10 Chrome offline apps for business

With the latest release of Chrome for Windows (and Chrome OS on Chromebooks), you can install apps that will work even if your computer is not online. These apps work essentially like native desktop OS applications: Their code is installed locally on your computer. You launch them by clicking their shortcuts on the Windows desktop or taskbar, or through an app launcher that Chrome installs onto the Windows taskbar. And you can use them without running Chrome — these offline apps function separately from the browser.

NAME OF APP: Any.do
COST: FREE
CATEGORY: TASK MANAGEMENT
This task manager sports a bright, airy design. You can add a note to a task, or set an alarm to alert you about it on a specified day and time. Your task lists are automatically synced with your mobile devices (Android or iOS) that have the Any.do app installed on them.

NAME OF APP: Gantter Desktop
CATEGORY: PROJECT MANAGEMENT
COST: $9.99
This alternative to Microsoft Project has fewer features, but is capable enough to use to track the progress of most projects. But you have to pay $9.99 for what is basically an offline version of the free Chrome app, Gantter for Google Drive. In fact, its GUI feels similar enough to Google Drive’s that Gantter Desktop could pass as an official Google product.

NAME OF APP: Gliffy Diagrams
COST: FREE/PAID OPTIONS
CATEGORY: FEATURE-RICH DRAWING/DESIGN
The feature-rich drawing app lets you design building floorplans, flowcharts, networking maps, organizational charts and Venn diagrams. Paid options offer integration with your Google Drive account, image exporting, larger storage space in the cloud, online collaboration, and Visio document importing.

NAME OF APP: Google Keep
COST: FREE
CATEGORY: NOTE TAKING
Like its Android app counterpart, the Chrome desktop app version of Google’s note-taking and task-manager tool incorporates a card UI design: You enter text onto virtual notecards, and can attach images to them. Your notes are automatically synced to your user account on Google Drive.

NAME OF APP: Lucidchart Diagrams
COST: $9.95/month, consumer; $2-$5/month per user, business
CATEGORY: VISUAL COLLABORATION
This is another option for making flowcharts and other process diagrams. Compared to Gliffy Diagrams, Lucidchart Diagrams doesn’t come with as many pre-made images, but it does have more a robust drawing toolset. It’s free to use on a trial basis for 14 days, but, afterward, you must pay either a monthly or annual fee, choosing from among three subscription levels.

NAME OF APP: Pocket
COST: FREE
CATEGORY: WEB-CLIPPING TOOL
This is an official offline viewer for Pocket, a web-clipping tool. By installing the Pocket extension for Chrome, you can then save links to articles, images, videos and sites on the web, which will be curated and accessible from your smartphone or tablet (Android or iOS) that you’ve installed the Pocket app on.

NAME OF APP: Wunderlist
COST: FREE
CATEGORY: TASK MANAGER
Like Any.do, with this task manager, you can add detailed notes, and set a reminder notification for a task. Wunderlist also will sync your lists with your mobile devices that have the Wunderlist app installed. Its GUI is more elaborate over Any.do’s simple interface, laying items out over three columns. You can share your tasks with others online.

NAME OF APP: UberConference
COST: FREE
CATEGORY: PHONE CONFERENCING
This free service was designed to make starting conference calls simple, without always needing phone numbers: You can invite people to a conference call by entering their email address or UberConference username. The Google+ or LinkedIn profiles of participants are shown if available.

NAME OF APP: VNC Viewer for Google Chrome
COST: FREE
CATEGORY: REMOTE CONTROL
VNC may not be the easiest to set up, but it’s ideal if you require greater security and control than you get with other free and paid remote desktop tools. VNC Viewer is a client viewer you use to access the desktop of another computer over the Internet or network that you have set up VNC-compatible software on to run as a server.

NAME OF APP: WorkFlowy
COST: FREE
CATEGORY: LIST BUILDING
Though this list-building tool may look sparse, you can add detailed notes to each item, and as many sub-lists as you want. Your lists are synced to the cloud and to your mobile devices that have the official WorkFlowy app installed (or an app that is compatible with the WorkFlowy service), and can be shared with others.

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