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Changelog

0.2.2: steadier NotebookLM, any-language recall, and a tidy-up 🧹

  • One stubborn chapter no longer holds up a book. If NotebookLM is slow to read a chapter, only that chapter waits; the rest carry on. After a few runs Pip adds it once more, and if NotebookLM still can't read it, only that chapter's items stop, so your Mac's AI can make its quiz and cards while its podcast and video stay NotebookLM's.
  • A full NotebookLM account is handled kindly: Pip asks once, tells you to free up a notebook in NotebookLM, and carries on next run. Podcasts and videos wait for NotebookLM instead of being made on your Mac.
  • Recall checks understand every language, Hindi, Chinese, Thai and accented words included.
  • Your keys only go where you chose: settings inherited from wherever NeuralLoop was opened can't send a saved key somewhere else.
  • Smaller fixes: a broken AI settings file never stops a book, EPUB chapter titles show once, very long words no longer make an empty speech clip, mind maps always come from the right chapter, "Remove all books" times itself by Google Drive's clock, saving progress never stutters the app, moving into Applications can't be half done, and the menus read "Add a book…" and "Take the tour".
  • Lighter and tidier: code and files nothing used are gone, and the docs describe today's app.

0.2.1: chapters that make sense, and a dramatic Pip 🎻

  • Books split into the right chapters. Guidebooks skip their "how to read this book" pages, contents, and appendices; blank bookmarks no longer rename or cut chapters; a long "Projects" part becomes one chapter per project; and textbooks keep each chapter whole instead of cutting it into sections. "Part II" title pages aren't chapters.
  • Books are named after their file ("Agents guide"), not "source".
  • Silly mode (on by default, Settings → Nudges): if you've been away a while, Pip gets dramatic, just for laughs. By default a tiny sad violin after 8 hours, a sad little song after 12, and a shocked "fahhh" after a whole day, each with a sad or shocked Pip. Each plays once, never in quiet hours, and opening NeuralLoop resets it. The steps are yours: pick each one's sound and hours, remove any, add more (sounds can repeat), and optionally repeat the last one every few hours.
  • A big Pip on screen for silly nudges: Pip zooms in large in the middle of the screen you're using, with a big emoji, while the sound plays, then shrinks away when it ends. Click it to open NeuralLoop. Settings → Nudges lets you pick the big Pip or just a notification, set its volume, and send a test of each sound.
  • An empty shelf that shows what to do: a little animated picture (your book flies along a dotted "whee!" arc into Pip's drop zone, and Pip hops when it lands) with three numbered steps.
  • A guided tour when you first open NeuralLoop: seven short pages with little animations (bring a book, how Pip prepares it, the five steps, chapters unlocking, Pip in the menu bar), ending with sign-in and notifications. Help → Take the tour shows it again.
  • One Google sign-in in Settings → Account for NotebookLM and your library, with your name and email, which account each uses, and a list of your devices with when each last synced.
  • Settings → Nudges shows whether notifications are on, with a button to System Settings if they're off.
  • A real progress loader while podcasts, videos, and everything else are made: what's happening right now ("NotebookLM is recording the podcast", "Voicing the podcast"), who's making it, a percentage and progress bar, the time left, and each waiting item's place in line. Your own AI's podcasts and videos show their exact progress across every stage; NotebookLM shares none, so its percentage is an estimate from how long it usually takes.
  • Sign in with Google first: the first time you open NeuralLoop, Google's sign-in opens right away, then the tour.
  • Notifications that make sense: "Chapter ready" comes once, only for the chapter you can study next, and only when everything Pip is making for it is ready (waiting through quiet hours and pauses, and never twice for the same chapter). One switch turns every notification off, with separate switches for chapter ready, gentle nudges, and Silly mode.
  • Fixes from a full review: books made of short parts, parts with a preface or index, numbered chapters, real chapters named like "Index structures", and substantial appendices all split correctly; every book keeps its name on later runs. Silly nudges only come when something is ready, never count against the usual nudges, and the big Pip stays away during calls, full-screen apps, and a locked screen. The device list shows each device once and tidies old ones, sign-out is always there, and the tour opens reliably.
  • Each chapter is prepared just ahead of you: chapter 1 fully and chapter 2's quick parts when you add a book; the next chapter's podcast and video start when you finish reading the current one, so NotebookLM's allowance goes to the chapters you're about to study. Settings → Your AI → "Prepare whole books right away" makes everything at once.
  • Steps complete themselves from what you really do: 85% of the podcast or video actually played (skipping and more than 2× don't count), pages read at a real reading pace while you're active, a checked recall answer or a finished quiz, and every card reviewed once. Each step shows its progress, and "I've done this step" still works.
  • NotebookLM stays NotebookLM: a long run no longer loses its Google session when the app checks your usage, so podcasts, videos and mind maps stop falling back to your Mac; NotebookLM's newer flashcards are read; and at NotebookLM's limit a podcast or video waits for the reset instead of being made on your Mac.
  • The loader shows what's really happening: an item Pip is making shows its live progress and how long it has really taken ("4 min so far · about 8 min left"), even before the book's saved status catches up; an item in line says so.
  • Every AI option works end to end (Anthropic, OpenAI, OpenRouter, LM Studio and other local servers, Ollama, opencode, Hermes), NotebookLM rides out slow answers without handing items to your Mac, and a full code review's fixes: sync, splitting EPUBs, book maps in any script, accessibility, and licences shipped with the app.
  • Fixes from a second review: short parts holding sections stay whole while a "12 Projects" part opens into its projects; a chapter whose video couldn't be made is still announced; the big Pip checks every display and only counts the microphone as busy when an app is recording; the Try buttons always work; signing out keeps your device off the list; a device with a wrong clock can't hide the others; device names keep their emoji; and Help → Take the Tour reuses a minimized window.
  • Google sign-in works again: NotebookLM recently started showing signed-out visitors a welcome page, which the sign-in took for a finished sign-in and closed after two seconds. Sign-in now opens Google's real sign-in page and waits for you, never saves a half-finished session, and "Not now" closes its browser window.
  • Fixes from a third review: a chapter NotebookLM is slow to read is added once, not again on every try; a finished podcast, video or quiz that couldn't be downloaded is downloaded on the next run instead of made again; NotebookLM keeps working while your Mac's AI downloads for the first time; search-only models are never used for writing; study time stays right after switching Google accounts; moving NeuralLoop into Applications never leaves you without the app; the last seconds of study are saved when you quit; and the app no longer carries the build machine's folders or Windows-only audio files.
  • Hear Pip's silly sounds any time: Settings → Nudges has a play button for the sad violin, the sad meow song and the "fahhh", the volume slider always works, "Try" plays its sound even when the big Pip can't show, and Settings says when macOS has turned NeuralLoop's notification sounds off, with a button to turn them back on.

0.2.0: the first public preview 🐾

NeuralLoop turns a book you own (PDF or EPUB) into five-step learning loops, one chapter at a time: Listen & watch → Read → Recall → Map → Remember, with Pip, a red panda who studies with you.

Get it

  1. Download NeuralLoop-0.2.0.dmg below (Apple silicon, macOS 14 or later).
  2. Open it and drag Pip into your Applications folder.
  3. Open NeuralLoop. The app isn't notarized yet, so the first time macOS asks you to confirm: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway. You only do this once.

The programs are inside the download (Python, the book pipeline, the voice engine, a local model runner), so there's nothing else to install; the local voices and model download the first time your Mac's own AI is used.

What's in it

  • Podcasts, explainer videos, reading plans, recall checks, quizzes, mind maps, concept graphs, and spaced-repetition flashcards for every chapter.
  • Google NotebookLM by default, or your own AI: Claude, OpenAI, OpenRouter, Ollama, LM Studio, any OpenAI-compatible server, opencode, or Hermes. If one can't make something, another steps in.
  • Podcasts and explainers voiced on your Mac with Rumik.
  • A book map that grows as you go, and "Your year with Pip" for your study days.
  • Pip in the menu bar, with at most one gentle nudge a day.

Good to know

  • Google Drive sync and the iPad app are in the code but not switched on in this download yet. Until then, the iPad app can be built from source (docs/DEVELOPMENT.md).
  • The Rumik voices are licensed for non-commercial use only (CC BY-NC 4.0), like the app itself (LICENSE, NOTICE.md).
  • Found a bug? Please open an issue. Security problems: SECURITY.md.