How Do Scanning Apps Work?

Using a mobile scanning app is not much different from taking a picture with your phone.

In an ideal setting, you lay your document flat on a contrasting background and point your phone's camera at it. The scanning app guides you through the process, instructing you to align the document edges with the crop marks on the phone screen and to hold still. A good scanning app compensates for slight hand movements and lets you edit the final product. The scan takes a second or two. When it's done, you see a preview of your document. The app usually finishes by asking whether you want to add more pages or start a new scan.

Why Not Just Take a Picture?

Perhaps you're thinking you could skip a scanning app altogether and instead take a photo of any papers you want to save digitally. You could, but there are two disadvantages. 

First, an image is unlikely to be as clear as a scan, so you run the risk of illegible text. Second, you can't search the text, which could make it extremely difficult to find what you need later, much less edit it. You need an app that includes optical character recognition (OCR) for editing and searching. All the apps in this list have that feature.

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What to Look for in a Scanning App

The best scanning apps capture your documents clearly, help you save the finished files in the right places, and make the text searchable. Here's what to look for:

1. Automatic edge detection. A great scanning app automatically finds the edges of your documents. When you point the camera at the paper, the crop marks on the screen should automatically align with the edges of the document and adjust to different dimensions.
2. Multipage support. Make sure the app allows you to scan multiple pages consecutively and compile them into a single final product. High-end scanning options also correct for page distortion, such as when you scan pages from a book that you can't quite lay flat.
3. OCR for editing and search. As mentioned, OCR helps turn any words you scan into text. That means you can copy and paste or edit the text. In other words, you can scan a paper document, make it a digital document, and fix typos or otherwise make changes. Often, advanced OCR and editing features cost extra.
4. Save and export options. Look for software that offers options to save or export your scans to services such as Google Drive, Dropbox, or another storage service.

How Much Do Mobile Scanning Apps With OCR Cost?

Most of the best scanning and OCR apps have a free level of service and a paid premium level. The prices are all over the map. Adobe's premium tier costs $9.99 per month, while ABBYY's costs $5.99 per month.

Of course, you don't necessarily need a separate app. Android and iOS have OS-level scanning capabilities that are accessible through their camera and file apps.