Five document scanning apps to use instead of CamScanner
Earlier this year, it was revealed that the banned apps were unlikely to make a comeback, so Indian users should stop using the outdated CamScanner app and switch to these alternatives that will receive regular updates.
Last year, the Indian government announced it had banned nearly 60 apps with Chinese origins or connections to the country, citing security concerns. The ban was put in place in July, and was followed by another 118 apps getting banned two months later in September. The list of banned apps then grew by another 43 in November, and among the total number of apps banned were popular browsers, games, file sharing apps - and document scanners.
Among the apps that were banned were INTSIG's CamScanner app, which was one of the most widely used document scanning apps in the country. The app was so popular that it became a household name, with many people simply referring to mobile phone scans as “CamScanner copies”. However, earlier this year, the government announced that the ban would stay in place, so users who were holding out will now have to switch to another app - since CamScanner won't receive any bug/security fixes or new features.
Read more: Here are 8 India-made alternatives to your favourite apps you can try today
Here are five alternative apps you can use to replace the CamScanner app on your phone:
Google Drive
You probably didn't know this, but the Google Drive app that comes pre-installed with your Android device comes with a built-in document scanner. The app lets you scan files and documents and then upload them to Google drive if you want. It also includes useful customisable settings for image enhancement, a customisable paper size, choosing the orientation of your document scans (for landscape book pages), and for choosing your image format and quality to save your files after you've scanned them.
Microsoft Lens
Microsoft originally launched its document scanning Office Lens app without much fanfare, but it soon became a popular choice for users, allowing conversion of images to PDF, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files, digitize printed or handwritten text. The app was rebranded with a new logo a few weeks ago, and works extremely well with a Microsoft 365 account, although if you don't need the OneNote or OneDrive cloud functionality you can scan and convert almost any image (or even a whiteboard) to a PDF document.
Adobe Scan
Adobe's document cloud services are probably not as widely used as Google or Microsoft, but the mobile app for scanning documents allows you to quickly scan receipts, notes, documents, photos, business cards, whiteboards and much more. You can also “edit” your scans after they are taken with touch-ups and image manipulation part of the service. You can also use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to turn your documents into digitised PDF versions of the originals.
Kaagaz Scanner
Touting itself as an Indian CamScanner alternative, Kaagaz doesn't require you to login, or pay to make its features work. It boasts an ad free interface, and lets you set a custom watermark on your scans. Users can also upload documents to their cloud services and lock the app so no one else can gain access to it.
Tiny Scanner
One of the older options on the list, Tiny Scanner claims it has all the “big features” that users need. The app certainly does have a long list of features like Wi-Fi transfer of scans to your computer, over the cloud or via email, AI powered OCR, automatic page detection, passcode document protection, document signing, and much more. Users who switch between tablet and phone will appreciate the similar design which provides a uniform experience. They can also organise their documents in folders, before they are shared.
Catch all the Latest Tech News, Mobile News, Laptop News, Gaming news, Wearables News , How To News, also keep up with us on Whatsapp channel,Twitter, Facebook, Google News, and Instagram. For our latest videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel.