News Beat
Hugely popular Microsoft app downloaded 50million times is closing down in DAYS as users slam ‘horrible move’
ONE of Microsoft’s best-rated apps is shutting down in a matter of days affecting millions of users worldwide.
The app has been downloaded more than 50million times on Android alone – and it’s highly rated on iPhone too.
Microsoft Lens is a free mobile scanner service that became popular on both platforms.
It allows you to use your phone’s camera to capture anything from documents, to whiteboards or receipts, and easily convert them into Word, PDF, Excel and more file types.
But over the summer Microsoft surprised users with news that the app is being axed in phases at end of the year.
“Frick no. I love that app,” one fan commented on Reddit.
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“That is such a good app. What a horrible move,” another wrote.
“It’s a good app, why they do this?” a third person raged.
“Every quarter they are killings themselves slowly.”
The actual “retirement” kick-started from October 25 though features continued to work for those who have it installed.
However, on Christmas Day the firm says Microsoft Lens will no longer be supported, meaning it’ll get no more updates.
You’ll still be able to scan documents for a little bit longer but by January 25 it will effectively shut down.
“After that, you will not be able to create new scans, but you will still be able to access your previous scans if the app remains installed on your device,” the company says.
Instead, the tech giant is recommending people use the Microsoft 365 Copilot app.
It has scanning capabilities within it but there aren’t as many options available as the original app.
For example, you can save scans directly to OneNote, Word, or PowerPoint.
The ability to scan business cards to save to OneNote, the read out loud tool and immersive reader integration is also missing.
