OneNote for Android gets Office Lens integration, phone number sign-in.

Hey OneNote users, Microsoft has a treat of an update for you today- kind of. The changelog lists four new features, so let’s take a look at each of them. Well, actually, let’s get item #4, which is the usual bug fixes and performance improvements, out of the way. Let’s dive in the new features.

OneNote for Android now integrates with Microsoft Office Lens, a scanning app that lets users scan, crop and rotate photos, documents, whiteboards, and business-cards. I use Office Lens on all my devices and this feature is very welcome on Android. However, I could not get it to work after installing the update. OneNote’s camera does not give me any option to switch between documents scanning or whiteboards. Maybe I’m missing something here, but I’ll keep searching this and update this post later after I’ve figured it all out.

The second feature lets users create notes with a press and hold on the OneNote icon. This feature has been baked into Android Nougat and higher. The press and hold actually lets users record an audio, insert a photo, create a to-do list and, obviously, create a simple note. This feature is actually working, unlike the Office Lens integration.

The third item allows users to sign in to OneNote with a phone number. Again, I could not find anything in the app settings or anywhere else within the app to get this working.

 All these new features sound nice, but, where are they? I’ll try to reach out to the OneNote team to figure it all out. The update is available for download in Google Play Store already.

Capture and save PDFs with Office Lens while offline and without having to log in.

Office Lens is a powerful scanner on your Android device. The app was designed for easy scanning of documents, images and whiteboards. For the latter Office Lens will remove the glare and other imperfections to make it readable. No matter what you’ve scanned, you can use Office Lens built-in tools to, say, convert a document to PDF. Same can be done with an image and with the integration of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and OneNote, Office Lens will smoothly convert to these file format as well and save them to OneDrive or your local device. In order to take advantage of all these features, a Microsoft Account is needed. But not always.

Today’s update introduces the ability to save PDF files when your device is offline without having to log in. A feature that is handy when on the go and there’s no internet access. Microsoft says that this update will let you “quickly save PDF captures to your device without having to log in and without a watermark.”

Office Lens new offline feature makes the app even more useful and powerful. So make sure you check it out in Google Play Store for free.

Microsoft OneDrive for Android makes viewing photos faster.

Microsoft OneDrive was updated today. In version 4.15 of the app, the company improved the scan feature. The change log says all scans “will be cropped, cleaned up and polished thanks to the power of Office Lens.” Microsoft also improved performance and that results into viewing of photos faster. 

Get this update to Microsoft OneDrive for Android in Google Play Store.

Microsoft Office Lens on Android finally supports scanning multiple images.

Microsoft Office Lens is very useful to me. I use it to scan receipts after a doctor's visit among other things and having the app on all major mobile platform is a great plus. However, I have been using Office Lens uniquely on my Windows Mobile and there's is a simple reason to that: The Windows Mobile version offers the ability to scan multiple images and store them in one file. A feature that makes sense, but which was strangely absent from the Android version of the app. Until today.

Responding to a most requested features from users, Microsoft today published an update that adds support for multiple scans on Android. Scanned files can then be saved as a single file in various supported format such as PDF, Word, PowerPoint, OneNote or a regular image to the local device, your favorite cloud storage service.

This is definitely a welcome addition and one that makes my Windows Mobile device even more irrelevant. 

Grab the update in Google Play Store to finally enjoy scanning multiple images.

Microsoft updates Office Lens for Android to help you get rid of that pile of business cards.

I haven't seen a business card in ages and with Microsoft updating it's Office Lens app today to support scanning those same business cards not only reminded me that they are still out there, but that some humans are still contributing in bringing down trees so they can exchange business cards. But Microsoft wants that to change with its Office Lens app now capable of scanning that pile of business card in your Rolodex and have them in your pocket wherever you go, as the app adds them to OneNote or your address book. 

Microsoft also added the ability the open Word and PowerPoint from within Office Lens. The update is available for download in Google Play Store. The same features have been added to the iOS version of the app. Check it out in the App store if you own an iOS device.