Nothing lasts perpetually. Gadgets lose help, requirements are changed, and software program turns into out of date. So it’s with Microsoft Lens, whose days are numbered. Keen observers have known about this since August, when Microsoft first introduced that Lens can be retired in September and faraway from app shops in November. That clearly did not occur, as the corporate adjusted the deadline to Dec. 15, which additionally got here and went. Microsoft kicked the retirement can down the highway—that’s, till now.
Microsoft Lens was Microsoft’s answer for anybody within the mid-2010s who did not personal a scanner. Fairly than purchase an costly piece of {hardware} to digitize paperwork, Lens allowed folks to make use of their smartphone digital camera to show these onerous copies into digital recordsdata. It was hardly the one doc scanner obtainable on app shops (Apple’s Notes app has had the function built in since iOS 11), however as a result of it was made by Microsoft, it was a very good answer for getting recordsdata into Microsoft apps like Phrase, PowerPoint, or Excel. It is also free and suitable with each Android and iOS, making the app universally accessible. We even listed it first in our roundup of the most effective doc scanner apps from 2021.
According to the app’s support document, Microsoft Lens formally started retirement proceedings on Jan. 9. That does not imply the app is lifeless, although: Microsoft will nonetheless help it till Feb. 9. After that, the app will obtain no updates, and Microsoft will take away it from app shops. (Should you’re passionate or interested by Microsoft Lens, ensure to put in it earlier than then.) It doesn’t matter what, nonetheless, you may solely have one other month to make use of it. As of March 9, you’ll not be capable to create new scans in Lens, however you may nonetheless be capable to view your earlier scans so long as the app stays in your gadget.
The perfect alternate options to Microsoft Lens
As soon as we settle into mid-March, Microsoft Lens customers might want to select another scanning app. Thankfully, there are many choices on app shops to select from. Actually, you may not must obtain something new in any respect: As talked about above, iPhone customers can faucet into the Notes app’s built-in scanner, while Google Drive users can do the same.
What do you suppose up to now?
Microsoft, after all, desires you to remain throughout the ecosystem, so that they’d choose you employ OneDrive’s built-in scanner. If you have already got that app in your telephone, it is perhaps pretty much as good an choice as any. Nonetheless, there are fashionable, devoted apps, like Genius Scan, Adobe Scan, and Photomyne, that supply further options not obtainable in built-in scanners.
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