Scanbot 6 Pro
Improved feature set for this scanning app
Free ($7.99 Pro upgrade) Developer doo GmbH, scanbot.io Platform Universal Requirements iOS 9 or later
If you typically snap photos of documents and save them in the Camera Roll, Scanbot 6 is a revelation. The app provides a far slicker user interface, plus a robust set of tools to capture, manage, and share single or multi-page documents with ease. Automatic edge detection eliminates the need for manual cropping, although recognition tends to be slow in low light situations or when documents blend into the background too much. However, the quality is fantastic, and documents are saved in your choice of PDF or JPG files with a minimum resolution of 200 dpi.
The core app is free, which includes the ability to also scan QR or other barcodes, enhancements (filters, crop, rotate), and automatic upload to cloud services iCloud Drive, Dropbox, or Evernote; the latest update adds OneDrive and Amazon Drive to the mix. But the one-time Pro in-app upgrade is highly recommended for those who want to do even more with their scans.
For starters, Scanbot 6 Pro automatically performs optical character recognition (OCR), which enables extracted text to be copied or searched. Smart file naming speeds up the process, along with WebDAV and FTP uploads, and the ability to add pages to existing scans. You can even capture documents and immediately send via text message, although the iMessage app lacks the full complement of editing features.
With version 6, Scanbot has also become a capable PDF editor. Users can now reorder, add, delete, and rotate pages within documents, add encrypted password protection, or run OCR on imported documents created elsewhere. The built-in annotation features have likewise been overhauled with additional colors and tool sizes, although we do wish there was a way to import or sync existing signatures and sign on the iPhone in landscape mode, rather than scribbling on a narrow portrait display.
The biggest change in the latest version is relatively subtle – the interface has been refined and simplified, with a new emphasis on workflows that allow users to perform common tasks more quickly. If you frequently scan documents and immediately print or share them, Scanbot 6 streamlines this process considerably.
the bottom line. Scanbot 6 is the best mobile scanner around, but do yourself a favor and spring for the Pro upgrade.