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Google Calendar Gets Disappointing Offline Mode

Written by Frederic Lardinois / February 5, 2009 9:44 AM / 3 Comments

google_calendar_logo_jan09.pngJust last week, Google announced offline support for Gmail, and today, Google Calendar is also finally getting a similar upgrade. Google Apps users are the first to get access to this new feature, though we assume that Google will roll this out to all of its users soon. The offline feature was built on top of Google Gears, which is available for Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Sadly, Google Calendar only allows for read-only access while you are offline, which is quite a disappointment.

Gmail, on the other hand, features a 'flaky connection' mode which gives you the option to compose new messages offline. Gmail then sends them automatically once you are back on the Internet. gcalendar_offline.pngWithout being able to enter new appointments or tasks into your calendar, or the ability to move appointments around, Google Calendar's offline feature is not half as useful as it could have been.

Earlier this year, we saw some leaked screenshots that showed the ability to edit your calendar in offline mode, but Google apparently did not make this available yet. This is quite a disappointment, because the 'flaky connection' mode works very well in Gmail. We can only assume that Google will add a more fully featured offline mode in the near future.


Comments

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  1. I don't really understand the value of taking Google Calendar offline... there are plenty of calendar syncing tools for this that work just fine with GCal. iCal (for Mac users) is the obvious example, but it just seems like a lot of work for Google to create and support this when there's not much need.

    Posted by: Brad | February 5, 2009 10:09 AM



  2. BTW, Gears is also available for the Safari browser.

    Posted by: erich13.myvidoop.com Author Profile Page Posted on FriendFeed   | February 5, 2009 12:39 PM



  3. thanks Eric - just fixed that

    Posted by: Frederic Posted on FriendFeed   | February 5, 2009 12:46 PM



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