Glasp: The Highlighting Tool Of The Future.
Published: 2023-05-04 19:09:35

# Table Of Contents

- [Table Of Contents](#table-of-contents)
  - [**Introduction:**](#introduction)
  - [**Features**](#features)
  - [**Installation Procedure**](#installation-procedure)
    - [**For Chrome**](#for-chrome)
    - [For Safari Users](#for-safari-users)
- [How To Use Glasp:](#how-to-use-glasp)
  - [Registration:](#registration)
  - [Text Highlighting](#text-highlighting)
  - [AI-powered Transcription](#ai-powered-transcription)
- [Glasp Alternatives?](#glasp-alternatives)
- [Conclusion](#conclusion)




## **Introduction:**

Glasp is an AI-powered web-based tool that helps you collect and organize quotes and ideas from the web. It is available for both Windows and iOS. It functions like a highlighter for the internet that you can use to save information without switching between different screens. It’s ideal for people who want to keep track of their research or build a digital library of their favorite ideas. Kazuki Nishioka and his team created Glasp, aiming to **“Create a system that allows everyone to share and develop their learnings as their legacy in a natural way.”**

He realized that these messages from our predecessors were from a very limited number of people. Out of the knowledge of tens of billions of people who have existed in human history, only a handful have survived in the form of books and traditions. He thought this was a problem, and at the same time, wondered how different the world would be if the rest of humanity had the power to preserve their learning and experiences for future generations. If only there were some kind of central repository for thoughts and ideas, then there could be progress, and Glasp is what he envisions as this repository.



![The Glasp logo.](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/jjzf4bls2sfmo3u96x0n.png)

## **Features**

Glasp is a very versatile tool, with a lot of uses and applications. These are the features that stand out the most;



* **Highlighting tool:** Glasp lets you use different colors to highlight important text, and then automatically saves those highlights to your Glasp homepage. You can add tags to your highlights to help you find them easily later, and you can also share your highlights with others on social media platforms like Twitter, Teams, and Slack.
* **Collaboration**: Glasp is designed to help people learn and discover new ideas together. All the highlights and notes you make are public, which means that other people can see them and learn from them. You can also see what others have highlighted and learn from their insights.
* **Transcription**: One cool feature of Glasp is that it shows you the transcript of YouTube videos, so you can highlight and take notes on specific parts of the video. Glasp even includes timestamps, so you can quickly go back and watch the part of the video that you highlighted.


## **Installation Procedure**

Being a web-based application, Glasp is relatively easy to download. Here's a step-by-step guide:


### **For Chrome**

Chrome installation is the same across all Windows devices.



* Step 1: On your Chrome web browser, type in[ glasp.co](http://glasp.co), the web app’s main site. 
* Step 2: Click on **install on Chrome** after the page loads.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/iyt6plew3mfqj2tkyczm.jpeg)




* Step 3: When the new page appears, click **get**




![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/ns8lsolu0xom2td887wy.jpeg)




* **Step 4:** Sometimes, for other web browsers instead of **get,** you might see **Add to Chrome**. This is common for web browsers like **Edge**, **Brave**, or **Firefox**, and they are all subject to the same procedure.  The extension is automatically downloaded,  and once it is finished, simply follow the prompts to activate your Glasp extension.  
* **Step 5:** Reload the page to see the **remove** icon once you’re done with the installation to confirm that it was successfully installed.



![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/vip7nqzxqr8lmhhe4dfn.jpeg)



* On the toolbar, click the extension symbol to visually confirm that Glasp is now an extension on your browser.



![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/bscn9au3o6dfjgy9do8c.jpeg)





### For Safari Users

Here's how to install Glasp on Safari:



* **Step 1:**  Launch Safari and navigate to[ glasp.co](http://glasp.co), the official website. And, similarly to Chrome, you click on Install On Safari. This will take you to the App Store.
* **Step 2:** Click on the extension and then click on the** Install** button.



![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/9aq3aoa7i5wnym9voytq.png)


The on-screen instructions that appear after clicking the Install button may vary, but in general, the instructions will guide you through granting the extension necessary permissions and configuring any settings specific to that extension. You may be prompted to confirm the installation, enter your password, or agree to the extension's terms and conditions. Once you have completed any necessary steps, the extension should be installed and ready to use in Safari.



![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/lcs81a0lu57smi234h5l.png)



# How To Use Glasp:

Glasp can be used in various ways, from highlighting text to transcribing YouTube videos. Here are a few tips to quickly learn how to use Glasp:


## Registration:



*  Select **Sign Up (Beta)**, located on the right-hand side of the main page of the website.


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/h4h4g8hxg28n1nnwlm2k.jpeg)

This leads to a page where you can only register with a Google account. If you don't already have one, you should obtain one.



* Once you've signed up and logged in, you'll be able to select the types of topics you want to stay up to date on. You have a choice of more than ten, and you can update them whenever you want.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/cfrwnbykpt4o7z2ifkz5.jpeg)

* After selecting your preferred topics, select **Done**, and you'll be taken to your home page, which will include the themes you've chosen. You can even read other people's highlights.



![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/hva01akw93uuquwo4qq3.jpeg)



## Text Highlighting

One of the most common uses of Glasp is to highlight text without having to change your screen display to your notes.



* Highlight a text or quote using your cursor, and a small bar with various color options will appear. You can select the color you prefer and click on it to highlight the text with your preferred colour.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/o3uqvtl72ufwfb2hdeqi.jpeg)

*  Once you do this, the highlighted text will be saved immediately to your Glasp sidebar for later use.
![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/imkms1m658a80fmtows0.jpeg)



* To locate highlighted text, click on the Glasp icon on the right. You can update the text whenever you want.

You'll be taken to your home page, which will include the themes you've chosen. You can read other people's highlights on the home page.

## AI-powered Transcription


Glasp can transcribe YouTube videos using ChatGPT. Imagine you're viewing a video and don't want to miss any of the main points. Glasp can help with that: 

* Click on the Glasp icon beside the video. The Glasp symbol with **Transcript and Summary** can be found on the top right side of the screen as shown in the image below.  Note that you cannot use Glasp if the video is in full screen. You'll have to make sure it's not in full-screen mode.


![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/v68diivk10dl5f640a1a.jpeg)





* Click the ChatGPT symbol next to **Transcript and summary**, and it will lead you to the ChatGPT chatbot with the prepared summary and transcript.

    


![The transcript summary generated by ChatGPT.](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/e04umdux4jmt1n4ru5jk.jpeg)



# Glasp Alternatives?


Glasp is a powerful online highlighter that promotes collaborative learning and idea production while also allowing you to save and organize anything from the web. It is vastly useful for bookmarking knowledge, and building connections while doing so. It is also very unique in its highlighting approach, so it's very hard to say that there are any alternatives to it.

That being said, here are some applications that serve similar purposes:

* **Eightify:** An extension that summarises youtube videos in eight key points. 
* **Readwise Highlighter:** This brings all your reading into one place including web articles, email newsletters, RSS feeds, Twitter threads, PDFs, EPUBs, and more.
* **Roam Highlighter:** This extension offers an easy way to highlight text on a web page and import it to note-taking apps like Roam Research, Obsidian, Logseq, or Notion in the format that best suits your workflow.

# Conclusion

Glasp is a creative and easy-to-use technology that has completely changed how information has been stored. Glasp is a great resource for students, researchers, and anyone who wants to learn and work together. It has unique tools like the text highlighting tool and AI-powered transcription, which makes it easier to learn and collaborate. Glasp is dedicated to making knowledge accessible to everyone and is always working to make the platform better. In the future, it could have a big impact on online learning and research.