Learning & teaching
Soundings — Free Learning Logbook
Notes, questions and answers, anchored to the moment they came up: in a video, a PDF or a live class.
Open the logbook
Soundings opens on its own page and keeps everything in your browser. Free, with no account and no limits.
Open SoundingsFirst time? Choose “Add the sample course” to see a finished logbook before you start your own.
How it works
- Start a course and a session for each day, lecture or class. Sessions line up as Day 1, Day 2 and on.
- Open what you are studying beside your notes: a video file, a PDF, a YouTube or Vimeo link, or a live class with its own clock.
- Write as it comes. Enter saves a note at the moment you started typing. Start with
q:to ask a question, or press ? to park one and write it up later.a:answers it, even days later. - Read it back by day or by topic, go back to the exact moment with a click, and review answered questions at spaced intervals.
What it does
- Questions are kept open until they are answered, and the open ones make the agenda for your next class, to copy or print.
- Answers link back to their question and record where they came from: the instructor, the material, a classmate or you.
- Search every course at once, by words, topic, session or whether a question is still open.
- Paste screenshots and code into a note; code keeps its spacing.
- Works with the keyboard throughout, and on a phone in a live class, with buttons to park a question or mark a confusing moment.
- Export Markdown, a CSV of your questions, or a full backup.
Private by design
Your notes, and the videos and PDFs you study, stay on your device. The app runs on its own address with no ads, analytics or trackers inside it, and sends nothing you write anywhere.
Frequently asked questions
Is Soundings free?
Yes. No account, no limits on courses, sessions or notes. If paid features come later, they will be new ones, such as syncing between devices; what Soundings does today stays free.
Where are my notes kept?
In your browser, on your device. Nothing you write is sent to us or anyone else, and there is no account to sign in to. Soundings keeps automatic snapshots in the browser so a mistake can be undone, and you can export a backup file at any time.
What if I clear my browser’s data?
Your notes go with it, as with anything a site stores in your browser. Export a backup now and then (one click on the Your data page) and restore it in any browser. Soundings asks the browser to keep its data and shows whether it agreed.
Does it work with Udemy, Coursera or my company’s training site?
Alongside them, yes. For YouTube and Vimeo videos, and for video files and PDFs on your computer, Soundings reads the time or page as you write. For other course sites, open the course in another window and start a live-class session: its clock gives every note its moment.
Can I take my notes to Obsidian or a spreadsheet?
Yes. Export Markdown (one file per session, with the course, date and topics at the top, ready for Obsidian or any editor), a CSV of every question for Google Sheets or Excel, or a JSON backup that restores everything into Soundings.
Does Soundings use AI?
No. Every note, question and answer in it is written by you.