Detach Google Services From your Browser With GMDesk

If you use Google’s services a lot, you might have wanted at one time or another to use them as stand alone applications. GMDesk is an Adobe AIR application that allows you to do just that.

Here is how to get it working:

If you are not using Adobe AIR already

Go to Get Adobe Air, download it and install it.

If you are already using Adobe AIR

Download GMDesk and run the installer. (Also check out other useful and popular Adobe AIR apps handpicked by MakeUseOf authors here, here and here.)

Now, about GMdesk

GMDesk offers you access to GMail, Google Calendar, Google Documents, Google Maps, Google Reader and Picasa . It also offers the ability to switch between the Google Services via keyboard shortcuts.

You can choose the default Google service that starts up when GMDesk is started. You can set it up for Google Apps access as well.

Other ways to run webapps as desktop apps

Mozilla Prism

Prism is Mozilla’s effort to bring a more desktop-like feel to web applications. (MakeUseOf Article)

Bubbles Site Specific Browser

Bubbles allow you to run web apps as stand alone desktop apps. The solution was my favorite before GMDesk because it offered a more desktop-like feel, with notifications and other similar bells and whistles. However you have to download an extension for the app or service you want to run and not many are available. (MakeUseOf Article)

Google Gears

Gears is intended to help improve the webapps by allowing local searchable databases and javascript running in background. However it can be used to create simple desktop apps without these functionalities as well. (MakeUseOf Article)

Google Chrome

You might have noticed the option to “Create Application Shortcuts…” in Google Chrome. Alright, its there in case you didn’t notice. It also allows you to achieve similar results, that is create a desktop-like feel for your web apps. Chrome achieves this via Google Gears.

Anyways, what’s with running webapps from the desktop?

Apart from the fact that you save some time and typing by just double-clicking the shortcut, or all together using a shortcut key to launch the app there are some other advantages:

  • No unnecessary browser toolbars to take up precious space.
  • Less distraction and urge to check out the latest xkcd strip or hop over to Facebook (unless you run them from the desktop as well) because there is no awesome bar or omni bar or whatever fancy name they give to the address bar.
  • Some applications integrate nicely with the desktop, offering native operating systems like notifications on events, drag and drop etc.
  • Improved performance and offline access. (generally with Google Gears )

As you can see there are a number of ways to run Google services (and others) from your desktop. However I really like GMDesk and the idea of grouping Google Reader, Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Maps and Picasa into one window. I use Google services a lot like many people do. Having them all tucked up neatly in a separate window with lesser distractions definitely helps your productivity. Now you don’t have to switch to Firefox only to find out you had Gmail open in Chrome and then switch to Chrome and then look for the tab that houses Gmail.

What particular solution do you use for desktop-like behavior? Or do you prefer leaving it to the browser?

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Varun Kashyap

I am Varun Kashyap from India. I am passionate about Computers, Programming, Internet and the Technologies that drive them. I love programming and often I am working on projects in Java, PHP, AJAX etc.

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  • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

    Normally I run everything (apart from email) from the browser, though I did use GMDesk for some time. Here is when it comes really handy. I frequently have more then 50 active tabs in my browser. Unfortunately Firefox tends to crash quite often under such load. But since GMDesk runs as a separate process my Google Reader and Goggle Docs windows remained open even when Firefox crashed.

    • http://varunkashyap.wordpress.com Varun Kashyap

      Yes, that is actually a very important point you make, although these days I am mostly using Chrome, but I can surely remember the not too distant past where a FF crash would take all the work with it

  • melvyn

    How do I know when / if the app is downloading content or synchronising? My goal is to be able to check feeds while offline and occasionally access an email from my Gmail inbox.

    If I’m online, I’m perfectly happy using FF3, BetterGmail2, and BetterGReader for accessing this content but my understanding of GoogleGears and Adobe Air was that they are designed for offline use not just “desktop app like access”. Am I wrong?

    • http://varunkashyap.wordpress.com Varun Kashyap

      Melvyn, the line is actually very blurry! While these technologies would ultimately love to provide you offline access or improved performance to all your web apps but that requires the web apps to be designed to use these functionalities Till then, atleast they function to give you a more desktop like feel to apps, including removing away the browser toolbar clutter (that you won’t need anyways if you are say in Gmail or Google Docs) , detaching them away from the main window and providing certain notifications.