Guess what, there is a new feature on Google Reader. It’s going offline. You now have an option to read your feeds in offline or online mode.

We’ve used the newly released Google Gears, a browser plugin that enables offline web applications. Once you’ve installed Google Gears, you can download your latest 2,000 items so they’re available even when you don’t have an internet connection. To get started, simply click the “Offline” link in the top right of Google Reader.

You’ll need to download the Google Gears Setup file (188kb) which then download and install the plugin directly. This would take a while if your connection is slow.

Google Gears (Beta) is an open source browser extension that enables web applications to provide offline functionality using following JavaScript APIs:
# Store and server application resources locally
# Store data locally in a fully-searchable relational database
# Run asynchronous Javascript to improve application responsiveness

Once it’s done, you need to restart your browser and allow the plugin on the site. You then have the option to download your feeds and save them for offline reading.

Enabling the Google Gears plugin for the site


Downloading Feeds for offline reading

Online and Offline modes can be easily switched through by clicking on the tiny button at the top. The reader will synchronize the feeds accordingly.

Reader in Offline mode

More Info Links:
# Developer Site
# Developer Knowledge Base

Isn’t just sweet?

No related posts.