Last week saw some great updates to Google Drive’s document scanner. First of all, it’s finally available on iPhone (thank god), but the Android version also received some exclusive new features, including automatically capturing documents when the camera detects them, an improved viewfinder, and the ability to upload documents directly from your phone.
But apparently Google doesn’t just have its sights set on Drive to serve as your document scanning hub. As Twitter user @Nail_Sadykov discovered, the company is also rolling out similar functionality for Google Files (at least on Android):
Once the feature hits your device, you’ll see a camera icon appear towards the bottom-right of the Files window, just as it appears in Google Drive. When you tap it, you’ll open the same document scanner Google added to Drive, including all the new upgrades.
The tool gives you a choice for how to scan your documents: “Manual” or “Auto Capture.” Manual capture means you can line up the document in the viewfinder yourself and take the scan as you would a photo. Auto Capture, on the other hand, gives the controls over to Files: When the app detects the borders of the document you’re trying to scan, it’ll automatically capture it for you.
According to Nail Sadykov, documents you scan using this tool will be saved to either 0/Files by Google/Scanned, or “Documents & other” in the Scanned tab. Both Google Drive and Google Files’ scanners appear to be using the same underlying tech, so you don’t need to prioritize one over the other iif you’re worried about capturing scans in the best quality. If you prefer to keep your docs in Files, use the Files scanner. If Drive is your app of choice, scan there.
Of course, in order to choose Files, you’ll need to have the feature. At this time, it appears to be rolling out rather slowly. I don’t have it yet on my Pixel 8 Pro, and neither does Rajesh Pandey of Android Police.
