3 upcoming features I can't wait to use in NotebookLM

Google introduced its AI-powered personalized research assistant at Google I/O 2023, under the codename Project Tailwind. In July 2023, Google announced that it was finally ready to begin rolling out the project as an experimental offering from Google Labs, albeit under a new name: NotebookLM. The tool was essentially designed to redesign what notetaking software would've looked like if it were built from scratch with a powerful language model at its core, and fast forward to today, it's lived up to that vision.

I've been using the tool since it was in its experimental stage, and it's one of the only tools that has convinced me that AI can genuinely be game-changing for productivity. Though NotebookLM's been around for a good while now, it's still fairly new. Given how much success it has seen in such a short time, though, Google’s been constantly updating it with new features and improvements. It's also teased quite a few features during this time. So, here are 3 NotebookLM features I'm particularly looking forward to.

3 Audio Overviews with new voices and dialects

New voices, same brilliance

Though NotebookLM's been around since 2023 as mentioned above, it only took off in September 2024 when Google announced its Audio Overviews feature. In case you're not familiar with it, NotebookLM's Audio Overviews feature lets you convert any sources you upload (like PDFs, YouTube URLs, Google Docs and Slides, etc.) into deep-dive discussions. In these audio summaries, two AI hosts discuss the sources you've uploaded in an engaging and fun-to-listen-to manner. It's an incredible way to digest information, especially for those who are fans of podcasts, audio learning, or just prefer listening over reading.

I'm a huge fan of NotebookLM's Audio Overviews, and I listen to at least one every single day, especially while I'm commuting, on a walk, or doing chores. Now, here's the thing: if you listen to Audio Overviews as much as I do, they’ll eventually begin sounding monotonous. Even if they're on different topics, the voices themselves stay the same, which can start to get a little dull after a while.

I tested NotebookLM competitors recently, and none of the tools that offered similar audio generation features had such little voice variety. Thankfully, NotebookLM is addressing this soon. During an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session the NotebookLM team hosted on its X (formerly Twitter) account, the team confirmed that new voices and dialects are coming to Audio Overviews soon.

Though there's no telling just how soon these voices and dialects are coming, how many there will be, or how customizable they'll be, users have been hearing a mysterious third voice in Audio Overviews recently. And though that could very well be a bug, it might just be a quiet hint that testing is already underway.

2 Video Overviews

Audio Overviews, but make it visual

Listening to your sources being discussed in an engaging podcast-style format already feels like a big step up from the typical AI-generated summaries we've been seeing for a while now. But imagine if AI could turn sources in your notebooks into engaging videos. That's exactly what NotebookLM's upcoming Video Overviews feature plans on doing.

Google confirmed Video Overviews is in the works during Google I/O 2025. AI-generated videos aren't new, and given that I've been following them closely, I had a lot of doubts about the feature when it was first teased. This changed when I saw the example Video Overviews Google shared, which were simply incredible.

The assets and visuals used in the Video Overview were aesthetically pleasing enough to make the video interesting to watch. Key terms in your sources were all highlighted so they'd stand out and remain fresh in your mind when you’d watch it later. Like the Audio Overviews, the voice behind the screen in the Video Overview didn’t sound robotic at all.

Though I don't see this being particularly useful for every NotebookLM user, I believe it'd be perfect for students who rely on the tool like I do. Unfortunately, Google hasn't shared anything about its expected launch date yet, but given that it's already shown us a preview, and someone spotted the feature before it was formally announced, I don't expect it'll take too long.

1 Batch uploads are coming to the NotebookLM mobile app

Finally, no more one-by-one uploads

Google finally dropped a mobile NotebookLM app for iOS and Android devices on the 19th of May, 2025. Before this, you could only access NotebookLM through a browser. Though that wasn’t too big of an issue for some, I found this limitation slowed me down a lot, since I’d often listen to Audio Overviews during my commute, and using the tool in a browser wasn’t always the best experience. So when Google finally launched the mobile app, I was over the moon.

But when I tried the app out for myself, I was slightly disappointed. Though it shipped with the beloved Audio Overviews feature, it was missing a lot of NotebookLM functionality, like the Mind Maps feature or even the ability to convert your sources into a Study Guide, Briefing Doc, FAQ, or Timeline. All you could really do in the NotebookLM app was generate Audio Overviews and ask the AI questions about your sources.

Despite it having been more than a month since the tool launched, NotebookLM’s still yet to update the app with any of these features. Though I can still deal with the above and simply use the browser version of the tool, what currently annoys me most is that you can only upload one file at a time in the mobile app to your notebooks. If you have long notebooks like mine with a ton of sources, uploading them one by one is just tedious and time-consuming.

When an X user, @ereoeoeo, asked NotebookLM’s team to fix the mobile version, the team responded and asked for the user’s top requests. Upon the user requesting batch uploads, NotebookLM’s team confirmed that it’s actively working on this. Though it isn’t a massive update, it’s definitely a step in the right direction.

NotebookLM, you need to hurry up already

If you haven't figured it out yet, I simply can't wait for NotebookLM to announce the above features and start rolling them out. The tool's future is beyond exciting, and if it already has this much to offer, I can't even begin to imagine how powerful it’s going to be once everything on the roadmap comes to life.