Chrome On Android Just Nabbed One Of NotebookLM's Biggest Features
Google is once again expanding the availability of some of the best NotebookLM features beyond the AI-powered tool. The tech giant has begun to roll out the feature to Google Chrome on Android, with reports suggesting that users can now listen to the content of web pages using Google's AI podcast generation system.
The new feature was spotted by Android Authority, which notes that it isn't available to everyone just yet. However, this is pretty standard for Google, which tends to roll out new features in batches. Audio Overviews made waves when they first came to NotebookLM months ago, as the AI generated two "hosts" that went over information in an entertaining and engaging way.
Google expanded on that initial availability by bringing the feature to Google Docs as well, and now reports suggest the feature is available in the latest stable version of the Chrome app on Android (version 140.0.7339.124). Unfortunately, I wasn't able to test it myself, as the update hasn't hit my Chrome app just yet.
Turning websites into AI podcasts
Much like NotebookLM's Audio Overview feature, this new functionality allows you to turn just about any written text online into a conversation between two AI speakers. In Chrome, the feature appears alongside the standard Listen to this page settings. To access the podcast option, navigate to a webpage you want to listen to, then press the three dots menu for more settings. Depending on how you have this set up, the three vertical dots for the menu may appear at the top right or bottom right of your screen.
Once in the settings, find the Listen to this page option and tap it. Now, if you have audio overviews in the app, you should be able to click on a new icon in the bottom left that looks like NotebookLM's audio function key — a series of lines that resemble waves of audio moving up and down. Tapping this button will cause the AI to generate a podcast of the page you're on, creating a new way to interact with content online.
Audio Overviews debuted in NotebookLM, but Google has slowly been expanding their availability, even bringing audio overviews to Gemini previously. Now, with the jump to Chrome, you'll be able to take advantage of these AI generated audio podcasts in even more places. The company has also been updating NotebookLM in recent months, making drastic changes that hid some of the more used features behind a couple of additional steps.