Till date, one of the major disadvantages with Gmail was that one could not check his or her emails after going offline; all of which will be changing very soon. Gmail is on the verge of working offline as well.

Google has decided to release a new version of Gmail called Google Gears. The new version is to go live in the Google labs after which users can have access to it. Once the Google Gears plug-in is installed to the browser, Gmail will keep check of whether the user is offline or not. Then, the emails get automatically cached and the user can read them, respond, search and so on, all in the offline mode.

Once the user goes back online, all the messages are automatically sent. Users can also open and view their attachments in the offline mode. Gmail already works this way on mobile phones like Android and all of those that support the Google Gears plug-in. Gmail product manager, Todd Jackson said that the primary engine in Android and offline Gmail is the same.

Some features may not function, for instance, spell check needs the Internet connection to function. Attachments also cannot be added at launch. This feature, however, is expected to be added soon.

Google Gears is a fundamental part of the search engine giant’s Web App Strategy.