I am pretty sure that many of you might have heard of Gmail being available in offline mode. This mode which is still in Labs, allows me to use my Gmail account while I am offline. It supports conversation threading, search function along with composing and looking up Emails.
Offline Gmail
- When Gmail is in offline mode it uses Google gears to store data on your computer for you to access all your mails. It becomes more or less like a desktop application rolled into a web application.
- This is quite helpful if the internet connection is unstable or keeps dropping. Gmail in offline mode gets notified when the connection is back on and downloads all the new mails to your computer along with sending the ones your have composed.
- This if truly great when you are travelling and might have trouble with connectivity issues.
The trouble with Gmail in offline mode was that it did not allow me to send attachments. That has all changed since Google announced that attachments will be available for people using Gmail in offline mode.
If you do not know how to got in offline mode with Gmail, use the following steps.
- Click on Settings and then select Labs.
- Select Enable next to Offline Gmail. Click Save Changes.
- After refreshing or when Gmail reloads you will see a new “Offline” link in the upper righthand corner next to your username on Gmail page.
- Click on Offline link to start the offline set up process.
Having a feature to allow attachments actually makes the experience of being offline with Gmail a lot more smoother than before and I won’t be surprised if this feature in Gmail graduates out of Labs soon and also becomes a regular part of Chrome OS. 😉