I built a tool to turn YouTube into a learning platform

#webdev #saas #solopreneur #buildinpublic

Hey Dev.to!

I wanted to share with you a milestone I reached - launching my web app, NoteTube.

I started building this app because I wanted a tool that will shorten the onboarding sessions to teach new hires the tech stack that we use. I figured that YouTube content can do 90% of the teaching, and I can fill in the gaps by leaving detailed annotations on YouTube videos.

NoteTube.app is an online tool that enables users to build notes using YouTube’s educational resources. While YouTube has an awesome community of people creating educational content, I find the actual learning experience lackluster - after all, the platform is optimized for consumption, not learning.

NoteTube allows you to make time-stamped annotations on YouTube videos, ensuring your notes are contextualized with the video content. Whether you’re watching a coding tutorial or your favorite cooking influencer’s video, NoteTube enhances insights by facilitating chronological, well-organized note-taking.

How it works:

Copy the URL of the YouTube video you want to take notes for
Submit the URL in NoteTube to generate your note
Start taking notes
Share notes with your peers, or keep them private to yourself - with the ability to export your notes as an interactive PDF.

Features:

Timestamped note-taking
Creating both private and public facing notes
Tagging notes for organization
Creating note collections to organize multiple notes in one location
Create an interactive PDF export of your notes

I am also working on a bunch of features in the road ahead - such as AI integration for summarizing the video through transcripts, as well as identifying irrelevant parts of the video that isn't as conducive to your learning - so that you can cut out distractions as much as possible.