Why I built ReplayGlows: YouTube notes with a saucepan in hand

I watch a lot of YouTube. To relax, but also to learn. And like many people, I always want to keep a trace of what I hear: an idea, a quote, a reference to find again later.

The problem is that taking notes on a video takes preparation. Open your notes app, create a note, decide where it goes, copy the link, write down the timestamp. And often, when I watch a video, my hands are busy: I am cooking or exercising. It is the last moment I want to touch a keyboard and mouse with tomato sauce on my fingers.

The perfect workflow nobody uses

I first looked for the perfect solution in Obsidian, where I take my notes. I tried roughly every video note plugin. And I found a very good workflow: the transcript next to the video, notes linked to timestamps, and full keyboard control of the player. For a long talk or a complex topic, it is excellent.

Then weeks went by, and I noticed I almost never used it.

The reason is simple: I find videos in the browser. A short or entertaining video, I start it right where I found it. In the middle of that video, a good idea shows up out of nowhere. At that moment, I am not going to switch to Obsidian and decide where to create a note. I had not planned to take notes, and that is exactly why the idea slips away.

A good tool is not judged by what it allows when everything is prepared. It is judged by what it allows when nothing is.

What YouTube bookmark extensions were missing

I tried Vivaldi’s built-in notes: you end up with a pile of notes, and you have to copy each video’s link and timestamp by hand. For a habit I will keep for life, that does not hold up.

I then tried about ten YouTube bookmark extensions from the Chrome Web Store. Some are simple and pleasant, others very complete but complicated. None fully suited me:

• an unpolished interface
• no export, or a JSON-only export
• no way to write a note directly on the video page
• a flow that forces you out of fullscreen

If you want to compare these extensions on their last update, their export and their import rather than on their promises, YouTube bookmark extensions: how to choose one without losing your notes lays out a ten-minute test.

What ReplayGlows does

At that point, I was already building a Chrome extension with the help of AI. So I decided to make my own tool, with what I actually needed:

• Write notes directly on the video, without leaving fullscreen or opening a side panel.
• Do everything from the keyboard: create, edit, browse and delete bookmarks without touching the mouse.
• Or with the mouse, if that is handier at the moment. Several ways to add a bookmark, to fit every situation.
• An optional note: a bookmark can stay a plain timestamp.
• Find your notes in the extension window and reopen the right moment of the video in one click.
• Export to Markdown, with clickable timestamps, to paste everything into an Obsidian note.

The rest of the details (shortcuts, JSON export, display settings) are on the ReplayGlows page.

What I take away from it

I coded for five days straight. I did not know much about web development, and a YouTube extension has its surprises: placing bookmarks on the progress bar, handling the keyboard without getting in the player’s way, and following video changes, since YouTube does not reload the page. Without AI, I could never have built it on my own.

The lesson goes beyond YouTube: a system that needs preparation does not get used in unplanned moments. Good capture happens where the idea appears, with as few gestures as possible. It is the same principle as the Capture & Collect lesson in the course.

If you use ReplayGlows and a feature is missing, write to me: I plan to maintain this extension for as long as I watch videos, which means a long time.