Google Drive's Document Scanner Is Getting a Massive Upgrade on Android

Google has announced a big upgrade for the document scanner in Google Drive for Android. The company is now adding auto-enhancement to the app's feature set, which will remove shadows and fix lighting issues in your document scans. In addition to making your scans look nicer, Google also says auto-enhancement will allow the app to digitize documents faster, so you can spend less time fixing scans and more time getting work done. The catch? At this time, the auto-enhancement feature isn't coming to Google Drive for iPhone, which can also scan documents. 

Auto-enhancement is a part of the latest Google Workspace updates for December. At launch, it'll include auto sharpening, white balance correction, contrast enrichment, shadow removal, and a few more benefits. Which effects you can apply depend on the state of the document you're scanning and how much work needs to be done to make it easy to read. To use auto enhancement, first scan any document using the Google Drive app. Then, tap the Enhance button in the top-right corner.

Auto-enhancement is currently rolling out to Android phones. Devices on the rapid release schedule should get it by January 2, 2025, while those on the scheduled release cycle should start to see it around January 6, 2025. This feature is available to all Google Workspace users, even those on free or personal accounts; however, only paid accounts have access to the rapid release schedule.

The feature follows additional updates that introduced the option to save scanned documents as either PDF files or JPEG images, plus gave users the ability to add a black-and-white filter to scanned documents. Google Drive still is one of the best document scanner apps on Android. iPhone users might instead prefer to use Apple Notes to scan documents or try an alternative called QuickScan (a personal favorite).