Google Docs Goes Offline

Google Docs is one of my favorite Google applications - I use daily to write things like this blog. One big disadvantage is you need to be connected to the Internet to use it. Well - that has changed.

According to the Official Google Blog, posted yesterday...... starting today and over the coming weeks we're rolling out offline editing access to word processing documents to Google Docs users. You no longer need an Internet connection when inspiration strikes. Whether you're working on an airplane or in a cafe, you can automatically access all your docs on your own computer.

Here's a video from Google demonstrating how it works:



I'm actually now looking forward to my next flight!

What You Can and Cannot Do with an iPhone on an Airplane

Traveling to Nashville on Sunday I had a chance to experiment with what the iPhone can and cannot do in airplane mode. Here’s my list in iPhone Dock (main screen) order:

SMS: I can read prior messages but cannot reply while in airplane mode. I tried queuing up a message thinking I could send the next time I got a connection. After entering my message and hitting send while still in airplane mode I got “Error Sending Message” which kicked me back to the message reply screen.

Calendar: I am not using the iPhone Dock calendar but it appears to work. Mike Q is using Gsync to two-way sync his Google calendar with iCal on his MacBook. This then syncs with the iPhone calendar. I had tried GSync before and had some issues with it and ended up using Calgoo. I believe I can do something similar with Calgoo and will work on this week when I get a few minutes. I'll also take another look at Gsync.

Photos: I can view all of my photos stored locally on the iPhone.

YouTube: Does not work and produces message “You must disable airplane mode to access data” and displays a Cancel and Disable button.

Stocks: Same response as YouTube.

Maps: Same response as YouTube. I did have a map of Nashville that was still displayed from my last connection. I could pinch zoom the map.

Weather: Same response as YouTube. I could flick through all of my city listings. They displayed the weather from the last time I had a live connection and got an update.

Clock, Calculator and Notes: All work fine.

iTunes: Does not work and requires a WiFi connection. iTunes also does not work with just an EDGE (cellular network) connection.

Phone: I can access all of my contacts, add, make changes, etc. I could also listen to voice mail.

Email: I could read messages that were stored on the iPhone the last time I had a connection. I could also reply to any messages – they went into the outbox and were sent the next time I got a connection.

Safari: If I did not power the iPhone off the web browser allowed me to view sites I had looked at and left open the last time I had a connection. The sites did go away when I powered the device off and on.

Overall Impressions
Email works great and I love the ability to listen to voice mail without having a connection. Not being able to access my favorite Mockdock applications, including Engadget, Digg, Chess, Bejeweled and especially Google Reader (that I use to read RSS feeds I subscribe to) is disappointing. I’ve got to do some research on Google Gears and determine whether I can get the feeds offline. I’m looking forward, with the release of the iPhone SDK, to applications that run off the main Dock. And… yes – I realize I could have just put the iPhone in airplane mode to run these tests – I did not have to get on an airplane!

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Read Show Notes and listen to Mike Q and my latest Podcast titled Apple, Microsoft and Google Updates linked here.
Listen directly in your web browser by clicking here.
Podcasts also free on iTunes.
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