Google Announces Offline Document Editing

Google is continuing to take advantage of its I/O conference to announce new features for many of its products. One of the most requested features for Google Docs is finally here: offline editing. With this new feature, you can now create and edit Google documents and leave comments even if you don't have an Internet connection. When you get back online, the changes will automatically sync. The offline editing feature works with Google Drive and you'll find the option to enable this new feature through there. There's one significant catch, however: you'll need the latest version of Chrome or ChromeOS in order to edit offline. Google says it's planning to make offline editing for spreadsheets and presentations available at some point in the future. In addition to offline editing, Google also announced a Google Drive app for iOS devices. With this app, you'll be able to open files stored on Google drive directly from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.

Announcing your two most requested features: offline document editing and Drive for iOS

In April, we introduced Google Drive, a place where you can create, share, and keep all your stuff. Today at the Google I/O conference we announced two new ways to get things done in the cloud: offline editing for Google documents and a Drive app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Offline document editing 

No internet connection? No big deal. With offline editing, you can create and edit Google documents and leave comments. Any changes you make will be automatically synced when you get back online.

You can enable offline editing from the gear icon in Google Drive and find more detailed instructions for getting set up in the Help Center. Note that you’ll need the latest versions of Chrome or ChromeOS to edit offline. We’re also working hard to make offline editing for spreadsheets and presentations available in the future.

Google Drive for iOS 

We launched the Drive app for Android phones and tablets a few weeks ago, and starting today, Google Drive is available for your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

With the Drive app, you can open PDFs, photos, videos, documents and anything else stored in your Drive while you're on the go. You can also search all your files, add collaborators to documents, and make files available offline to view them even without an internet connection. For blind and low-vision users, the app also works great in VoiceOver mode. Learn more about what you can do with the app in our Help Center.

Get Drive in the App Store for your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch running iOS 5.0+ and visit the Play Store to get the latest on your Android phone or tablet.

To learn more about Google Drive, visit drive.google.co/start.

Posted by Clay Bavor, Product Management Director