotebookLM for watching YouTube videos.
Gistr lets you watch the video as you use AI to analyze it
You no longer need to rely on transcripts alone
Gistr, an AI-native notebook, is a relatively new AI tool, and I'm not exaggerating when I say it pretty much solves every flaw NotebookLM has when it comes to using it to watch YouTube videos. One of the biggest complaints I've had when using NotebookLM to watch videos is that you can't play the video within the tool once you've uploaded it.
If you really want to, the only option is to open the video in a separate tab, which completely breaks the flow. In fact, NotebookLM doesn't let you view any of your sources, whether that's a PDF, DOCX, or website URL, in their original form once they've been uploaded. When it comes to YouTube videos, you can only view the transcript (which is what NotebookLM uses to analyze the video), which isn't nearly the same as watching the video itself.
Gistr completely fixes this issue, and the best part is that you can still ask it questions and interact with the content using AI while the video plays. Once you add the YouTube video you'd like to watch in a Thread, which is essentially Gistr's version of a notebook in NotebookLM, you'll instantly be redirected to the chat interface, where you'll also find the video player embedded right next to the conversation.
From there, you can pause, skip, or jump to any part of the video right within Gistr. You can also expand the video to full screen and switch to Free mode to move the video player anywhere within the interface. I typically use NotebookLM to watch study-related videos, and not being able to see diagrams, charts, or visual explanations was a major drawback. So, I'm glad another AI tool has finally solved this issue.
The video's transcription is also clearly displayed
Follow along effortlessly with a synced transcript
Though having the option to watch the video as I follow along is important, there are times when I'd rather just focus on the transcript alone. Sometimes I miss a point while watching the video, so having a transcript lets me quickly catch every detail I might have overlooked. With NotebookLM, accessing the transcript is kind of a pain.
You need to head to the Sources panel, find the relevant video, and then click on it to access the transcript. Given that the original video isn't displayed within NotebookLM anyway, the transcript isn't interactive either, so the most you can really do is read through it. With Gistr, however, the video's transcript is displayed right below the video itself.
If you're watching the video, the transcript is synced with the playback, so the current line is highlighted as the video plays. This makes it extremely easy to follow along and quickly jump to any part of the video directly from the transcript.
Gistr's Moments feature makes finding important parts effortless
Key moments, instantly
When I'm using an AI tool to watch a YouTube video, my main goal is always to capture the key points quickly. With NotebookLM, though you can certainly do that, you need to manually prompt the AI and explicitly tell it you'd like to learn the video's main takeaways and summaries. Gistr, on the other hand, lets you do almost the same thing with just a click of a button, thanks to its Moments feature.
You can find this feature in the main chat interface, and all you need to do is hit the Auto-Highlight button. Within seconds, Gistr will analyze the video and pull out the most important moments. For instance, I uploaded the WWDC 2025 keynote, and Gistr managed to highlight all the standout announcements.
Instead of generic key points like making separate sections for iOS, macOS, and iPadOS, it actually divided them into key features within each OS, like macOS Tahoe: Spotlight's Transformative Update, macOS Tahoe: Next-Gen Gaming Experience, iPadOS 26: Redesigned Windowing System for Multitasking, and more.
That's not all -- it gets even better. You can click on a moment to jump to that exact part of the video, so you don't have to scrub through it manually. Of course, this means you can go through its transcript simultaneously and ask the AI questions in real time.
Gistr even lets you annotate the video as you watch
No need for a separate app anymore
As I mentioned above, the kind of videos I choose to watch with tools like NotebookLM and Gistr tend to be educational ones. Typically, to understand a complex concept, tutorial, or lecture, I often need to pause, take notes, and highlight key points as I go.
Since NotebookLM doesn't really let you do any of that, it isn't a note-taking app, I'd use a third-party app or take notes on my iPad manually. It works, but it breaks the flow of learning and forces me to constantly switch between the video, the transcript, and my note-taking app.
Gistr solves this problem by letting me annotate directly within the tool. If you're like me and tend to color-code everything, Gistr lets you use different colors and styles to highlight text, making it easy to organize key points, concepts, and examples visually. There are times when you might want to highlight a specific moment in the video itself.
Thankfully, Gistr also lets you add timestamps to the video, and you can then take notes for that exact moment, linking your observations directly to the video. This makes it simple to review key points later, track important explanations, and keep your notes fully organized without ever leaving the Gistr interface.
You can still enjoy NotebookLM-style source-backed answers in Gistr
Grounded answers, now with video
What makes Gistr the perfect replacement for watching NotebookLM videos is that you get improvements and features it doesn't have, yet won't miss out on one of NotebookLM's best features: source-backed, grounded answers. In fact, I'd argue that Gistr handles videos even better than NotebookLM, since the original video is displayed right within the interface.
If you've used NotebookLM before, you likely know that all the claims it makes are backed up by citations, and hovering over them instantly shows you the source of the information. Gistr retains this same functionality, but when you're watching YouTube videos, it shows the timestamps that correspond to the exact moment in the video where that information appears. This way, you can quickly vet any information the tool provides while seeing exactly where it occurs in the video.
While you won't get other iconic NotebookLM features like Audio Overviews and Mind Maps, I believe Gistr more than makes up for it with its video-focused functionality and the other interactive tools it offers.
The best part? Gistr is currently completely free
At the time of writing, Gistr is completely free to use and doesn't have a paid tier. While I do expect them to introduce premium features at some point, for now you can enjoy the full functionality without spending a dime.
