How to work on a plane with Canvasola offline

Before you board

The useful part of offline work happens before the doors close, when a connection is still cheap. A ten-minute routine on the ground removes every failure that would otherwise happen at 35,000 feet, and it is much easier to run it with a signal than to invent it from memory with no way to fix the result.

The routine has four parts. Install the app and open it once so the editor and its assets are cached. Open the document you actually want to work on, not a fresh one, because a document that is already local is a document that opens without a connection. Open the 3D stack if the work involves layers. Then save a .canv copy of the file to the device.

• Install the app and let the editor finish loading
• Open the real working document, not an empty canvas
• Open the 3D stack once so its files are cached
• Save a .canv copy of the file onto the device

Note: A file on the device is the one thing that survives every other mistake, including a lost laptop and a cleared cache.

Confirm the offline-ready signal

Canvasola tells you when the cache is ready, with a short ready to work offline message. That message is the difference between an app that will open in the air and one that will show you a connection error at 35,000 feet, so wait for it rather than assuming the install finished.

Then run the sixty-second test, which is the only honest way to know. Switch the device to airplane mode, close the app completely, open it again from the icon, and make one edit. If the edit appears and the app still says Saved locally, the offline path works on this device, today, with this document.

• Wait for the ready to work offline message after installing
• Airplane mode, close the app, reopen it from the icon
• Make one edit and confirm the Saved locally status
• Do the test before boarding, not at altitude

Note: A failed test is good news if you find it early, and the usual cause is a first load that never finished, so reconnect and repeat it.

Open the 3D view before you fly

The 3D layer stack is the one part of Canvasola that is not ready the moment the install finishes. Its engine, camera controls and interface are separate files that download the first time you open the stack, which keeps the initial install small but means the feature is missing on a device that has never opened it.

So open it while you still have a connection. The stack needs WebGL, the hardware-accelerated 3D support in the browser, and a device without it will not render the layers no matter how long you wait. Check both things on the ground: the files are cached, and the device can actually draw the stack.

Once it is open, the rest of the view is available offline as well. The camera presets, the explode slider, the trace mode for cross-layer links, the 2D layer tabs and the PNG export of the 3D view all work from the cached files, with a maximum of 8 layers in the stack.

• Open the 3D stack once with a connection to cache its files
• Confirm the device supports WebGL before relying on it
• Camera presets, explode slider and trace mode then work offline
• The stack holds up to 8 layers

Note: The 3D layer stack guide explains the camera presets and the trace mode, and it is worth reading on the ground. The install guide for web apps covers the caching step in detail.

What you can finish at cruising altitude

Almost all of the thinking work, which is the point. Mind maps keep every feature offline: the 13 starter templates, tree and radial layouts, up to 8 layers, cross-links between nodes, rich notes, the minimap, search through labels and notes, presentation mode, and export to Markdown, OPML 2.0, a plain-text outline, SVG or PNG.

The canvas is equally complete. Four brushes, eight shapes, text, the layers panel, blend modes, split view, zoom from 0.1× to 5× and an undo history that keeps 20 versions across the canvas, the map and App Builder. The App Builder keeps its 58 component kinds, 54 templates, seven device presets and auto-layout, and it still exports PNG, JPG, JSON and static HTML and CSS.

The one thing to verify before you rely on it is dictation. Rich notes accept speech-to-text through the device microphone, and how well that works without a connection depends on the phone, so test it on the ground rather than discovering it in the middle of a note.

• Full mind mapping: templates, layers, cross-links, notes, search
• Full canvas: brushes, shapes, text, layers, 20 versions of history
• App Builder: 58 component kinds, 54 templates, device presets
• Every export format works without a connection

Note: The App Builder's Present mode is driven by the arrow keys and space, and the prototype links are frame-level rather than tap targets, so a walkthrough on a phone is a guided sequence.

What still needs a connection

The list is short, and it is worth writing it down so you stop worrying about it mid-flight. Signing in to a cloud account needs a connection. Opening a project that only exists in the cloud needs a connection. And the 3D stack needs one if you have never opened it on that device.

Cloud sync is opt-in, so a flight does not break it. If you turned it on, the sync step simply waits while you work locally, and the local copy keeps taking every edit. The local autosave writes to canvasola_document_v2 for the current document and to canvasola_workspace_tabs_v1 for the workspace tabs, so the work continues to be saved in the browser throughout the flight.

• Signing in to a cloud account
• Opening a project that lives only in the cloud
• The 3D stack, if it was never opened before the flight
• Nothing else in the editor needs a connection

Note: A cloud account holds 5 projects of 2 MB each with sessions that last 30 days, so most people are better served by the local copy and a saved project file.

Landing and saving your work

When the connection comes back, save the file before you do anything else. Use File, then Save Project to write a .canv file with the day's work in it, and put it somewhere you control rather than trusting the browser copy to still be there next month.

Then let the app settle. The service worker checks for a new version and applies it automatically, with an updating message while it happens, and the page reloads once. Save again after the reload if you were mid-edit, and confirm the document is complete by exporting a PNG for a quick visual check.

The backup guide covers how to keep one project file per piece of work, the complete Canvasola guide shows the File menu commands involved, and the offline guide holds the full setup routine.

1. Save the project file. Use File, then Save Project (.canv) so the day's work exists outside the browser cache.
2. Let the update land. Give the app a moment to apply any new version and reload, then check the document is intact.
3. Export a check. Export a PNG of the finished map or canvas and look at it, which catches a truncated or empty document.
4. File the copy. Move the .canv file into your backup folder next to the previous version of the same project.

Note: The offline copy and the saved file are the same work in two places. The file is the one that will still be there.

A checklist you can reuse

• The app is installed and has reported the offline-ready message
• The document you need is open and has been edited once while offline
• The 3D stack was opened online if the work needs layers
• A .canv copy of the working file is stored on the device
• The device is charged and the screen lock is set to a sensible time
• Nothing on the checklist depends on signing in to an account
• The landing routine is written down: save, update, export, file

Common mistakes to avoid

• Testing the offline path in the air. A failed launch at altitude cannot be fixed, because the missing piece is usually the one thing that needs a connection. Test on the ground.
• Working on a document you have never opened. A document that has never been loaded on that device may not be there yet. Open it once with a signal before you leave.
• Leaving the 3D stack unopened. Its files download on first use, so the stack is missing from a device that has never opened it. Open it once while you are online.
• Trusting the local copy alone. The browser copy sits in one profile on one device. A .canv file is the copy that survives a cleared cache, a lost laptop or a private window.
• Expecting the cloud to sync in the air. With cloud sync on, the sync step waits while you keep working locally. There is nothing to wait for, and nothing to fix at landing.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an account to work on a plane?

No. Canvasola runs locally in the browser and autosaves to local storage, with the current document under canvasola_document_v2 and the workspace tabs under canvasola_workspace_tabs_v1. Cloud sync is opt-in, so an account is only needed if you want a second copy in the optional cloud tier, which holds 5 projects of 2 MB each.

What breaks first when the connection drops?

Nothing in the editor has to break, because the local copy keeps working. What stops working is anything that needs the server: signing in to a cloud account, opening a project that only exists in the cloud, and the 3D layer stack if it has never been opened on that device.

How long should the pre-flight routine take?

About ten minutes, most of it spent waiting for the editor to cache. The order matters: install, open the working document, open the 3D stack if you need it, save a project file, then run the one-minute airplane-mode test to prove the setup.

Will my flight change the file I am working on?

No. The document you open offline is the document you were working on, and the local autosave keeps every edit while you work. The file changes only if you change it, and the way to be certain is to save a .canv copy before you fly and another when you land.

This guide is part of the offline and install collection. For the wider product tour, read the complete Canvasola guide, and keep the keyboard shortcut cheat sheet open while you work.