Hopscom Technology

Gmail offline introduced, here’s how to send emails without the internet

HIGHLIGHTS

Gmail has introduced an offline mode for everyone.
The new offline feature eliminates the need for the internet to read, respond, and search for Gmail messages.
If your Gmail is linked with your school or work account, the admin will need to change the settings.

Gmail has introduced an offline mode for everyone. The new offline feature eliminates the need for the internet to read or respond to and also search Gmail messages. This offline feature will prove to be helpful, especially for people living in areas with a patchy internet connection.

As per the Google Support page, the offline feature will let users read, respond to, and search for Gmail messages even when their device isn’t connected to the internet. To use this mode, users will need to visit mail.google.com. The tech giant recommends bookmarking the Google link to start with.

Notably, if your Gmail is linked with your school or work account, the admin will need to change the settings. The rest can simply follow the steps mentioned below.

Before getting into the steps, it should be noted that Google says Gmail offline will work on Google Chrome and will work only if you are browsing in normal mode, not incognito. Now, here’s how to turn on Gmail offline mode as Google explained:

-Head over to mail.google.com.

-In the inbox, click on Settings or the Cogwheel button.

Google will pay small US app developers a total of $90 million following settlement

While Google allows other app stores on its Google-powered flavor of Android, it’s clear that the Play Store is the place to be for developers if they want to reach a remotely significant number of people. App developers have long alleged that Google is misusing its power over this significant market, and a class action lawsuit followed in 2021. Now, a settlement has been reached, with Google establishing a $90 million fund to support smaller developers in the US and bringing major changes to the Play Store.

The class action lawsuit was started in 2021 by nearly 48,000 plaintiffs represented by Hagens Berman, a law firm that has achieved a number of victories against Big Tech companies already. Hagens Berman reports that its plaintiffs are bound to receive monetary compensation in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, all the way up to $200,000 for some bigger developers (spotted by Mishaal Rahman). The money will be paid out from Google’s $90 million fund, and almost all developers in the US are eligible. Google says it is paying out the money to developers who “earned two million dollars or less in annual revenue through Google Play during each year from 2016-2021,” which appear to be about 99% of developers on the store.

In addition to the monetary dimension, Google has agreed to some major changes to the Play Store to better accommodate smaller developers:

The company has committed to continue providing developers who make their first $1 million of annual revenue on the Play Store with a reduced 15% commission rate until at least May 25, 2025. This is the 50% cut on the regular 30% fee that the company first introduced in 2021.
Google will also build an “Indie Apps Corner” to “showcase independent and small startup developers building unique high-quality apps” right in the apps tab of the US Play Store.
A new developer distribution agreement will make it clear that developers can use contact data obtained via the Play Store to tell users about other offers, including “subscription offers or lower-cost offerings on a rival app store or the developer’s website.”
Additionally, the company has pledged to maintain changes made to Android 12 that make it easier to use alternative app stores on Android for at least three years.
The company will also publish an annual transparency report that will detail how developers operate under the settlement agreement. It will also contain “statistics such as apps removed from Google Play, account terminations, and other data regarding how users interact with Google Play.”

Of course, Google maintains that it hasn’t done anything wrong in the court, but says that this settlement “will avoid protracted and unnecessary litigation with developers, whom we see as vital partners in the Android ecosystem.”

Hagens Berman previously successfully represented a number of developers in a case against Apple’s App Store. It managed to secure a $100 million settlement for iOS developers that made similar claims against Apple. Given its track record, we might see many more similar cases coming to the courts.