diff --git a/docs/web/basics/lance.mdx b/docs/web/basics/lance.mdx
index 42d474de9..0341ee333 100644
--- a/docs/web/basics/lance.mdx
+++ b/docs/web/basics/lance.mdx
@@ -34,12 +34,45 @@ those fields together.
 - **Independent column updates.** Add embeddings or other derived features
   without rewriting the existing image, video or text columns.
 
+## Opening Lance datasets in Python {#python-packages}
+
+Any `.lance` dataset directory is a LanceDB table. Pass the parent directory to
+`lancedb.connect()` and open the table by its directory stem:
+
+```python
+import lancedb
+
+db = lancedb.connect("/data")  # pass storage_options=... for S3, GCS or Azure
+tbl = db.open_table("frames")  # opens /data/frames.lance; version=N pins a version
+```
+
+Use `lancedb` for search, retrieval, data curation, multimodal blob access and
+application code. Install `pylance` (`import lance`) only when building query
+engines or connectors, calling format-level fragment APIs directly, or
+converting plain-scan lazy or legacy blob columns with `to_pandas()` (see
+[Multimodal data and blobs](/management/table#multimodal) for `pylance`-free
+conversions).
+
+| `pylance` (`import lance`) | `lancedb` (`import lancedb`) |
+| --- | --- |
+| `lance.dataset("/data/frames.lance")` | `lancedb.connect("/data").open_table("frames")` |
+| `lance.write_dataset(data, "/data/frames.lance")` | `lancedb.connect("/data").create_table("frames", data)` |
+| `lance.vector.vec_to_table(mat)` | `db.create_table(name, pa.table({"vector": list(mat)}))` |
+| `lance.blob_field("video")` | `lancedb.blob("video")` |
+| `ds.take_blobs("video", ids=row_ids)` | `tbl.fetch_blob_files("video", row_ids)` (seekable handles) or `tbl.fetch_blobs("video", row_ids)` (`pa.LargeBinaryArray`) |
+| `ds.to_table(columns=cols, filter=expr, limit=n)` | `tbl.search().where(expr).select(cols).limit(n).to_arrow()` |
+| `ds.to_batches(batch_size=k)` | `tbl.search().to_batches(k)` |
+| `ds.take(offsets)` | `tbl.__getitems__(offsets)` (preserves offset order) or `tbl.take_offsets(offsets).to_arrow()` (unordered) |
+| `ds.versions()`, `ds.checkout_version(v)`, `ds.restore()` | `tbl.list_versions()`, `tbl.checkout(v)`, `tbl.restore()` |
+| `ds.optimize.compact_files(...)`, `ds.cleanup_old_versions(...)` | `tbl.optimize(compaction_options=..., cleanup_older_than=...)` |
+
 ## Learn more {#next}
 
 <span id="versioning" />
 <span id="evolution" />
 
 - [Lance format specification](https://lance.org/format): how the format works.
+- [Multimodal data and blobs](/management/table#multimodal): declare `lancedb.blob()` columns and read blobs on demand.
 - [Table versioning](/management/table#versioning): read and manage table versions.
 - [Computed columns](/feature-engineering/add-computed-column): add derived features to your data.
 - [Architecture](/index#architecture): how LanceDB Embedded and Enterprise build on Lance.
diff --git a/docs/web/integrations/lerobotdataset.mdx b/docs/web/integrations/lerobotdataset.mdx
index 260921034..42abd60b5 100644
--- a/docs/web/integrations/lerobotdataset.mdx
+++ b/docs/web/integrations/lerobotdataset.mdx
@@ -126,14 +126,14 @@ tbl.add_columns({"jerk_score": jerk_score})   # nothing computed yet
 tbl.backfill("jerk_score", concurrency=8)     # 610,403 rows in 16.7 s
 ```
 
-Embeddings work the same way, reading frames straight from the video blobs in the same table:
+Embeddings work the same way, reading frames straight from the video blobs in the `videos` table:
 
 ```python
 @udf(data_type=pa.list_(pa.float32(), 768), num_gpus=1,
      input_columns=["episode_index", "frame_index"])
 class EmbedFromBlob:                    # SigLIP2 loads once per worker
     def __call__(self, episode_index, frame_index):
-        blob = self.videos.take_blobs("video_bytes", indices=[vrow])[0]
+        blob = self.videos.fetch_blob_files("video_bytes", [video_row_id])[0]
         frame = VideoDecoder(blob).get_frames_at([pos]).data[0]
         ...
 ```
diff --git a/docs/web/quickstart.mdx b/docs/web/quickstart.mdx
index 02ec850bb..c86147302 100644
--- a/docs/web/quickstart.mdx
+++ b/docs/web/quickstart.mdx
@@ -63,8 +63,10 @@ uv add --prerelease allow --index https://pypi.fury.io/lancedb/ lancedb
 ```
 </CodeGroup>
 
-If you also need the optional `lance` Python API, install the `pylance` extra and
-include the Lance preview index:
+Most applications only need `lancedb`. Install the optional `pylance` extra and
+include the Lance preview index only when building query engines or connectors,
+calling format-level `lance` APIs directly, or converting plain-scan lazy or
+legacy blob columns with `to_pandas()`:
 
 <CodeGroup>
 ```bash Python (pip) icon="terminal"
diff --git a/python/README.md b/python/README.md
index 0b640d27c..3db34bc13 100644
--- a/python/README.md
+++ b/python/README.md
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ For those hosts, install the `lancedb-compat` package instead:
 pip install lancedb-compat
 ```
 
-Same Python API (`import lancedb` works as usual). The compat wheel is compiled at the `x86-64-v2` baseline (Nehalem-class) and uses runtime SIMD dispatch in the embedded lance crate to pick the right kernel tier (scalar / AVX / AVX+FMA / AVX2+FMA / AVX-512) at load time, so it still goes fast on modern hardware while running cleanly on the pre-Haswell silicon. Use `lance.simd_info()` from Python to verify which tier was selected.
+Same Python API (`import lancedb` works as usual). The compat wheel is compiled at the `x86-64-v2` baseline (Nehalem-class) and uses runtime SIMD dispatch in the embedded lance crate to pick the right kernel tier (scalar / AVX / AVX+FMA / AVX2+FMA / AVX-512) at load time, so it still goes fast on modern hardware while running cleanly on the pre-Haswell silicon (if `pylance` is installed, `lance.simd_info()` reports which tier was selected).
 
 `lancedb` and `lancedb-compat` install to the same `lancedb/` namespace and conflict at install time. Pick one. To switch, `pip uninstall lancedb` first, then `pip install lancedb-compat` (or vice-versa).
 
@@ -40,8 +40,10 @@ Stable releases are created about every 2 weeks. For the latest features and bug
 pip install --pre --extra-index-url https://pypi.fury.io/lancedb/ lancedb
 ```
 
-If you also need the optional `lance` Python API, install the `pylance` extra
-and include the Lance preview index:
+Most applications only need `lancedb`. Install the optional `pylance` extra and
+include the Lance preview index only when building query engines or connectors,
+calling format-level `lance` APIs directly, or converting plain-scan lazy or
+legacy blob columns with `to_pandas()`:
 
 ```bash
 pip install --pre \