The reMarkable 2 is a wonderful business enabler, but it’s usefulness is increased if you can move documents directly from gMail to the tablet. The reMarkable Connect service performs that backend synchronization to keep files up to date between the app, the website, and your tablet.
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My experience with reMarkable and moving attachments
I’ve been using the reMarkable 2 paper tablet and their Connect service for the past 2 years. I’ve used it in various businesses as well as to support my personal life. During this time, I’ve experimented with various ways of moving notes and PDFs between devices. As reMarkable continues to release software updates, they’ve enabled new functionality and I endeavor to test these changes.
Overview of reMarkable 2
The reMarkable 2, a digital note-taking device produced by Remarkable, a Norwegian tech company. The tablet and EMR stlyus combo is designed to simulate the experience of writing or drawing on paper, providing a digital platform for note-taking, sketching, and annotating documents. The device is quite simple, allowing focus in a world of distractions; though it does feature some powerful tools like handwriting-to-text and wifi sync.
There are three main methods for moving files from gmail (or any other mail application) to the reMarkable tablet – moving on a mobile phone with the reMarkable app, moving on a computer with the reMarkable app, and moving on a computer through the website
reMarkable Connect (all methods require this subscription)
reMarkable’s Connect subscription is needed to sync any documents between the App and the Device. For the low price of $2.99 (after your trial ends), the syncing is a no brainer. In addition to syncing documents, it also allows emailing PDFs, handwriting to text, and cloud backup.
All of the advice in this article assumes that you’ve got the paid or trial subscription to Connect. If you don’t have it yet, head over to the reMarkable website and signup for Connect first.
Moving attachments from iPhone gmail app to reMarkable through the app
First you need to install reMarkable app from the Apple iTunes store. It’s a free download and then you’ll just need to signin with your reMarkable Connect information.
Once you’ve got the app setup, find the document you’d like to move from gmail to your reMarkable. After you open the doc in gmail, click on the “Share” icon in the top right corner. This will bring up the menu show to the left. On the line that includes different apps to open the document in, scroll over until you find reMarkable. If you haven’t saved the app as a favorite, you’ll need to click on “More.” This will bring up a new menu and you need to scroll down to find reMarkable.
Once you’ve selected the reMarkable app, decide where you’d like to save the document. By default, the document will show on the home screen of the reMarkable. Hold with your finger on the document and then it will queue the menu to move the document to the folder where you want it to sync to.
As long as your phone has connectivity and your reMarkable is connected to wifi, you should see the document shortly. If the reMarkable isn’t syncing, you may need to open the menu on the device and tell it to check for updates.
Pro tip: add reMarkable to the favorite methods to share to make it easier to find in the future. To do this, you need to click “Edit” in the top right corner and then click the green “plus” symbol next to reMarkable
Moving attachments from gmail to remarkable on desktop/laptop
Moving attachments (especially PDFs or Powerpoint presentations) on a Windows computer takes a few extra steps because there isn’t a native integration to just open the file in another application. Below are the generalized steps for moving files from a mail application to your reMarkable 2.
- Install reMarkable app on your laptop – the app can be found for download on the reMarkable website here (which honestly should be easier to find)
- Download file from gmail – just as you would any other file, don’t forget where you saved it!
- Open reMarkable App
- Drag file from your downloads folder (or wherever you downloaded it) to the reMarkable app – If you want it to go to a certain folder, open that folder first.
- Syncing between the app and the device should occur shortly – you can force your reMarkable to sync by navigating to the Menu >> Storage > Check Sync
Alternative laptop / desktop reMarkable method (no app installation)
Some corporate IT policies prevent the installation of 3rd party software (or require the input from an IT person). In these situations, it can be easiest to just use the reMarkable website to move your files. To perform this:
- Download the file from your mail application or site
- Navigate to the reMarkable Connect website & login – my.remarkable.com
- Scroll to the bottom of the landing page to find the file drop location
- Locate your files and then drag them onto the drag location
- Syncing between the app and the device should occur shortly – you can force your reMarkable to sync by navigating to the Menu >> Storage > Check Sync
