By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews
How can Google’s Gmail service going offline be good news? Well, it can if what I mean by “offline” isn’t a stoppage of the service, but instead a way to read, reply, etc. to your Gmail without being connected to the Internet.
It’s beta, of course (how could it not be, as Gmail is still beta), and it utilizes Google’s Gears technology to offer the offline access. Showing it’s even more experimental than Gmail itself, Offline Gmail is available only through Gmail Labs, and typically, it’s being rolled out slowly.
Google describes it thusly:
Once you turn on this feature, Gmail uses Gears to download a local cache of your mail. As long as you’re connected to the network, that cache is synchronized with Gmail’s servers. When you lose your connection, Gmail automatically switches to offline mode, and uses the data stored on your computer’s hard drive instead of the information sent across the network. You can read messages, star and label them, and do all of the things you’re used to doing while reading your webmail online. Any messages you send while offline will be placed in your outbox and automatically sent the next time Gmail detects a connection.
Sounds good, but there’s also a sort of in-between mode, which Google calls “flaky connection mode.” It uses the local cache as if you were disconnected, but synchronizes your mail with the server in the background.
The feature will be rolled out over the next few days, so if you don’t see Offline Gmail in your Labs settings, be patient. If you do, enable it as follows:
- Click Settings and click the Labs tab.
- Select Enable next to Offline Gmail.
- Click Save Changes.
- After your browser reloads, you’ll see a new “Offline0.1” link in the upper righthand corner of your account, next to your username. Click this link to start the offline set up process and download Gears if you don’t already have it.
Watch this Google video to get some, though not a lot, of info on Offline Gmail.
