3.30 Beta: A Quick Heads Up About Custom Templates

Last night one of you emailed about your template no longer working on your reMarkable Paper Pro after updating to the 3.30 beta (thank you!). I wasn't able to update my Paper Pro (still waiting on 3.29) but I did update my reMarkable 2 (3.30.0.109) and reMarkable Paper Pro Move (3.30.0.108).

This post is simply meant as an early heads up in case you use custom templates and want more information as it happens.

What I Observed

The update went smoothly, I ran my post-update recovery in Simply Customize It, and according to my app it worked (and it did: the files are all there, the reMarkable just isn’t reading them). But when I unlocked my reMarkable (on both the 2 and Move) the templates and even their categories didn't show up.

To test this further I uploaded a .template file type and realized the type of custom template (PNG, SVG, or .template) doesn’t make a difference. Uploaded the usual way, none of them show up.

Screens: I wanted to pause and mention that sleep screen images still upload fine and this does not seem to have affected them at all.

What This Is (and What It Isn't)

From my testing it seems the 3.30 beta has changed how the reMarkable finds custom templates in some way and no longer loads them the way it has for years. As such it may affect every tool and manual method too.

I don’t work with reMarkable, so I can’t say for sure what’s happening. The release notes don’t mention it, and since custom templates were never officially supported, my guess is things have changed on purpose. That said, it’s just a beta right now and things may still change…

Others Are Seeing This Too

You're not alone. After recreating it on my side but before delving in I saw there was a couple of Reddit posts where someone mentioned that RCU, reManager and EP Binder Pro aren’t loading their custom templates on 3.30 either. For potential up to date information (and because I'd love to figure out a way to fix this) I've posted a question to the community here:

What This Means for You

• Not on the beta? Nothing changes for you right now. If you're happy with your custom templates and want to continue using them I recommend holding off on a reMarkable update until we know more.
• On the beta? Your templates are still safe in the app… I just don’t have a way to make them show up on your reMarkable right now.
• Need a template today? Best I can suggest is turning your PNG into a PDF and adding it through the reMarkable app. When I first created Simply Customize It the PDF support wasn't the best but that's gotten loads better since and that way you can continue using it as needed.

Note: 1.5.0 Update

Quick aside: I have a Simply Customize It 1.5.0 update waiting on Apple's review right now. It was finished before I found this, so it's completely unrelated. It won't fix this but it also won't cause it either. Just wanted to let you know in case you see that email once the update is approved and think it's already fixed.

Final Thoughts

This is an early heads up, not an alarm. Betas change and if and when I know more I'll go back and update this post. If you're on 3.30, I'd love to hear what you're seeing, either in the comments or on the Reddit thread. And if you learn a way to get our templates back I'd love for you to share!

Like always, I hope you're having a great day.

— Kyra 💕