There are several scanner apps on the market. We analyze their features and which needs they best suit.
James Bond used to hide a high-resolution camera in his pocket to record secret documents, which were once the stuff of science fiction. But now that we all have high-quality cameras, it’s possible to take, scan, and save important photos and documents wherever you go. Even if you’re not 007. Here are the key features you should look for in a mobile scanner app to keep your documents safe and organized.
Operating Systems
One of the first things you should consider when choosing a mobile scanner app is its compatibility with your phone. It’s surprising how many scanner apps are only compatible with Android or iOS. However, many of the best scanner apps, such as Adobe Scan, Microsoft Office Lens, Genius Scan, and ScanBot, are compatible with both iOS and Android.
Price
You probably won’t have to pay a fortune for any mobile scanner app, but prices range from free to around $8 per month. Evernote Scannable and Adobe Scan are free. There are free scanner apps with basic features that are free, but you’ll have to pay for additional features. CamScanner and Tiny Scanner are free apps, while Genius Scan, ScanBot, and Scanner Pro cost between $5 and $8 per month, with no free options.
Scanning Speed
If you’re going to use your mobile scanner app to scan a lot of documents or images, the number of milliseconds it takes to scan an item can make a big difference. Evernote Scannable is probably the fastest mobile scanner app on the market, and is actually faster than an online image capture tool. It quickly recognizes, scans, crops, and saves whatever you select without wasting much time.
Genius Scan is a basic handheld scanner without a lot of fancy features, but what it does do, it does it well and quickly. It quickly recognizes the document in front of it, straightens the edges, and that’s it.
Easy to Use
Once you download a scanner app, you won’t want to waste time getting to know it. An intuitive and easy-to-use app is essential, whether it’s for tracking expenses or for work projects. Scanbot is a good option for those who want to download an app, solve a problem, and get it done. The interface is simple and self-explanatory, so you don’t need to refer to the instructions to know what to do, and the automatic settings are very effective, so you don’t have to learn the manual mode. Another easy-to-use alternative is CamScanner. It has an intuitive interface with smart automatic settings that don’t require much adjustment.
Clarity of Text
If you’re just taking receipts to track expenses, the quality of the text won’t be that important. On the other hand, if you want to edit and save text for work purposes, you’ll need a mobile scanner app with high-performance OCR (optical character recognition) technology. You also need to capture contracts for signature and storage, making them as clear and legible as possible. Scanner Pro goes above and beyond by offering the highest quality text capture. It can correct text distortion caused by curved pages, glare from whiteboards, and curled or wrinkled paper. Scanner Pro’s OCR text recognition is extremely effective at creating readable and editable text.
Another good option for readable documents is Microsoft Office Lens. It excels at creating clear and legible documents in PDF or JPG format, and can quickly and easily convert them to editable .doc format. Office Lens cleans up documents, cards, and photos, as well as blurring backgrounds. It’s effective at straightening photos and pages scanned at an angle, and it can handle text on whiteboards, though it can’t straighten curved pages.
While Turbo Scan is a simple, portable scanner that doesn’t offer many extra features, it stands out for its image quality. It’s a shame it doesn’t include OCR text recognition, but if you want to save clear, secure images of notes, business cards, documents, or whiteboard text, it gets the job done. Even in low light or with blurry text, Turbo Scan produces the best possible image.
Storage Options
When you scan your documents, it’s helpful to have options for saving and sharing them. Google Drive has a clear advantage: you can save your images directly to Drive and share them with any of your Google contacts from there. This greatly improves productivity and makes it easy to access your scanned files from any device. You can also send them via email or Dropbox.
Both Scanner Pro and Scanbot offer a wide range of storage and sharing options. Scanbot offers Google Drive, Box, Dropbox, iCloud Free, and even Yandex.Disk as storage options for your scanned documents. Scanner Pro works with Box, Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive, iCloud, Microsoft OneDrive, OneNote, and even any WebDAV server.
Security
You may not be as protective of confidential documents as James Bond, but you still need peace of mind knowing that contracts, sensitive documents, and confidential information are protected from hackers or unauthorized authors. CamScanner lets you add password protection and an expiration date when you send a link to a scanned document. Genius Scan adds an extra layer of protection by allowing you to encrypt your scanned document as a PDF. Scanbot and Tiny Scanner also let you password protect PDF files.
Features
In addition to these features, various mobile scanner apps offer additional features that can be useful, fun, or unnecessary depending on your needs. One example is the ability to save documents as JPEG and PDF files, which many apps like Tiny Scanner and Evernote Scannable offer. This has the advantage that JPEG files are easier to edit than PDF files. Microsoft Office Lens even lets you save text in .doc format and quickly export it to OneNote, Word, and PowerPoint for full editing.
Cloud printing, integrated into the app, is an additional feature offered by CamScanner. This way, you can tag, edit, and annotate a document within the app, then send it directly to print without using any other software. In addition to Tiny Scanner and Genius Scan, CamScanner also includes a fax function so you can fax your documents directly from the app.
Genius Scan offers custom invoice add-ons, including integration with Expensify to automatically extract information from scanned receipts and store it in your expense tracking app. You can also get the Genius Scan Sign app, which lets you sign scanned contracts within the app without having to edit or change the text.
Evernote Scannable connects with LinkedIn. It recognizes business cards and extracts contact information as it scans, then links it to the person’s LinkedIn profile, making it easy to connect with new contacts.
Finally, convenient tagging, organizing, and commenting features for scanned documents make it easy to manage and retrieve them when you need them. Scanbot allows users to easily mark up, annotate, and draw on their scanned documents so you can save your responses in the same place as the original document.
Scan and Save in One
Whether you’re tracking expenses, storing work documents, or even working in secret, you can find a mobile scanner app that scans, saves, and protects your documents without damaging them.