Official Google Australia Blog: Using Gmail, Calendar and Docs without an Internet connection

Australia Blog

News and notes from Google Down Under

Using Gmail, Calendar and Docs without an Internet connection

Thursday, September 1, 2011

This is a cross-post from the Gmail blog

The great thing about web apps is that you can access all of your information on the go, and we’ve introduced ways to use Google Apps on a variety of devices like mobile phones and tablets. But it’s inevitable that you’ll occasionally find yourself in situations when you don’t have an Internet connection, like planes, trains and carpools. When we announced Chromebooks at Google I/O 2011, we talked about bringing offline access to our web apps, and now we’re taking our first steps in that direction. Gmail offline will be available today, and offline for Google Calendar and Google Docs will be rolling out over the next week, starting today.

Gmail Offline is a Chrome Web Store app that’s intended for situations when you need to read, respond to, organise and archive email without an internet connection. This HTML5-powered app is based on the Gmail web app for tablets, which was built to function with or without web access. After you install the Gmail Offline app from the Chrome Web Store, you can continue using Gmail when you lose your connection by clicking the Gmail Offline icon on Chrome’s “new tab” page.

Google Calendar and Google Docs let you seamlessly transition between on- and offline modes. When you’re offline in Google Calendar, you can view events from your calendars and RSVP to appointments. With Google Docs you can view documents and spreadsheets when you don’t have a connection. Offline editing isn’t ready yet, but we know it’s important to many of you, and we’re working hard to make it a reality. To get started using Google Calendar or Google Docs offline, just click the gear icon at the top right corner of the web app and select the option for offline access.

IT administrators can deploy Chrome Web Store apps to users en masse by setting up organisational policies for Chrome.

Today’s world doesn’t slow down when you’re offline and it’s a great feeling to be productive from anywhere, on any device, at any time. We’re pushing the boundaries of modern browsers to make this possible, and while we hope that many users will already find today’s offline functionality useful, this is only the beginning. Support for offline document editing and customising the amount of email to be synchronised will be coming in the future. We also look forward to making offline access more widely available when other browsers support advanced functionality (like background pages).

Posted by Benoît de Boursetty, Product Manager

Google

Labels: calendar , Gmail , Google docs

Labels

20%
3D
AdSense
AdWords
AdWords Express
Agencies
agencies adwords TV
AI
Analytics
android
announcements
antarctica
App Marketplace
apps
ARIA
art
Australia
Australian IT
big data
Big Query
blogging
blogs
books
broadband
business
calendar
campaign management
careers
CeBIT
chrome
Chromebox
Chromecast
climate
cloud computing
community
competition
computer science
conversion tracking
cooking
creativity
creators
culture
currents
cyber safety
cycling
dashboard
Developer Day
developers
devices
digital advertising
digital economy
Display
display ads
Doodles
drive
earphones
ebooks
education
Election
energy
enhanced campaigns
Enterprise
entertainment
entrepreneurship
environment
environmental insights explorer
Equatorgate
Fairfax
film
filtering
G'day Google
gardening
Getting Aussie Business Online
Gmail
gone google
gonegoogle
google
Google App Engine
Google Apps
Google Apps for Business
Google Apps for Education
Google Art Project
Google Arts & Culture
Google Assistant
Google Australia
Google Chrome
Google Code
Google docs
Google Drive
Google Earth
Google in Australia
google maps
Google Places
google play
Google Search
Google Serve
Google Sites
Google Talk
Google Trends
Google+
Googlers and culture
government
green
Guest blogger
guest speakers
Hangouts
hardware
HR
iGoogle
information
innovation
insights
internet
internet industry
IT
Julia Gillard
language
learning
life
local
Made By Google
maps
measurement
media industry
mental health
mobile
Moderator
movies
music
navigation
NBN
Nest
netball
new features
news
NGEN
non-profit
online advertising
online safety
open government
open source
Partnerships
phone
photography
picasa
Pixel
Pixel Buds
play
play points
Policy
politics
prime minister
privacy
prizes
Product
PSI
publishers
puppies
real estate
Reception
recruitment
removals
rentals
reporting
research
Running
Safety
scholarships
schools
science
search
search ads
Security
shopping
sitelinks
sketchup
small business
smartphones
SMB
software
street view
student programs
students
Stupid Google employee tricks
Summer of Code
Support
Support Act
survey
sustainability
sydney
symphony
tablet
technology
Themes
tips
training
transit
translate
transparency
transport
Universities
vault
videos
voicesearch
Wave
wellbeing
with me
women
workplace culture
YouTube
YouTube Kids
YouTube Live
YouTube Music
YouTube Originals
zeitgeiest

Feed

Media contacts

If you are a member of the press, please email our communications team at:
press-australia-nz@google.com

For all other enquiries, please visit our Help Centre.

Google
Privacy
Terms

Australia Blog

Using Gmail, Calendar and Docs without an Internet connection

Labels

Archive

Feed

Media contacts