Google Driveis a handy cloud storage solution, andone of our favoritesfor several important reasons. It gives us uninhibited access across operating systems and the web app isn’t missing features either. Moreover, every document created using Workspace tools like Sheets, Slides, and Docs is automatically synced to Drive. Google also allows you to snap photos and upload them as documents through the Google Drive app for Android. A recent update has given the document scanner interface a fresh coat of paint, and we couldn’t be happier.
Google regularly updates the UI of its apps, so they align with the latest Material Design guidelines and look like a part of the family. Drive gets its fair share of updates, with recent improvements focused around making theweb UI easier to navigateif you love organizing items in folders. On larger tablets, you may notice the Drive app for Android now shows saved files alongside their file size in adense list viewinstead of the thumbnail view, which didn’t really help documents. Lest we forget, Material Design 3 principles are also implemented.
The old document scanner UI in Google Drive
However, Google has not updated the document scanner UI in a long time. An update seems due, especially considering the Pixel Camera app recentlyreceived a few UI tweakspresenting a persistent toggle to switch between photo and video modes. Now, similar changes are making their way to the Drive app’s document scanner UI with the version 2.23.457.1 update (via9to5Google).
The scanner utility in Drive now has branding at the top and an Auto Capture mode
After you open the document scanner UI using the floating action button (FAB) just above the+ NewFAB, you will notice many changes, like Google Drive branding at the top of the screen, and a new Auto Capture mode enabled by default in the bottom. The latter automatically takes a photo when the boundaries of the page are in focus and fitting within the frame. you may also switch to the old Manual mode if you prefer using the shutter button to scan.
Drive’s document scanner has several tools to easily edit your scanned images
After the first shot, you will see a new Preview window where the bottom bar features options such asCrop & Rotate,Filter,Retake, andDelete. Just above that, you can tap the + button in the thumbnail to scan the next page. Once you have scanned all the pages of the document satisfactorily, just hit theDonebutton in the upper right corner of the preview screen. In the last step, you get to define the document’s filename and
The new changes free up more screen real estate for previewing the document, which comes in handy when adjusting the auto-detected page boundaries. It also makes the capture process more effortless. In our brief testing, the automatic scanning feature took a couple of seconds but detected page boundaries correctly every time. We see the new interface on most of our devices, so it appears to be rolling out widely. If you aren’t seeing it yet, try updating the Drive app from the Play Store, or checking for Google Play system updates.
