As phone manufacturers start integrating niche functionalities natively into stock apps, third-party alternatives that were once popular are starting to become obsolete.
For example, modern operating systems have integrated document scanning functionality within the native camera or notes app, rendering third-party alternatives useless. Microsoft knows that, and that is precisely why it’s putting its Lens scanner app on the chopping block.
Previously known as Office Lens, Microsoft Lens has over 50 million downloads on the Play Store alone. Unfortunately, that large user base will soon have to either rely on their device’s native scanning capabilities or opt for a different third-party alternative. Microsoft says it will start phasing out the app, for both Android and iOS, in September, as pointed out by BleepingComputer.
The deprecation will begin in mid-September to be specific, with new installations to be disabled on both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store in mid-October. Mid-November is when the app will be completely taken off both the app stores, followed by Microsoft blocking all new scans for existing users after December 15th.
Existing scans are safe for now
For what it’s worth, “existing scans will remain accessible in the app’s MyScans folder, but this functionality will no longer be supported,” wrote the tech giant in a recent message center note. It added that “users can continue scanning using the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, which offers similar functionality. Scans saved to OneDrive will be accessible via the MyCreations section in the Microsoft 365 Copilot app.”
Alternatively, apps like Adobe Scan, CamScanner, Abbyy FineReader PDF, Genius Scan, and akin should also get the job done.
This comes soon after Microsoft pulled the plug on Authenticator’s password management features. Just a heads-up, your saved passwords will no longer be accessible in Microsoft Authenticator starting this month.
