Fast Ring gets access to Offline OneDrive files early through UWP app

By Jon Martindale October 5, 2016

Living in the fast lane might be dangerous, but it has its advantages, too. If you’re part of Microsoft’s Windows Insider program and happen to reside on the bleeding-edge Fast Ring, you now have access to the offline files feature for Microsoft OneDrive’s Universal Windows Platform app.

Although the idea of having files locally might seem rather retro in the context of a cloud storage system, in actuality being able to download oft-accessed files, or ones that you want to take with you to an area of poor connectivity, makes a lot of sense. It’s a feature that has been available on the Android and iOS versions of OneDrive for a while now, but it looks like Windows users are now finally getting access as well.

Related: Microsoft updates OneDrive with automatic ‘Pokémon detection’

Not everyone can play with it just yet, though. As with many of Microsoft’s software updates released over the past couple of years, the firm wants to put it through its paces first; that’s why it’s going to the Insiders before anyone else. Microsoft is also leveraging its Ring system to limit the rollout of the offline files feature to a restricted Fast Ring to start with, with the Slow Ring set to come aboard shortly after.

And then the rest of us can get a chance to play with it sometime in the near future.

Access to offline files was actually a feature that was supposed to show up with the original release of the OneDrive Universal Windows Platform app, but for one reason or another it never made its appearance on Windows. At least now, when we’re hitting version 17.15.5 (thanks WinSuperSite), we will all be able to use it.

The projected eventual full rollout is slated to occur some time before the end of 2016, but we wouldn’t expect Microsoft to wait until the final moment to push it live to the rest of us, barring some catastrophic bug discovery in the meantime.

It will make an appearance on the mobile app too, but in a much looser 2017 time frame.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Computing Coordinator

Jon Martindale is the Evergreen Coordinator for Computing, overseeing a team of writers addressing all the latest how to…

Mobile

Microsoft adds new features to Office and OneDrive apps for iPad, iPhone

iPad keyboard

While the iPad is quickly becoming a computer replacement in many workplaces, it's far from perfect. A lot of third-party apps have been slow to incorporate new features that bolster the iPad's productivity features. Microsoft, however, is going against the grain by adding several new features to its Office and OneDrive apps for the iPad and iPhone that makes using the productivity powerhouse much easier.
Drag and drop
Perhaps the most useful new feature for both Office and OneDrive is the integration of drag and drop functionality. Apple introduced drag and drop to the iPad with the release of iOS 11 in 2017. With drag and drop, it's easy to move images and files to different files on the iPad and iPhone.

With the latest update of Microsoft Office, it's simple to move content to different apps. For example, if you're working on a presentation, you can drag a graph from Excel directly to PowerPoint instead of having to import the data.

Computing

Microsoft OneDrive will soon let you go back in time with more than just Office files

Microsoft OneDrive competes with a number of cloud storage options. It offers strong integration with the company's Office productivity suite, and competitive storage and pricing options that make it a good value for users. Now, Microsoft has improved on one of its most popular features, its Version History function, by expanding it beyond Office documents and letting users restore any kind of file to an earlier version.

That's an important step in making OneDrive more universally appealing. Every cloud service offers a mix of features and functions aimed at getting users to commit their most important information in one place, and so far OneDrive is most compelling for heavy Office users. Version History, on the other hand, is something that benefits all users.

Computing

Microsoft shutters Docs.com, pushes users to SlideShare and OneDrive

microsoft latest firm to notify users of state sponsored hacks

Every now and then, a company will make a product or service that arrives on the market, is ignored by most people, and then is shut down without warning -- and very few people actually care. Such seems to be the case with Microsoft's Docs.com document sharing service, which is being shut down after a little more than two years.

Docs.com was intended to serve as a place to show off your Office documents, but it never really caught on among users. Microsoft posted a bulletin that displays at the top of the site's home page indicating that the service will officially shut down on December 15, 2017.