Lore & LilacOpen with no connection
Start writing on the train, with no signal
Once you've opened a book on a device, the studio opens there without a connection — in the browser, the installed app or the desktop app. Read and write as usual. Your changes are kept on the device and sync, in order, when the connection returns.
No AI involved Working offline never involves AI. AI features need a connection and, as always, your permission for that book.
What you get
Open with no connection, in detail
- Opens with no connection on any device where you've used the studio before: the browser, the installed app or the desktop app
- The books you've opened there are available: each book's outline, story bible and plans, and the scenes you've opened on that device
- Write as usual. Scene changes are kept on the device, even if you close the app, and sync in order when you're back
- A small, calm status in the studio: “Offline — writing is saved on this device and will sync”, then “Syncing 3 changes…”, then nothing when all is well
- If a scene changed elsewhere meanwhile, nothing is overwritten: you get the usual review — keep mine, use the other, or keep both
- The library marks which books are on this device
- The copy on the device belongs to the person signed in: it's removed when you sign out, or when someone else signs in on that device
How it works
In practice
Open your book once, online
The first launch on a device needs a connection, and so does signing in. Open the books you'll want; the library marks them “On this device”.
Lose the connection
Close the laptop, board the train, start the studio. It opens with the books you've opened there, and says plainly that you're offline.
Keep writing
Read, write, move between scenes and look things up in your story bible. Every change is kept on this device until the cloud has it.
Sync when you're back
Changes go up in the order you made them. If a scene was also changed on another device or by a co-author, you choose which version to keep.
Where we draw the line
What it never does
- Lose words because the connection dropped or the app was closed
- Silently overwrite a newer version from another device when your offline changes sync
- Leave your books on a shared device after you sign out
- Pretend something worked offline when it needs the server — those features say “needs a connection” instead
These follow from our commitments. The studio never writes, suggests or rewrites your prose, anywhere.
Before you start
Questions writers ask
What needs a connection?
Signing in and the first launch on a device; creating and reordering scenes and chapters; cited questions and story scans; exports and imports; reading links and publishing. While you're offline, these say “needs a connection” instead of spinning.
Which scenes can I open offline?
The ones you've opened on that device while online. The book's outline and story bible come along, so you can still see the whole shape of the book; a scene you haven't opened there isn't on the device yet.
What if I edit the same scene offline on two devices?
Nothing is overwritten. When the second device syncs, the studio sees that the scene changed in the meantime and asks you to compare the two versions and choose — or keep both.
How much room does it take on my device?
The studio keeps up to about 50 MB per account on a device. If it needs more, the books you've used least recently are dropped from the device first; they stay safe in the cloud.
Is this the same as the desktop app's local backups?
No. Local backups are restorable archives of each book in a folder you can see. Working offline uses the studio's own copy on the device, which you write in and which syncs back.
Does it work in a private browsing window?
Usually not. Private windows often don't keep the studio's storage after they close, so use a normal window or the installed app for the books you want offline.
Try open with no connection on your own draft
Import your draft from Word, Scrivener, RTF, EPUB or Markdown, or start on a blank page. The 14-day trial needs no card, and your book is exportable from the first word.