Question 1

My to-do came from a handwritten note. Can I see the original handwriting in the app?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Any task that started life as a handwritten note shows a small document icon next to it. Click that icon and a preview panel opens showing the original page, converted to a clean PDF. There's nothing to set up per-task — if the icon is there, the note is linkable.

Question 2

What do I need  to link handwritten notes to my tasks?

Accepted Answer

## To fetch the handwriting behind a note-linked task, Relay talks directly to the tablet over your home network, so you need: 1. Browse & Access turned on. Swipe down from the top of the Supernote's screen, tap the Browse & Access icon, and tap OK on the popup. 2. The same Wi-Fi network as your Mac (not a guest network). 3. The tablet awake. E-ink tablets drop Wi-Fi when they sleep, so keep it awake while Relay fetches notes. Relay finds the device automatically. Note that the cloud settings above (folders, auto sync) aren't needed for this — notes are read straight off the tablet.

Question 3

Can I copy the typed-out text of a handwritten note?

Accepted Answer

Yes, if the note was made with Real-time recognition turned on (a per-note setting on the Supernote — it recognises your handwriting into text as you write; the app just reads that text, it doesn't do its own OCR). Open the note's preview and look for the copy-text button in the top toolbar (between the refresh and open buttons). If the note has recognised text the button is active — click it and the text copies straight to your clipboard, confirmed by a small "Text copied ✓" pill. If the note has no recognised text (it wasn't made with recognition on), the button is shown but greyed out, and hovering it explains why. The text is plain (top-to-bottom order); tidy handwriting copies more accurately than dense or multi-column pages.

Question 4

How does my handwriting turn into a PDF I can read on my Mac?

Accepted Answer

Your Supernote stores pages in its own ".note" format, which a normal PDF reader can't open. When you open a linked note, the app quietly pulls that raw .note file off your device over Wi-Fi and runs it through a built-in converter that re-draws every page faithfully (ink, shapes and all) into a standard PDF. The conversion happens on your own Mac — nothing is sent to the cloud.

Question 5

Why does opening a note feel instant sometimes but slow other times?

Accepted Answer

If the app already holds a copy of that note, it shows it from the local cache immediately — no waiting, no network needed. It only does the slow part (download + convert, around 15 seconds for a big multi-page note) the very first time it sees a note, or when you ask for a fresh version. So the first open of a brand-new note is the slow one; every open after that is instant.

Question 6

Can I read my linked notes offline, with my Supernote switched off?

Accepted Answer

Yes — any note the app has already fetched once is kept locally, so it opens instantly even with no Wi-Fi and the device off. Getting a note for the first time, or pulling a newer version, normally uses the device — but if it isn't reachable, the app can offer the note's last-synced copy from the Supernote cloud instead (it may be behind your latest ink). When fully offline, the app stays quiet about updates and just shows your saved copy.

Question 7

Why do I need "Browse & Access" turned on, and what is it?

Accepted Answer

Browse & Access is a built-in Supernote feature that lets it share its files over your local Wi-Fi. The app reads your handwritten notes straight off the device through it — that's the way to get the very latest ink, and the recommended path. If it's off, the app can't fetch the newest version, but it can still show any copy it already saved, and it can offer to download the note's last-synced copy from the Supernote cloud as a fallback. It's read-only: the app only reads files, never changes your Supernote.

Question 8

How do I turn on Browse & Access?

Accepted Answer

On your Supernote: swipe down from the top to open the top menu, tap the Browse & Access icon, make sure the Supernote and Mac are on the same Wi-Fi, and keep the device awake with that screen open. It shows an address like http://192.168.x.x:8089 when it's ready. The app shows these steps in a help panel whenever it can't reach your device.

Question 9

Does my Supernote and Mac have to be on the same Wi-Fi for notes?

Accepted Answer

Yes, for anything that reads the device live — first-time opening a note, and pulling a newer version. The app finds your Supernote by looking for it on your local network, so both devices must be on the same Wi-Fi (and Browse & Access on). Once a note has been saved, viewing that saved copy works with no Wi-Fi and no device at all.

Question 10

When does the "turn on Browse & Access" message pop up?

Accepted Answer

A few situations: when you try to open or refresh a note but no device is found on the network; and when a brand-new note-linked task arrives from a sync but your device is offline, so the note can't be pulled in yet. The dialog offers two ways forward: Option 1, enable Browse & Access (recommended — connects to the device for the latest ink), or Option 2, download the note's last-synced copy from the Supernote cloud. It also keeps quietly retrying in the background, so once you switch the device on the note imports on its own and you get a "Linked note imported" confirmation. It won't nag you about notes you already have.

Question 11

What does the amber "Update available" label in the note preview mean?

Accepted Answer

It means you've written more on that page on your Supernote since the app last saved its copy, so the preview is slightly behind. The app deliberately does NOT auto-reload (re-converting can take ~15 seconds and you might be mid-edit), so it shows this quiet cue instead. Click it (or the circular refresh arrow at the top of the preview) to pull the latest version on demand. The label clears once it loads.

Question 12

How does the app know a note has a newer version?

Accepted Answer

Two ways. (1) Whenever it can reach your Supernote and you have the preview open, it does a quick, cheap check of the file's size and date on the device (no download) and raises the cue if they've changed. (2) Even when the device is offline, if a to-do linked to that note was created or edited more recently than the app's saved copy, that's a strong sign there's newer handwriting waiting, so it flags the note as out-of-date until you next pull it. That offline flag survives restarting the app.

Question 13

I clicked refresh / "Update available" but it says it can't reach my Supernote. What now?

Accepted Answer

Pulling the newest version needs to read your device, so the app keeps showing the last saved copy and tells you it couldn't reach the Supernote — with two options. Option 1 (recommended): turn on Browse & Access on the Supernote, make sure it's on the same Wi-Fi as your Mac, then click refresh again — that gets the very latest ink, and step-by-step help is one click away. Option 2: download the note's last-synced copy from the Supernote cloud — quicker if the device is off or away, but it may be behind your latest handwriting.

Question 14

What do the different colours / icons on the note button mean?

Accepted Answer

The little note icon tells you the note's status. Normal document icon = saved and ready to open instantly. Amber/highlighted document icon = the task links a note that hasn't been backed up yet; click to fetch and save a copy. Archive-box icon = the original was deleted on your Supernote, but you still have a saved copy, so it opens that. Broken-link icon (not clickable) = the note was deleted on the device and there's no saved copy, so there's nothing to open.

Question 15

I deleted the note on my Supernote — did I lose it in the app?

Accepted Answer

Not if the app had already saved a copy. In that case the note's icon turns into an archive box and it still opens your saved version — it just notes the original is gone on the device. You only lose access if the note was deleted before the app ever fetched it, in which case the icon becomes a greyed-out broken link with nothing to open.

Question 16

Why does the app sometimes say a note changed right after I started writing on it?

Accepted Answer

While you're actively writing on a page, the file on the device keeps changing, so the app legitimately sees it as "newer" than its saved copy and may show "Update available". That's expected — it just means there's fresher ink. Pull the latest whenever you're ready; there's no need to refresh on every stroke. ---

Question 17

Where is the note PDF actually saved on my computer?

Accepted Answer

Two separate places. (1) The app keeps a private, encrypted working copy of every note it has fetched inside its own hidden support folder ( ~/Library/Application Support/supernote-todo-desktop/notes/ ). This cache powers the instant preview, is scrambled at rest so other apps can't read your handwriting, and you don't manage it by hand. (2) A plain, readable PDF copy is written to ~/Documents/Supernote only when you push a note-linked task to a third-party app — that's the copy the task's link points at. So: previewing = hidden encrypted cache; pushing = readable copy in Documents/Supernote.

Question 18

Can I change where the readable note PDFs are saved?

Accepted Answer

Yes. In Settings, under the linked-notes options, there's a folder field showing "~/Documents/Supernote" by default with a "Change…" button. Pick any folder and future pushed note PDFs (and the links inside your to-do apps) will use it. This setting is shared across every connected to-do app, not set per-app.

Question 19

How do I save the note PDF somewhere of my own, or open it in Preview?

Accepted Answer

With a note preview open, the top of the panel has buttons to open it in your Mac's normal PDF viewer (e.g. Preview) and to "Save a copy". Save a copy opens the standard macOS save dialog (defaulting to Downloads) so you can keep a plain PDF wherever you like. Both give you an ordinary, readable PDF — handy for emailing or filing. The app's own working copy stays encrypted; these buttons hand you a decrypted copy on purpose.

Question 20

Is my handwriting safe and private on my computer?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The app's working copies of your notes (both the raw note file and the converted PDF) are stored encrypted on disk, so other apps and people can't read your handwriting out of the cache. Readable copies only appear where you explicitly ask for them — when you save a copy, open one externally, or push a task to another app. And reading from the Supernote is done over your own local Wi-Fi, not the cloud.

Question 21

Does the app store a separate copy for every task, even if several tasks link the same note?

Accepted Answer

No. Notes are stored once per note, not once per task. If several to-dos all came from the same handwritten note, they share a single saved copy, and the app won't fetch or convert it more than once.

Question 22

Will old note copies pile up and fill my disk?

Accepted Answer

No. The app tidies its private note cache automatically: copies for notes no longer linked by any task, and copies you haven't opened in a long time, get cleaned up in the background. Your own exported PDFs in ~/Documents/Supernote are never touched by this cleanup — only the app's internal working cache is managed.

Question 23

Do all pages of a multi-page note show up, or just the first?

Accepted Answer

All of them. The converter renders every page of the note into one PDF, so multi-page notes — and tasks that point to a specific later page — open correctly with the whole note available. If a task was linked to a particular page, the preview jumps to that page.

Question 24

The note preview is just spinning and never loads. What's wrong?

Accepted Answer

Usually this is the first-time fetch-and-convert of a large multi-page note, which can take around 15 seconds. The app has a safety timeout: if a conversion gets stuck it stops it, automatically retries once, and if it still fails it shows an error rather than spinning forever. If you see an error, check the note isn't enormous and that the device stayed reachable; closing and reopening the preview, or clicking refresh, tries again cleanly.

Question 25

My Supernote is off or away — can I still get a note I haven't opened before?

Accepted Answer

Usually, yes. When the app can't reach your device, the note dialog offers two options. Option 1 (recommended): enable Browse & Access on the Supernote — that connects directly to the device and gets your very latest ink. Option 2: sync the note from the Supernote cloud — the app downloads the last copy your device synced there. The cloud copy needs your Supernote's cloud sync to be on, and it may not include your latest handwriting unless the device synced recently. Before downloading, the app checks the cloud and tells you when that copy was last synced, so you can decide.

Question 26

What does the "Cloud copy" label on a note preview mean?

Accepted Answer

It means the version you're looking at was downloaded from the Supernote cloud rather than read straight off your device, and the date next to it shows when that copy was synced. It might be behind your latest handwriting — anything you wrote after the device's last cloud sync won't be in it. To get the freshest ink, turn on Browse & Access and click the refresh arrow; once the app pulls the note from the device, the label disappears.

Handwritten Notes & PDFs

Seeing your handwriting

Browse & Access setup

Keeping notes up to date

Where notes are saved

Storage & troubleshooting

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