Summary:
I am seeking an easy to use, feature rich yet clean link management tool with some basic collaboration features and video timestamp compatibility functionality. In short I need a tool to help save video time stamps, take notes on those time stamps and organize the links into categories. This helps with research and/or education activities. Specifically I need a tool that allows me to save YouTube time stamp bookmarks and then easily play them back. I compared several tools in 2020. Below are ratings for most of the tools that I used including comments on usage & screen recordings that demo each app. Specifically I am seeking the following features:
1) Link management : save, tag, organize links
2) Has an Android App
3) Has a PC App / Chrome Extension
4) Allow Save and Play of time stamped video links.
5) Basic collaboration
Winners : Diigo and KeepLink
get an Intro into the world of Bookmarking Tools
Details1. Linkeep:
Rating: 3
Android App: Y; Chrome Extension: N; Web App: N; PC Install: Y
Comments: Android basic functionality, no share to option. PC requires an install.
Screen Recording Demos:
Android Usage:
PC Usage:
2. KeepLink: LinksSaver
Rating: 2
Android App: Y; Chrome Extension: N; Web App: N; PC Install: Y
Comments: Copy of Linkeep, looks and functions almost 100% the same. Only colors on UI are different.
Screen Recording Demos:
Android Usage:
PC Usage:
3. MyLinks
Rating: 3
Android App: Y; Chrome Extension: N; Web App: N; PC Install: N
Comments: Android app is great, integration between NewPipe, YouTube is clean and the UI is clean and concise with Categories and Links, The only complaint I have is search is limited to Categories only. On the PC side: I could not find any way to access links. I would use this app if it had a PC option?
Screen Recording Demos:
4. Keeplink: Links/Bookmarks
Rating: 2
Android App: Y; Chrome Extension: N; Web App: N; PC Install: Y
Comments: Seems like a clone of another link app like Keep Link Links Saver or vice versa. The integration with NewPipe & YouTube does not work; you can not share to KeepLink. Thus I had to create links manually, that on top of the mediocre UI and not PC option leaves me no option except to give it a 2 or 3.
Screen Recording Demos:
Android Usage:
5. Pocket
Rating: 3.5
Android App: Y; Chrome Extension: Y; Web App: N; PC Install: Y
Comments: Very feature rich productivity tool that includes more than just link management: this tool allows user to save, share and manage articles & links in lists. Its does exactly as it claims “Save the articles, new stories and videos you want to read and watch later to Pocket. “ Pocket also integrates ok with NewPipe and YoutTube, however there are some gotchas. Each list item has a category and includes tagging & favorite features plus more. On the PC side, a Chrome Extension provides near identical functionality to the app. If you are looking for a producutivy app to manage articles & vidoes this is an alternative to Diigo. IMHO it is not as feature rich as Diigo.
Cons: However, there are 2 BIG issues that prevent me from using pocket: 1) Saving a video link:No description/notes when saving a link and 2) Opening a Video Link: When I open it link in Andorid or PC the video goes to the 00:00 ignoring my timestamp. The Timestamp is only used if I share the list item to YouTube.
When saving a link (NewPipe or YouTube Share to Pocket) I can select a tag and nothing else. In short this tool is not timestamp friendly if you are saving several links in the same video.
Screen Recording Demos:
Android Usage:
PC Usage
6. Keep Link
Rating: 4
Android App: Y; Chrome Extension: Y; Web App: N; PC Install: Y
Comments: Save bookmarks from anywhere easily and quickly. KeepLink is great at saving links. The Android app is very clean and it does 1 job very well: Saving & managing book marks. The UI in Android is modern and clean, rounded corners & searching is a great feature in this tool allowing multiple fields to search on. Bookmarked items include description, title, tag and category. Tag and category properties are extensible allowing user defined values for each.
Cons: There is only 1 list in the Lists. Having 100’s of items may become unwieldy. There is no PC / Chrome Extension I could in thus I was unable to use the bookmarks on a PC without copying/sharing from my phone to my email & opening on a PC. Hopefully this will be resolved in the future.
Screen Recording Demos:
Android Usage:
7. Diigo
Rating: 5
Android App: Y; Chrome Extension: Y; Web App: Y; PC Install: N
Comments: Extremely feature rich link, annotation and collaboration tool that includes all of my requested functionality and more. Annotations, tagging, description, notes, collaboration groups and seamless Android integration are all included in Diigo. The only tool that comes close is Pocket in terms of number of features and KeepLink in terms of the UI. Diigo does exactly what it claims to do and more: “Diigo Browser allows you to save, annotate and share bookmarks easily!”. Saved bookmark items including title, url, description, tag & group. Tag and group properties are extensible allowing user defined values for each. Group permits customizable authorization via an Admin setting, this feature permits expanded collaboration on items, articles, notes and annotations. This allows multiple users to edit an item, great for small teams working on research.
In android, sharing from NewPipe and YouTube to Diigo for time stamped links works perfectly and playing time stamped links open to the correct time marker on both PC and android.
Cons: The android app is a little clunky, due to it being its own browser. It just takes a little time to get use to. I recommend using the Chrome Extension first then using the Android app, this will decrease the learning curve.
Screen Recording Demos:
Android Usage using Saved Link
Android Usage saving a Link:
PC Usage
