Offline Access for Gmail

With the recent announcement that users can access their Gmail service offline, Google continues to move Google Apps towards a fully independent working environment. Offline access to Gmail should mitigate the need for other email clients, such as Outlook.

For Google Apps Premier Edition, some offline capability already exists across the Docs, Spreadsheets, and Presentation applications, as noted in the online help file.

Here’s an overview of which functions you can do in Google Docs while you’re offline (the ‘X’ means the function is available).

  • Docs: View, Edit
  • Spreadsheets: View
  • Presentations: View

While the functionality across the Google Apps suite is limited, look for more offline features in the coming months. Several third parties, such as Zoho, are already using Google Gears to provide offline integration with Google applications and services.