Explain the problem as you see it
Currently Tana needs an always on internet connection to function. No internet (even for a moment) = No access to Tana. No access (or slow and intermittent access) to Tana is a huge problem when it is being used as one's "everything OS". Not being able to reliably access the main repository of one's data or daily page seriously compromises the potential for Tana to become the hub around which one's life is organised.
Why is this a problem for you?
I’m working in a country (South Africa) where we have multiple power cuts a day and our internet connection often drops. It means that not only are there times when I can’t access Tana but also that there are periods of laggy, delayed and generally slow connections.
This problem also applies to anyone who has connectivity issues and these are common even in countries with developed internet infrastructure, or simply when people are commuting or on flights etc.
Suggest a solution
Some kind of Offline mode would presumably solve both these issues in that one could continue working with no internet - and also just have basic access to one's data- and the lagginess would be buffered by a local cache leading to a far more zen like experience of all that Tana has to offer.
While I can't speak as to how to implement this technically it doesn't seem (but I appreciate I might be completely wrong) that much of a stretch to have a local cache that buffers connection issues. This is not a request for full-blown local database (though that would be nice) but just a mechanism to allow for temporary offline access.
As always thanks to everyone at Tana for the amazing work they are doing in creating a game-changing piece of software.
23 Comments
I wish I could write on Tana, when there is no internet connection. I travel a lot and sometimes there is no internet. I wish I could keep using Tana write during such circumstances. Or Tana can implement in some capacity a standalone editor or offline input device for laptops similar to how it is implemented on the ios capture app.
This absolutely needs to become the top priority for the Tana team.
Simply put, it will never be able to compete with other PKM systems in the market unless it has offline functionality, regardless of how good its online features are. I love Tana so far and really want it to succeed, and this feature is simply a prerequisite to being a competitive product.
For me, Tana is definitely the closest tool to what I want to do, as long as I have internet access. However, as you mentioned, if you don't have internet access even for a moment, you can't access it at all. For users who intend to use it as personal knowledge management or a second brain, every time they open it on their mobile device they are constantly asking themselves, "What if I can't access it?" This is the hindrance that prevents me from switching over from other tools. I hope this will be improved.