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<h1 style='display: inline' id='using-supernote-nomad-offline'>Using Supernote Nomad offline</h1><br />
<br />
<span class='quote'>Published at 2025-12-31T16:25:30+02:00</span><br />
<br />
<span>I am a note taker. For years, I've been searching for a good digital device that could complement my paper notebooks. I've finally found it in the Supernote Nomad. I use it completely offline without cloud-sync, and in this post, I'll explain why this is a benefit.</span><br />
<br />
<a class='textlink' href='https://supernote.com/pages/supernote-nomad'>Supernote Nomad</a><br />
<br />
<span>I initially bought it because Retta (the manufacturer of the Supernote) stated on their website that an open-source Linux firmware would be released soon. However, after over a year, there still hasn't been any progress (hopefully there will be someday). So I looked into alternative ways to use this device.</span><br />
<br />
<pre>
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⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠋⣤⣄⠘⠃⢠⣀⣀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⠉⠛⠛⠿⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿
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⣿⣿⣿⣿⡄⠸⢿⣤⠀⢠⣤⣀⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⠙⠛⠻⠶⠀⢰⣿⣿⠻⣿⣿
⣿⣿⣿⣿⠠⣶⣆⡉⠀⠀⠈⠉⠙⠛⠳⠶⠦⣤⣤⣄⣀⡀⢀⣴⠟⠋⠙⢷⣬⣿
⣿⣿⣿⠏⣠⡄⠹⠁⠰⢶⣤⣤⣀⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⢉⣿⠟⠁⠀⠀⣠⣾⣿⣿
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⣿⡟⠀⣶⣀⠃⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠉⠙⠛⠓⢾⡟⢙⣷⣤⢾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿
⣿⠋⣀⡉⠻⠀⠘⠛⠻⠶⢶⣤⣤⣀⡀⢠⠿⠟⠛⠉⠁⣸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿
⣿⡀⠛⠳⠆⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⠉⠛⠛⠷⠶⣦⠄⢀⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿
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</pre>
<br />
<h2 style='display: inline' id='table-of-contents'>Table of Contents</h2><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href='#using-supernote-nomad-offline'>Using Supernote Nomad offline</a></li>
<li>⇢ <a href='#the-joy-of-being-offline'>The Joy of Being Offline</a></li>
<li>⇢ <a href='#my-offline-workflow'>My Offline Workflow</a></li>
<li>⇢ ⇢ <a href='#converting-notes-to-pdf'>Converting Notes to PDF</a></li>
<li>⇢ ⇢ <a href='#syncing-to-my-phone'>Syncing to my Phone</a></li>
<li>⇢ ⇢ <a href='#firmware-updates'>Firmware updates</a></li>
<li>⇢ <a href='#the-writing-experience'>The Writing Experience</a></li>
<li>⇢ <a href='#conclusion'>Conclusion</a></li>
</ul><br />
<h2 style='display: inline' id='the-joy-of-being-offline'>The Joy of Being Offline</h2><br />
<br />
<span>In a world of constant connectivity, the Supernote Nomad offers a sanctuary. By keeping it offline, I can focus on my thoughts and notes without compromise of my privacy.</span><br />
<br />
<span>One of the most significant advantages of keeping Wi-Fi off is the battery life. The Supernote Nomad can last a week, on a single charge when it's not constantly searching for a network. This makes it a good companion for long trips or intense note-taking sessions.</span><br />
<br />
<span>Privacy was my main concern. By not syncing my notes to Retta's cloud service, I retain full ownership and control over my data. There's no risk of my personal thoughts and ideas being accessed or mined by third parties. It's a simple and effective way to ensure my privacy.</span><br />
<br />
<a href='./using-supernote-nomad-offline/nomad2.jpg'><img alt='A picture of the Supernote Nomad' title='A picture of the Supernote Nomad' src='./using-supernote-nomad-offline/nomad2.jpg' /></a><br />
<br />
<h2 style='display: inline' id='my-offline-workflow'>My Offline Workflow</h2><br />
<br />
<span>My workflow is simple, only relying on a direct USB connection to my Linux laptop.</span><br />
<br />
<span>I connect my Supernote Nomad to my Linux laptop via a USB-C cable. The device is automatically recognized as a storage device, and I can directly access the <span class='inlinecode'>Note</span> folder, which contains all my notes as <span class='inlinecode'>.note</span> files. I then copy these files to a dedicated archive folder on my laptop.</span><br />
<br />
<h3 style='display: inline' id='converting-notes-to-pdf'>Converting Notes to PDF</h3><br />
<br />
<span>To make my notes accessible and shareable, I convert them from the proprietary <span class='inlinecode'>.note</span> format to PDF. For this, I use a fantastic open-source tool called <span class='inlinecode'>supernote-tool</span>. It's not an official tool from Ratta, but it works flawlessly.</span><br />
<br />
<a class='textlink' href='https://github.com/jya-dev/supernote-tool'>https://github.com/jya-dev/supernote-tool</a><br />
<br />
<span>I've created a small shell script to automate the conversion process using tis tool. This script, <span class='inlinecode'>convert-notes-to-pdfs.sh</span>, resides in my notes archive folder:</span><br />
<br />
<!-- Generator: GNU source-highlight 3.1.9
by Lorenzo Bettini
http://www.lorenzobettini.it
http://www.gnu.org/software/src-highlite -->
<pre><i><font color="#ababab">#!/usr/bin/env bash</font></i>
<font color="#7bc710">convert ()</font><font color="#ff0000"> {</font>
<font color="#ff0000"> find </font><font color="#F3E651">.</font><font color="#ff0000"> -name </font><font color="#F3E651">\*.</font><font color="#ff0000">note </font><font color="#F3E651">\</font>
<font color="#ff0000"> </font><font color="#F3E651">|</font><font color="#ff0000"> </font><b><font color="#ffffff">while</font></b><font color="#ff0000"> </font><b><font color="#ffffff">read</font></b><font color="#ff0000"> -r note</font><font color="#F3E651">;</font><font color="#ff0000"> </font><b><font color="#ffffff">do</font></b>
<font color="#ff0000"> echo supernote-tool convert -a -t pdf </font><font color="#bb00ff">"$note"</font><font color="#ff0000"> </font><font color="#bb00ff">"${note/.note/.pdf}"</font>
<font color="#ff0000"> supernote-tool convert -a -t pdf </font><font color="#bb00ff">"$note"</font><font color="#ff0000"> </font><font color="#bb00ff">"${note/.note/.pdf}.tmp"</font>
<font color="#ff0000"> mv </font><font color="#bb00ff">"${note/.note/.pdf}.tmp"</font><font color="#ff0000"> </font><font color="#bb00ff">"${note/.note/.pdf}"</font>
<font color="#ff0000"> du -hs </font><font color="#bb00ff">"$note"</font><font color="#ff0000"> </font><font color="#bb00ff">"${note/.note/.pdf}"</font>
<font color="#ff0000"> echo</font>
<font color="#ff0000"> </font><b><font color="#ffffff">done</font></b>
<font color="#ff0000">}</font>
<i><font color="#ababab"># Make the PDFs available on my Phone as well</font></i>
<font color="#7bc710">copy ()</font><font color="#ff0000"> {</font>
<font color="#ff0000"> </font><b><font color="#ffffff">if</font></b><font color="#ff0000"> </font><font color="#F3E651">[</font><font color="#ff0000"> </font><font color="#F3E651">!</font><font color="#ff0000"> -d </font><font color="#F3E651">~</font><font color="#ff0000">/Documents/Supernote </font><font color="#F3E651">];</font><font color="#ff0000"> </font><b><font color="#ffffff">then</font></b>
<font color="#ff0000"> echo </font><font color="#bb00ff">"Directory ~/Documents/Supernote does not exist, skipping"</font>
<font color="#ff0000"> </font><b><font color="#ffffff">exit</font></b><font color="#ff0000"> </font><font color="#bb00ff">1</font>
<font color="#ff0000"> </font><b><font color="#ffffff">fi</font></b>
<font color="#ff0000"> rsync -delete -av --include</font><font color="#F3E651">=</font><font color="#bb00ff">'*/'</font><font color="#ff0000"> --include</font><font color="#F3E651">=</font><font color="#bb00ff">'*.pdf'</font><font color="#ff0000"> --exclude</font><font color="#F3E651">=</font><font color="#bb00ff">'*'</font><font color="#ff0000"> </font><font color="#F3E651">.</font><font color="#ff0000"> </font><font color="#F3E651">~</font><font color="#ff0000">/Documents/Supernote</font><font color="#F3E651">/</font>
<font color="#ff0000"> echo This was copied from </font><font color="#ff0000">$(pwd)</font><font color="#ff0000"> so dont edit manually </font><font color="#F3E651">>~</font><font color="#ff0000">/Documents/Supernote/README</font><font color="#F3E651">.</font><font color="#ff0000">txt</font>
<font color="#ff0000">}</font>
<font color="#ff0000">convert</font>
<font color="#ff0000">copy</font>
</pre>
<br />
<span>This script does two things:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>It finds all <span class='inlinecode'>.note</span> files in the current directory and converts them to PDF using <span class='inlinecode'>supernote-tool</span>.</li>
<li>It copies the generated PDFs to my <span class='inlinecode'>~/Documents/Supernote</span> folder.</li>
</ul><br />
<h3 style='display: inline' id='syncing-to-my-phone'>Syncing to my Phone</h3><br />
<br />
<span>The <span class='inlinecode'>~/Documents/Supernote</span> folder on my laptop is synchronized with my phone using Syncthing. This way, I have access to all my notes in PDF format on my phone, wherever I go, without relying on any cloud service.</span><br />
<br />
<a class='textlink' href='https://syncthing.net/'>https://syncthing.net/</a><br />
<br />
<h3 style='display: inline' id='firmware-updates'>Firmware updates</h3><br />
<br />
<span>One usually updates the software or firmware of the Supernote Nomad via Wi-Fi. However, it is also possible to update it completely offline. To install the firmware update, follow the steps below (the following instructions were copied from the Supernote website):</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Connect your Supernote to your PC with a USB-C cable. For macOS, an MTP software (e.g. OpenMTP or Android File Transfer) is required for your Supernote to show up on your Mac. </li>
<li>For Manta, Nomad, A5 X and A6 X devices, copy the firmware (DO NOT UNZIP) to the "Export" folder of Supernote; for A5 and A6 devices, copy the firmware (DO NOT UNZIP) to the root directory of Supernote.</li>
<li>Unplug the USB connection, tap “OK” on your Supernote to continue, and if no prompt pops up, please restart your device directly to proceed to update.</li>
</ul><br />
<h2 style='display: inline' id='the-writing-experience'>The Writing Experience</h2><br />
<br />
<span>The writing feel of the Supernote Nomad is simply great. The combination of the screen's texture and the ceramic nib of the pen creates a feeling that is remarkably close to writing on real paper. The latency is almost non-existent, and the pressure sensitivity allows for a natural and expressive writing experience. It's great to write on, and it makes me want to take more notes.</span><br />
<br />
<a href='./using-supernote-nomad-offline/nomad1.jpg'><img alt='Another picture of the Supernote Nomad' title='Another picture of the Supernote Nomad' src='./using-supernote-nomad-offline/nomad1.jpg' /></a><br />
<br />
<h2 style='display: inline' id='conclusion'>Conclusion</h2><br />
<br />
<span>The Supernote Nomad has become an additional tool for me. By using it offline, I've created a distraction-free and private note-taking environment. The simple, manual workflow for transferring and converting notes gives me full control over my data, and the writing experience is second to none. If you're looking for a digital notebook that respects your privacy and helps you focus, I highly recommend giving the Supernote Nomad a try with an offline-first approach.</span><br />
<br />
<span>The Supernote didn't fully replace my traditional paper journals, though. Each of them has its own use case. However, that is outside the scope of this blog post.</span><br />
<br />
<span>Other related posts:</span><br />
<br />
<a class='textlink' href='./2026-01-01-using-supernote-nomad-offline.html'>2026-01-01 Using Supernote Nomad offline (You are currently reading this)</a><br />
<a class='textlink' href='./2026-01-01-cloudless-kobo-forma-with-koreader.html'>2026-01-01 Cloudless Kobo Forma with KOReader</a><br />
<br />
<span>E-Mail your comments to <span class='inlinecode'>paul@nospam.buetow.org</span> :-)</span><br />
<br />
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