The only scanner you’ll need in 2020 is your phone.
Purchasing a dedicated machine to scan a document is a thing of the past
Gone are the days when you had to go out to scan documents. Even if not going out, you don't really need a big machine in the house just to scan documents. We say this because our smartphones can now scan documents just as well as a dedicated scanning machine. These phones pack some really capable camera hardware, and some excellent scanning apps put it to good use. Scanning documents from a smartphone's camera is cost effective, saves time, and really convenient. In this article, we list out five of the best scanner apps available for Android and iPhone.
Below is the list of the best five scanner apps that you can install on Android or iPhone.
Adobe Scan is one of the most popular scanner apps available out there. It is easy to operate, lets you automatically scan and resize documents, has built-in OCR to recognise text from an image, and you have the option to upload your scanned document to the cloud or share it via third-party apps. This app is free without ads and is available on both Android and iOS.
When it comes to features, Scanner Pro takes it a notch up when compared to Adobe Scan. This app, which is an iOS exclusive, packs a shadow removal feature that automatically erases the shadows whenever you scan a document. Besides this, the app lets you scan multiple documents, share them with others, store them in the cloud or use OCR to convert text in any image into editable text. However, before you go ahead and install this app, do note that if you want to use all the features apart from just scanning and storing documents on the app itself, you will have to shell out a one-time fee of Rs. 299.
If you're on the hunt to find a free and a reliable scanner app that integrates well with Microsoft Office, don't look any further than Microsoft Office Lens. With this app, you can quickly scan documents, business cards and whiteboard images. Besides, you can export a document as a PDF, can save it to Word, Powerpoint, OneDrive etc. or simply share it with others via third-party apps. Office Lens is easy to use, features a clean and minimalistic UI, and you can download it for free on both Android or iOS.
Our next pick is Google Drive for Android. Wait, what? Yes, that's right, if you have Google Drive installed on your phone, you don't need any third-party scanner app because Drive comes with a built-in scanner. To check this out, go to Google Drive on your Android > hit the + icon at the bottom > tap Scan. Doing this, a camera interface will open with which you'll be able to scan documents and business cards. Note, while this scanner is not as feature-rich as Adobe Scan or Office Lens, it does cover all the basics. Over here, you get a few filters to play with, you get basic options to rotate and crop, you get image enhancement options and once you're done editing, you can simply save the PDF document directly on Google Drive and share it with others.
iOS fans, if Android has Google Drive, iOS has the Notes app that also features a built-in scanner. To test it, on your iPhone or iPad, open the Notes app > create a new note > hit the camera icon at the bottom > tap Scan documents to start scanning. Once done, you can adjust its colour, rotate it according to your liking or even crop it. And after you have scanned your document and saved it, you can directly share it with others via third-party apps.
These are five of the best scanner apps that you can install on your Android or iPhone. If you think we missed something, you can let us know in the comments.
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