A Chrome Extension for YouTube Language Hours: How It Works

LangTrack for Chrome is our free Chrome extension that logs YouTube language hours for you. It detects each video's language, counts the minutes you actually watch, and adds one entry per language per day to your LangTrack log. It never sends which videos you watched, and it covers YouTube only.

On this page

What does LangTrack for Chrome do?

LangTrack for Chrome adds your YouTube immersion to your LangTrack log with no timers and no typing. We make it, so this page describes our own product, based on its documentation.

Full details are on the LangTrack for Chrome page.

How does it know a video's language?

It checks signals in order and uses the first one it trusts:

1. A language you set yourself
2. The video's audio track
3. YouTube's auto-captions
4. A language you set for the channel
5. Hints from caption tracks and a title that names the language
6. A language it has learned for the channel
7. The uploader's title

It never stops to ask. The best guess for a language you're learning counts, and if it's wrong, tap the flag on the video to fix it in one go. A title-only guess can't decide that a video isn't in your language. Music with only a title to go on stays uncounted.

If YouTube auto-picks a dub of a video whose original language you're learning, the extension switches back to the original audio, once per video. If a video has a dub in a language you're learning, it offers to play it in that language.

How does it count minutes?

Only time the video actually plays. It counts real time, so a 20-minute video at 2× speed adds about 10 minutes. You can switch to content time in settings.

To stop a video that's left running from counting, there's a presence check. With no input for 30 minutes after an autoplay, or 3 hours for a video you started, time becomes provisional until you answer "Still watching?".

How do entries appear in your log?

You get one entry per language per day, such as "YouTube · 6 videos, 47 min", which grows as you watch. A video watched for a minute or more goes in when it ends, a playing video updates every 5 minutes, and Shorts go in as bundles. Minutes are whole, with leftover seconds carried over so that short clips still add up. Days split at midnight in your LangTrack time zone.

Your rings, goals and streak update by themselves. If you have LangTrack open, it shows what's being counted where a timer would appear.

What does it do with your LangTrack timer?

While your timer is running in a language, YouTube in that language isn't logged, so nothing counts twice. The small counter on the video says "On your LangTrack timer". This doesn't apply if the timer is paused, on a Pomodoro break, set to another language, or left running past 4 hours.

What data does it collect?

To detect the language, it reads the video's title and captions on the page, but those stay in your browser. What leaves the browser:

• To your LangTrack account: language, minutes, day, whether subtitles were on and in which language, and how many videos. The video count uses keys that can't be turned back into which videos they were.
• Sign-in: your account email is shown in settings, and sign-in tokens are stored only in your browser.
• Usage stats: which buttons get used, and errors. You can turn these off in settings.

It reads nothing on other websites, other than YouTube videos embedded in them. We don't sell the data or use it for advertising. See the privacy policy for the full text.

How do you set it up?

1. Add it from the Chrome Web Store.
2. On the welcome page that opens, click Connect LangTrack, sign in and allow access.
3. Play a YouTube video in a language you're learning.
4. Hover over the video to see a small flag with a clock, which shows it's counting.
5. Open the extension's popup to see today's minutes.

You stay signed in. The extension is built to keep counting through Chrome updates, restarts, a lost connection and sleep, and it catches up by itself. If something does go wrong, Repair in settings re-runs its recovery steps without losing data.

What are the optional settings?

• The flag on the video: turn it off if you'd rather not see it.
• Focus mode: when a video isn't in a language you're learning, you get a gentle nudge or a pause, with a link to videos in your language.
• Muted time and content time: choose how these are handled.
• Usage stats: on or off.

To correct something, use Undo in the popup, which takes back one video, or edit or delete the entry in LangTrack.

What are its limits?

• YouTube only. It doesn't count Netflix, Prime Video or other services. If those matter to you, see Tracking Languages and alternatives, including when that's the better choice.
• Chrome only sees Chrome. YouTube on a phone app or TV needs a manual entry. Tracking on your phone covers that.
• It measures time, not understanding. Whether a video was comprehensible is your call. See tracking comprehensible input.
• It needs a LangTrack account. Entries go to your log, and they aren't sent to other trackers or programs such as Dreaming Spanish.
• It's new. It's at version 0.1.0, with no store ratings yet as of November 2, 2026.

For a comparison with logging by hand, see how to track YouTube immersion. LangTrack for Chrome isn't affiliated with or endorsed by YouTube or Google.

Frequently asked questions

Is LangTrack for Chrome free?

Yes. It's free with every LangTrack account.

Can LangTrack see which YouTube videos I watch?

No. It gets the language, minutes, day, subtitle state and number of videos. Titles, channels and links stay in your browser.

Does it work with Netflix or Prime Video?

No. It covers YouTube only, including YouTube videos embedded on other sites.

What if it detects the wrong language?

Tap the flag on the video to correct it. You can also edit or delete the entry in LangTrack.