This is a Free downloadable Google Docs Client Application using which you can run the Google Docs Editors Suite without any browser. It is also available for Linux and has been developed in ‘Electron’ which is a free and open source software framework by GitHub, earlier called Atom Shell.
Google Docs is a free Web based application by Google which includes Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms. All types of Documents and Spreadsheets can be easily created and stored online using it.
The interesting feature here is that this Client Application runs Google Docs without the need of any browser.
You just need to make sure that you are connected to the Internet to avoid any loss of data as the documents are actually saved in the Google Cloud. But, since the changes are saved in real time this shouldn’t be much of a concern.
How it works:
1. Download the application from the link given at the end of this article and install it.
2. Sign in to your Google Account and the whole suite of Google Docs will be available at your fingertips in much the same way as they are accessible through a browser.
3. The Hamburger Menu allows you to switch between Docs, Sheets, Slides and more.
4. Clicking on the relevant Google Docs icon takes you to its particular Home Screen.
Once you sign in to your Google Account, you also have access to the whole range of other Applications provisioned by Google Apps like Gmail, Calendar, Meet, Maps etc. through the Google Apps icon.
Since it’s an installed application it can be considered analogous to the other Office Suites like Microsoft Office, LibreOffice etc. But in fact, it is more preferable as multiple people can work with documents concurrently in the Cloud.
Issues:
- The notification, “This version of Firefox is no longer supported. Please upgrade to a supported browser” is displayed each time you switch to Docs, Sheets and Slides although Google Docs is apparently not running in the Firefox browser.
- Editing of Google Slides is not supported in the Client Application.
Verdict:
Overall this is a neat and decent client application to access Google Docs without a browser and works smoothly. The developers can do better by resolving the issues in order to increase its acceptability.
If you wish to use Google Docs outside of a browser tab, this application can prove to be very handy. Go ahead and try it. Click here to download client application.
