Google has several apps, products, and services tied to its name, and while many are consumer-facing, the company is still fully invested in its enterprise initiatives. For example, it has refined the components ofGoogle Driveover the years, updating everything from the functionality to its UI. Toward the end of 2023, the company did just that with its Workspace suite — Googleredesigned its document scannerUI to accommodate the look and feel of Material You. Now, you’ll be able to use the document scanning feature with any app on your Android device.
Google Drive’s integrated document scanner gets a fresh coat of paint
New features and Material Design 3 elements come standard
As Android expert@MishaalRahmanexplained in an update posted on X (formerly Twitter), Google’s document scanner API has now been added to the company’s Machine Learning (ML) Kit for developers. It can be used with all Android apps, and no camera permission needs to be given in order to leverage it — the scanner simply uses the camera permission granted to Google Play Services.
As soon as you trigger the scanner within an app, you can process your document to suit your needs. For instance, you can crop it if necessary, apply a filter, or eliminate shadows before finalizing it. Additionally, you can limit the number of pages scanned with the tool, as well as enable or disable its import to your photo gallery. If you accidentally scan your document upside down, it will be rotated and corrected for you. Because all the processing happens on your device, privacy is also maintained, as explained byGoogle’s documentation.
Although the last tweaks that Google made to the document scanner tool were fairly minor, they still had a noticeable impact. For example, the repositioning of on-display buttons provided more space while previewing and finalizing a scanned document. The new auto-capture mode also made it easier to scan a document and ensure it fits within boundaries every time.
Google has gone above and beyond to make the tedious task of scanning dramatically easier, and its recent changes are opening up the playing field. Given the tool’s newfound compatibility with other Android apps, an increase in usage shouldn’t come as a surprise.
