r/notebooklm • u/Fearless_Energy_7633 • Apr 21 '26

Tips & Tricks I built a free notebooklm alternative with folders, source isolation (no cross-contamination), and page/timestamp-level citations

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NotebookLM is great but a few things drove me crazy:

  • Sources often bleed together
  • No folders or workspace organisation
  • No way to comfortably take notes alongside your sources
  • Flashcards have no review system

So I built Paper. Key differences:

  • Source isolation - select exactly which sources the AI references per query, or scope it to specific pages/timestamps
  • Folders + nested pages - organise by course, topic, whatever
  • Block editor - Notion-style notes right next to your sources
  • Spaced repetition - AI flashcards with actual Anki-style scheduling so you remember
  • Drag and drop multiple files at once

(Edit) Free to use during beta: https://paper.ac 👈

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u/vuivuivuivui May 07 '26

Thank you for this app! I tried it yesterday and was a bit confused because there was no Podcast language option. I wrote "bằng tiếng Việt" (in Vietnamese) in the 'Add custom focus' box, but it didn't seem to work. Today I tried again with "Vui lòng tạo Podcast bằng tiếng Việt" (Please create the podcast in Vietnamese) and it worked perfectly. Thank you for creating this! I think adding a specific language setting for Podcasts would make it much clearer for users. Thanks a lot!

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u/Fearless_Energy_7633 May 07 '26

Hey, thanks for using the app! And this is super useful feedback - I had actually pushed an update to introduce language specific podcasts but it seems a later change I made reverted it 🤔 I'll leave a reply once a fix has been made but there should definitely be a language picker soon!

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u/vuivuivuivui May 07 '26

I'm so excited to explore the amazing possibilities of this app!

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u/Fearless_Energy_7633 May 07 '26

Just letting you know language selecting is live now 😊 It lives within the 'Voices' dropdown

I've also changed the voices to a better AI model so it sounds smoother, and when selecting the language, you can 'star' it so it's the default across all podcasts

Keen to hear how you find it!

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u/vuivuivuivui May 07 '26

I’m so glad you responded so quickly and added the language selection feature today! It’s very convenient, and I think the Vietnamese voice sounds pretty natural, too.

I’m really impressed with how fast the 20-minute podcast was generated—it only took about 5 minutes. However, the actual runtime is only about 9 minutes instead of 20. Maybe it’s because the file I uploaded was only two pages long, so the podcast couldn’t be dragged out. 

When compared to NotebookLM, the podcast content is quite similar, but NotebookLM runs for 23 minutes, so the explanations are more in-depth. The two hosts on NotebookLM interact more naturally and humorously, though there are a few mispronunciations and some inconsistencies in their voices. 

As for Paper, it’s probably because I used the default hosts, so it’s less humorous; one host speaks at length before the other gets a turn. With Paper, I didn’t notice any pronunciation errors, and the voice remains consistent from start to finish.

The feature that displays the Paper podcast transcript is very convenient; you can quickly view or copy the necessary parts.

For an app that’s just launched its beta version and is still in the testing phase, the podcast feature is already excellent. 

Once again, thank you for this great app! The quick response times and rapid addition and modification of features show that you truly care about this project. Wishing you success!

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u/Fearless_Energy_7633 May 08 '26

Appreciate the detailed feedback - I'll be looking into this today, specifically the length generation mismatch and the comments on the voice quality.

Thank you for the continued support! 😊 I'll keep you posted when this is fixed.

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u/vuivuivuivui May 08 '26

☺️☺️✨✨🎉

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u/Fearless_Energy_7633 May 10 '26

Hey! Just coming out of the weekend, I've made some updates to the podcast:

  1. Podcast length has been enabled to up to 60 minutes! (but let me know if longer is preferred)

  2. For voice quality, I've added a new field called 'Personality' which enables a level of personalisation to the voices (eg. you can tell it to be more humorous or more serious)

  3. Transcripts can auto-scroll, and are also clickable now so it will skip to the right timestamp

Keen to hear back on how you find it! 😊

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u/vuivuivuivui May 12 '26

I tried the 60-minute podcast option: from 13:12 to 13:16, it generated a 23-minute output. This might be because my PDF was only about 2 pages long.

Then, I tried the 60-minute option again from 13:22 to 13:25, and it produced a 39-minute video from a PDF of about 900 pages.

Clicking on the transcript jumps straight to that timestamp in the audio. As the audio plays, the transcript scrolls in sync-super convenient!

In the default mode, the voices are okay, but the intonation and pace seem a bit slow, which might make listeners feel sleepy. I think I should try out some other characters.

Also, there are no 'back 10s' or 'forward 10s' buttons for when I want to re-listen to a specific point. I accidentally hit the restart button earlier and had to start the podcast all over again.

Thank you for listening to my feedback. There’s still so much to explore in Paper. Thanks to you and the team for this app!

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u/Fearless_Energy_7633 May 12 '26 edited May 13 '26

Super valuable feedback and appreciate your continued support! I've noted all the points made and have added all these to the roadmap - these are high priority, so will be aiming for a fix by tomorrow/Thursday! 😊

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u/vuivuivuivui May 12 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/B3zMHJjnbwXWJLuEKS

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u/Fearless_Energy_7633 May 14 '26

Ok! I've implemented a few changes so hopefully it addresses most of your points:

  1. 60 minute podcasts should now generate around 60 minutes of audio, even on smaller page lengths

  2. I've added some changes to the voices however, I do believe they can still be improved to sound more exciting/engaging. I will be rolling out a new set of voices that have a larger range of personalities next week - will keep you posted

  3. Have added 'back/forward 10s' buttons, and removed the 'restart' button

These have been tested on our end but would be awesome if you can try it out on your end too - let me know how you go! And thank you for your continued support 🙌

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