Simply Customize It! FAQs
If a question you have isn't here please comment below and/or reach out through mail@simplykyra.com.
App Specific
App Store Page
App Website
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Supported Apple Devices
I've developed Simply Customize It specifically for iOS and have been using my phone, mainly, while developing. That said you can also use it on your iPad and Mac too. Currently a lot of the front end is shared between the devices but if there's interest I can focus on one over the other.
Supported reMarkable Devices
I own a reMarkable 2 and developed this app using it. I understand the first reMarkable behaves the same and haven't heard of any issues using it with this app.
More recently I purchased a reMarkable Paper Pro and added the ability to connect it to Simply Customize It. The updated version 1.0.1 can connect to the Paper Pro while the first version 1.0.0 can't. If you aren't sure which version you have check if the target device has been added to device area or if it's still called users.
App Versions (Change Log)
Version 1.0.7: December 18th, 2024 - Fixed an issue when adding a new template from the browse view. This update also includes an added "delete all" button to the browse views for macOS (moved the already existing one in iOS) and added the ability to set/change the default category of any newly created template.
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Version 1.0.6: December 14th, 2024 - Mainly minor fixes with the biggest update being for macOS which now has a fix on the calculated dimensional string which led to PNG resizing! On both versions there's several small changes like putting SVG before PNG when editing templates and adding the ability to add a template directly to a category.
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Version 1.0.5: November 26th, 2024 - Added support to see, remove, and add SVG images to the templates. The reMarkable software version of 3.16 (tested on beta) removes PNG images and only used SVG images. Both still work but this update allows you to use one or both. Also took the opportunity to split up the PNG resize button to be more useable.
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Version 1.0.4: November 10th, 2024 - Update required if connecting to a reMarkable Paper Pro with a software version of 3.15 or later; otherwise, any template syncing will attempt to connect with the wrong file. Also took the opportunity to make the app easier to navigate.
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Version 1.0.3: November 9th, 2024 - Original added for <see version 1.0.4>. Realized it showed the template's filename from debugging after iOS was approved. Canceled for macOS. See below for what was included.
Version 1.0.2: November 1st, 2024 - Added more help for people attempting to connect to a reMarkable Paper Pro for the first time including a button to turn on WLAN.
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Version 1.0.1: Update that included support for the reMarkable Paper Pro. Minor changes included to help support that.
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Version 1.0: Original app came out to both the macOS and iOS but was announced separately ahead of time.
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Will This Work On My reMarkable Device?
To use this app you will need to be able to find your connection values on your reMarkable (Settings > About > Copyright and Licenses). On the reMarkable Paper Pro there are a few more steps.
root to the left. The list of IP addresses are under the bottom patch of purple. I've only ever used the top one. reMarkable 1 or 2
This app was created tested against my reMarkable 2. I don't have the earlier reMarkable 1 model but I understand it to be the same. At this time (updating this text on beta version 3.16) the above login credentials are available and you should be able to connect without any additional steps.
reMarkable Paper Pro
The Paper Pro came out after the app was released and the support for this was added with version 1.0.1. You will not be able to find the login credentials until after you turn on developer mode. For more steps on how to do that you can check out:
Kyra
Be aware that WLAN can now be turned on via button in the app if you a physically connect your reMarkable with the device (iPhone/iPad/computer) that the app is installed on). That said this post offers helpful information for developer mode.
See Connecting to a reMarkable Paper Pro below if you have issues connecting in the app after turning on developer mode.
Connection Issues
General Cause
The most common problems include
- Is your reMarkable turned on? Sometimes if you just turned it on it’ll need a minute or two before the connection works.
- Is the host (IP address), username, and password entered correctly? If you used my Fill in the Values button it can sometimes confuse a number or letter especially with the more complicated password. I've had passwords that contained both zeros 0 and the letter o O. Next to each other they were obvious but if I had only one I would've second guessed it. Additionally, once my password had an l (L) that looks just like a 1 when out of context.
- Is your computer/phone/iPad on the same Wi-Fi as your reMarkable device?
- Was it able to connect before and can't now? There are many reasons your IP address can change such as your if your network is updated or if you moved to another network... maybe go into your reMarkable and check if it's now different.
- If you're a bit more Mac savvy you may have a previous created network configuration in your macOS preferences. Confirm there isn't anything getting in the way.
Connecting to a reMarkable Paper Pro
- Confirm you aren't running the first version (1.0) before support was added to include the Paper Pro.
- Developer Mode: To be able to connect you need to first turn on Developer Mode as without it the connection credentials are hidden. Not sure what else this affects but reMarkable warns you about entering it and you'll need to enter software recovery mode to exit. I share more about that here.
- WLAN: by default on the Paper Pro this is turned off. WLAN allows your to connect wirelessly over the local area network. With it you still need to be on the same WiFi as it's local. If you haven't turned it on yet you will need to (two options):
- SSH manually in and turn WLAN on. Connect your reMarkable to your computer with a cable, open a terminal, use SSH to connect, and enter
rm-ssh-over-wlan on. More information about this can be found at steps 3 and 4 here. - Use the app to turn WLAN on. If you're running version 1.0.2 or later there's a handy button in the device display area (also on the onboarding scree with version 1.0.4) that will turn on WLAN for you but you need to physically connect your reMarkable to whichever device is running the app with a cable for it to work. Also, once you physically connect the two devices, a new local IP address will show up on your reMarkable. Use that one instead of the original one that was showing.
- For additional help on this I've written tutorials to help so check out the first few steps in this post for more help. The post itself is about setting sleep screen images but steps 1-4 and optional 6 will help.
Error Messages
Right now if it can't connect the app catches the connection error and I use that to determine what message I should show you. If it's an authentication error I start the popup response to you with "Unable to authenticate" while other replies might be more general. If it's a response I haven't seen before I make sure to add the actual error message returned to the end to better determine what went wrong. If you're having problems connecting and getting this message (....Error returned is: error message) let me know and I can look into it, hopefully help you out, and add a better message to a future update to help others.
Additional Help
If you're still having issues the best thing I can think of is to use a terminal to try to ssh in and, optionally, using the verbose -v tag for additional information. In this case, on my Mac, I open the terminal and type in: ssh -v root@XXX.XXX.X.XXX. I previously wrote a post about how to connect to the reMarkable 2 and later updated it with the reMarkable Paper Pro. Both posts have more information than you'd need to have if using the app but also have more words/photos than this FAQs page to help you along.
If there is absolutely no connection like this:
❯ ssh -v root@192.168.1.38
OpenSSH_9.8p1, LibreSSL 3.3.6
debug1: Reading configuration data /Users/kyra/.ssh/config
debug1: Reading configuration data /etc/ssh/ssh_config
debug1: /etc/ssh/ssh_config line 21: include /etc/ssh/ssh_config.d/* matched no files
debug1: /etc/ssh/ssh_config line 54: Applying options for *
debug1: Authenticator provider $SSH_SK_PROVIDER did not resolve; disabling
debug1: Connecting to 192.168.1.38 [192.168.1.38] port 22.
debug1: connect to address 192.168.1.38 port 22: Connection refused
ssh: connect to host 192.168.1.38 port 22: Connection refusedThen it's not even recognizing your reMaskable so WLAN is probably still turned off (this example) or you're not on the same local area network (WiFi). If you're attempting to turn off WiFi and are wired in a local host pops up on the reMarkable login credentials so use that one rather than the original one that was there.
Templates
JSON File Not Found
Have you attempted to import templates and gotten an error where the file isn't found? This could be because something happened to the file but before you get too worried first check to see if your target device is set properly as that can determine what file the app is looking for.
The templates JSON file is what tells the reMarkable what templates are on your device and where to go looking for their images. The original reMarkable 1 and the reMarkable 2 used templates.json while the reMarkable Paper Pro, when it first came out, used ferrari-templates.json up until software version 3.15 when it switched back to using templates.json.
As such check if the app is targeting the proper reMarkable device:
If you're still having difficulties you may be missing the JSON file. In the very worst case scenario the next time the reMarkable updates it will be reset. Some other options include:
- If you have the templates already loaded in the app you can use the upload button to send them to your reMarkable which will re-create the
JSONfile for you. From there you can import and sync at will. - If you created multiple devices in the app you can switch to another one, update the login credentials to your current device if needed, and use the upload button to recreate the file. Warning: If you switched device types this could mean the newly uploaded templates are too large or small for your reMarkable.
- Use a backup you may have created and upload them through the command line using
scp. Here is a post I created about manually uploading custom templates to my reMarkable 2 in case that can help you.
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Template Images Don’t Show Up in the App
If you are syncing to a reMarkable whose version is 3.16 or later you may need to update the app. With the 3.16 beta I realized reMarkable seems to have dropped the PNG version of its templates and just uses the SVG version. With Simply Customize It version 1.0.5 I renamed the image to PNG Image and added a section for the SVG Image to be added, removed, changed, and viewed. Check out the update here for more information.
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Images General
Images Don’t Fit or Look Different When on the reMarkable Device
What size is your image? The reMarkable 1 and 2 screen size is 1872 by 1404 pixels (226 DPI) while the new reMarkable Paper Pro is 2160 by 1620 pixels. See more based on PNG (for templates or screens) versus SVG (only used with templates) below.
PNG Image Trouble
Image Doesn't Fit the Screen
Years ago I noticed that if I used a larger image for my sleep screen suspending.png image it ended up being squished, to fit, on my reMarkable. More recently I realized the image's excess is now cropped to fit. If this is your case you can resize the image before uploading it to the app OR I've added a button to both the screen and template image view that resizes and crops the photo to fit the reMarkable's size.
PNG image.Also pay attention to what orientation your image is in. If you have it in landscape mode (wider than tall) there reMarkable will display only a section of it and have a blank space at the bottom (reMarkable version 3.15 shown below). It needs to be in portrait mode (taller than wide) before uploading.
That said I have put a landscape image sideways and uploaded it so that the reMarkable thinks it is a portrait mode image but I can still turn the reMarkable sideways for a wide view when my reMarkable is sleeping.
Resize and Center Crop Doesn't Work
Only available with iOS and not macOS. If you're running the newer update (version 1.0.1 or later), pressing the above button, and it still doesn't look right can I get you to check what device type you're set as? To do this go to the Profile tab and look under Device Details. If you are connecting to a reMarkable 1 or 2 with reMarkable Paper Pro selected (or vis versa) it will be resizing your image to the wrong dimensions.
SVG Image Trouble
Black Template Isn't Displaying Correctly
When testing SVG support (released with version 1.0.5) I realized the SVG image I used for my black template was no longer working properly on my reMarkable beta software 3.16. I eventually got it working by replacing the SVG image with another in the project. As such if you created your Black Template in an earlier version you'll want to confirm you've updated Simply Customize It to version 1.0.5 or later and go into onboarding again to re-create the temple.
Image Doesn't Fit the Screen
After a bit of trial (more help below) I got my black SVG image file displaying correctly on the reMarkable but in doing so realized creating SVG files is much trickier than simply hitting export as SVG on a website or app. Additionally, unlike PNG images you can't simply hit resize or rotate so your image needs to be made correctly before uploading to the reMarkable or Simply Customize It.
More SVG Help
My original debugging took my original black image that I think I exported from Pixelmator Pro and checked it with SVG Image Validator online just to realize it was base64 encoded. I next hopped onto CyberChef just to see the top of my file, once decoded, said PNG at the top.
I decided to next imagine tossing this image out and went onto Canva to create a new black SVG image. This resulting image could be uploaded to the reMarkable but wasn't sized correctly once used. To fix it I next opened up the image in a text editor, made changes, and re-uploaded to my reMarkable just to realize it still didn't work. Eventually I realized I needed to fix all the values found in the viewbox, width, height, and the x and y origin coordinates to get it displaying well on my reMarkable devices.
Eventually my final black SVG template files looked like:
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" zoomAndPan="magnify" viewBox="0 0 1620 2160" preserveAspectRatio="xMidYMid meet" version="1.0"><rect x="0" width="1620" fill="#000000" y="0" height="2160" fill-opacity="1"/></svg>
The black template image for the reMarkable Paper Pro.
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" zoomAndPan="magnify" viewBox="0 0 1404 1872" preserveAspectRatio="xMidYMid meet" version="1.0"><rect x="0" width="1404" fill="#000000" y="0" height="1872" fill-opacity="1"/></svg>
The black template image for the reMarkable 1 or 2.
Helpful websites I used are:
Ardain Technologies
General
Stay Connected With SimplyKyra?
To stay connected with SimplyKyra can become a free member of this page! Once you do you're automatically signed up for my two newsletters: Blog Posts sends out any blog posts as they're added while, for app related content, you'll want App Updates checked off. You can choose which or both you want to receive and change it at anytime. For more information about how to sign up and the newsletters themselves check out my newsletters and account setting page here.
If you want to stay connected in another way all my social accounts are listed along the footer of this website although some are updated more frequently than others.
Additional Questions?
If you have a question that wasn't found here feel free to comment on this post or reach out through mail@simplykyra.com. I try to add update this page with any questions I've been asked that may help others.
If you have general questions about the reMarkable itself I shared a post showing the frequently asked questions I've seen about it here and I shared many reMarkable-related posts in the past.
Feel free to comment below if you have any additional questions or reach out through mail@simplykyra.com. And if you want feel free to...