VKontakte Offline - a different look at working with VKontakte data

    When our most famous social network was created, the phrase “ stay in contact” was actively used . At that time, it meant having access to a list of friends . We could not search for people in different places, but always have this very list at hand. Since then a lot of water has flowed, but the idea itself has changed beyond recognition.

    We decided to take a small step back and create an application that pursues exactly that original goal. A bunch of sketches, Google Hackathon , several weeks of grinding and you can install the VKontakte Offline application, which notifies you of new messages even with the browser closed , and also allows you to view your contact list and correspondence without the Internet .

    A few days ago, we decided that it would be best to tell you about the application simply in words. After that, we recorded a screencast for the Chrome Web Store and a full-fledged video from the very center of St. Petersburg .



    Thus, the following things are implemented in the application:
    • the ability to work with contacts and correspondence without the Internet
    • notifications of new messages even when the browser is closed
    • list of users you’ve ever chatted with, their birthdays and phone numbers
    • messages in e-mail format, correspondence
    • sending and deleting messages
    • new (aka old) look at UI with contacts and correspondence


    Notifications when the VKontakte tab is closed and the browser is closed


    Viewing emails in the expanded form


    Correspondence with contacts


    A few technical points that can also be attributed to the advantages of the application:
    • the application is installed in Google Chrome, so it will work on Windows, Linux and MacOS
    • OAuth2 is used on VKontakte, that is, the application gets access to your friends and correspondence only after permission
    • The official VKontakte API is used, which means saving traffic unlike the well-known extension for Google Chrome

    VKontakte Offline application in the Chrome Web Store: http://goo.gl/D2Aei
    Official VK page: http://vkontakte.ru/vkoffline

    Waiting for your ratings and suggestions.

    UPD: a month after the release, the application looks like this:

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