Andy Walker / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google appears to be testing its Canvas feature inside NotebookLM.
- The same leak points to Connectors support coming to the app.
- Source labels and auto-labeling may also be in the works.
Google seems to be finding more and more places to stick its Canvas feature, and its NotebookLM app could be the next one. A new report claims the company is testing both Canvas and a Connectors addition for NotebookLM, which would expand it further beyond being just a place to dump sources and get AI summaries back.
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According to a source provided to TestingCatalog, a few changes are being trialed, including a Canvas option inside NotebookLM’s Studio panel. A Screenshot in the report suggests it could let you turn your notebook material into things like an interactive timeline, a web page to help explain a document, a lightweight game, or a visualizer. If that’s how it ends up working, it would give NotebookLM more flexibility in how it processes your notes or research.
Canvas won’t be new to anyone who’s been following Google’s AI tools. Google first rolled it out in Gemini as a workspace for writing and coding, and later brought it to AI Mode in Search. This version would differ in that it would be intentionally constrained to the sources in your notebook, which is a feature rather than a bug of NotebookLM.
Another screenshot shows a Connectors option in settings, indicating that Google is working on a way to pull content from other services more directly. There’s no sign yet of what those services might be, but it would be a fair bet that ones from Google’s own ecosystem would be the company’s starting point.
TestingCatalog also says Google is preparing some better source organization tools, including labels for individual sources and an Auto Label option that could let Gemini sort things for you. Those changes might not be as exciting as whole new features, but heavy NotebookLM users would likely appreciate them.
It appears these changes were likely spotted by a developer digging under the hood of the app, so there’s no guarantee Google will roll them out to the average user. However, given how interconnected Google has been trying to make its AI tools, we’d be surprised if these features didn’t eventually make their way to a full release.
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