Google apparently baked a lot of features in the new Gmail, including the ability to run offline right on the web app. That means it is essentially doing what the Gmail Offline Chrome app has been doing for a long time now.
Already, Google has started giving users warning to switch to the new Gmail from the Gmail Offline Chrome app; the app is no longer necessary. And it makes sense to do away with the app. Google made this announcement in a blog post that reads in part:
“We’ve heard from customers that they want to use the same Gmail app whether they’re online or off. Our new offline feature makes that possible, allowing you to search, write, delete, and archive up to 90 days of messages, even when you don’t have an internet connection.
This native capability is easier to use and performs better than the Gmail Offline Chrome app, so we removing it from the Chrome Web Store after December 3rd, 2018. This is part of our ongoing effort to move Chrome apps to the web.
This morning I got an alert from Gmail informing me that they are about to retire the Gmail Offline Chrome app, and suggested I try out the new Gmail for web. If you are still using the Gmail Offline Chrome app, you might want to consider getting familiar with the new Gmail before December 3rd.
