Writing offline Beta

If you lose your connection while writing, you can keep going. Every chapter of your book is already on your device, and it syncs when you're back online. It's new, so it's in beta. This page explains how it works and what doesn't work yet.

How it works

When you open a book, Galley downloads the whole manuscript, not just the chapter on screen. As you type, your words are saved to your device every couple of seconds, and to your account whenever you're online. When you're offline, the save indicator says “On this device”. When you're back online, Galley uploads every chapter you changed and the indicator goes back to “Saved.” You don't need to do anything.

This also helps when you're online. Because your words are saved to your device every couple of seconds, if your browser tab crashes you'll lose a sentence at most.

Installing Galley

You can install Galley from your browser. Look for the install icon in the address bar (Chrome and Edge show it, and it's called “Install Galley”). Once it's installed, it opens in its own window with a dock icon, and you can open it or reload it without a connection. If you don't install it, offline writing still works, but keep the tab open while you're offline.

What works offline, and what doesn't

Works offline: writing anywhere in the book

You can type in any chapter, switch between chapters, use focus and typewriter modes, and use find & replace.

Needs a connection: structure and files

Adding, renaming, reordering or deleting chapters, importing a manuscript, uploading images, exporting PDF and EPUB (because books are made on the server), and signing in on a new device. These are greyed out or show a message while you're offline.

Two devices, one chapter

If you edited the same chapter offline on your laptop and on another computer, you don't have to merge anything, and neither version is lost. The most recent version is shown, and the other one is saved in that chapter's History as “Kept from another device”, where you can compare or restore it.

Limits

• Open your book once on each device first. A computer that has never opened your book doesn't have a copy of it, so open Galley once while you're online. (Native apps have the same rule, they just call it installing.)
• Each browser is a separate device. Chrome and Safari keep separate copies, so write offline in the browser you normally use.
• Private or incognito windows don't keep anything. When you close one, its offline copy is deleted. Your account copy is fine, but anything you wrote offline in a private window that you closed before reconnecting is lost.
• Reconnect every now and then. Being offline for days is fine, and your device can hold a lot of writing, but your account copy is the main one, so it needs to catch up eventually.