Invisible mode is here for Gmail chat
February 25th, 2008 | Published in Gmail (Google Mail)
Sometimes you need to chat with someone about an urgent project, but can't be bothered by anyone else. And going "busy" just isn't enough -- you might still get that unwanted ping. So, as some people have already noticed, we rolled out invisible mode for the latest version of Gmail chat last Friday. With this feature, you can appear offline, and still send and receive messages. If you're using AIM in Gmail, invisible mode also makes you appear signed out on the AIM network. Invisible mode is one of the most requested chat features and so we're happy to add this option, starting in Gmail Chat, and in the future all Talk clients.
As some of you have already noted, chat could be less useful if lots of people go invisible. We'll keep an eye on it and look for your feedback to be sure we're doing what's best for the community.