AIR is a desktop environment from Adobe, the well-known makers of Acrobat PDF Reader. It is acronym for Adobe Integrated Runtime and its purpose is to provide beautiful rich internet applications on desktop. Developers around the world have developed thousands of applications on this new platform and there are some even for Google. Applications on AIR platform have many advantages and most prominent among them is that they are desktop based.
Why Choose AIR Based Google Products Over Browser Based products?
As such you are not losing anything if you decide to stick to browser based products and you may rebuff that AIR was not designed specifically for web as in case of browsers and over security issues. But these applications can be very good alternative when –
# You are looking for offline use.
# You are looking for easy synchronization options.
# you want different apps for separate work on your hard disk.
# Your browser is taking too much memory and often hangs your computer.
# You want good looking apps with Stylish UI.
I am not saying AIR is better or vice-versa but it provide a sensible substitute if you don’t want to use browsers for everything. Let’s have a look at top 10 Google Products available on AIR platform –
GMDesk
GMDesk is a one stop shop for most common use Google products like Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs and Google Maps. You can even change the default start up product and can also access Google Apps. In short, this app removes 4 tabs from your browser in addition for giving great user experience.
ReadAir
ReadAir – One of my favorite is ReadAir. It is minimalistic yet beautiful with Mac OSX theme. Gives full synchronization with Google Reader, Provides auto-logic and keyboard shortcuts. All in all its one of the best only if it had offline support.
Desktube
Desktube – Experience YouTube on your desktop with this fantastic app. Desktube not only lets you search, watch, comment and upload videos but also lets you download YouTube videos in MOV format.
AIRTube Video Downloader
AIRTube Video Downloader – Another nifty application for YouTube is AIRTube. This app was made keeping only one object in mind – Downloading YouTube videos. So all you need to do is drag-n-drop or paste Video URL and this app will download it for you in variety of formats.
Analytics Reporting Suite
Google Analytics Reporting Suite – This powerful app is not only trendy and fast but also gives separate reports in multiple tabs making comparison and analysis much easier.
AirTalkr
AirTalkr – Want to use Gtalk, Yahoo!, MSN, AOL and ICQ at the same time? If yes, then this beautiful app not only lets you use everything at same time on your desktop but also lets you view and share Flickr pics and youtube videos with your friends.
Polaris
Polaris – This Google Analytics desktop widget offers 8 standard reports for quick viewing and analyzing site data. This app proves to be very useful tool for checking GA data on the fly.
Geemail
Geemail – This beautiful app gives you all the functionality of Gmail as a lightweight desktop program. Its dead simple to use. No need to configure IMAP/POP and it even has offline mode. That means even if you are not connected to internet, you can compose and send an email. GeeMail will send the email next time whenever it detects internet connection.
Google Calendar Invoice Creator
Google Calendar Invoice Creator – A very productive app that lets you transfer all your Google Calendar meetings and bill them with people whom you want. From a businessman perspective, it’s a perfect app to keep tab and track all meetings and clients.
Gmail Note
Gmail Note – A simple mail notifier which can handle multiple Google accounts. If you are not using Thunderbird/Outlook, then this is one perfect app that notifies new mails. The notification also displays short mail content and a double click takes you to your Gmail account.
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