Google is now rolling out offline support to the Gmail web app, allowing users to access the vast majority of its functionalities even when they aren’t connected to the World Wide Web. The change is part of a major Gmail redesign that the Mountain View, California-based tech giant debuted late last month, having integrated native offline capabilities into the app for Chrome users. The service hence allows you to write, archive, delete, and search for emails without Internet connectivity, with all offline changes being synced automatically as soon as Gmail re-establishes an online connection.
Offline support is primarily meant to make the experience of using Gmail more seamless for users with spotty Internet connections as the app automatically transitions between the two modes depending on whether it’s online or not once the service is enabled. The feature of the web app works within Google’s Chrome desktop browser, requiring version 61 or later. The Alphabet-owned company launched the functionality with a server-side switch, meaning offline mode should already be available globally. The service is disabled by default and must be switched on from the Settings menu, with Gmail also allowing users to set the amount of local storage they’re willing to dedicate to the offline mode.
The default setting downloads the last 30 days of messages, though that setting can be lowered down to a week or increased by up to three months. The new Gmail look still isn’t available to all G Suite users, so the availability of the app’s offline mode is also restricted in the same manner. Gmail remains one of the tech giant’s flagship products and was also featured at the latest edition of the Google I/O developer conference held last week, with the firm using the event as an opportunity to announce a new Smart Compose feature meant to allow users to leverage artificial intelligence to create messages in a swifter manner and consequently save time.