The App Store currently has some great apps on sale for $0.99.  They will be at this price for a  limited time, probably through the end of July. I want to focus on a few of them that I think are extremely useful and a bargain at 99 cents.   (I don’t have any connection with these companies or receive any promo from them, these are just a few apps that I find very helpful.)

Scanner Pro  by Readdle –  While not as comprehensive as a flatbed scanner, this app certainly takes care of most of my needs when it comes to scanning documents. It is so convenient and very easy to use.  Features in the latest update put it a notch above most of the other scanning apps, in my opinion, especially at the current price (regularly $6.99).  For example, you can simply take a photo by accessing your camera from the iPhone Lock Screen and create the PDF later.  When you then open Scanner Pro, “Scan Radar” automatically finds photos of documents and receipts in your Photo Library. It efficiently detects edges and page corners and unskews the document.  Once you are working within the app, it scans automatically without the need to press the “shutter”; this makes it much easier to hold your device steady and achieve quality scans quickly.  Another nice feature is the ability to go back and re-edit your scans at any time – changing from color to B/W or modifying borders.  Scans are easily emailed, printed or uploaded to Cloud storage, Dropbox, or Google Drive,

I use it to scan and store copies of membership cards, business cards, credit cards, receipts and all important documents. I personally like having a digital back-up that can be accessed easily in the event of an emergency or disaster.  I’ve been backing up all important documents in this manner – passport, licenses, insurance policies, birth and marriage certificates, etc.

As you digitize your life and PDF files, it’s helpful to have a good PDF reader and document organizer:

GoodReader by Good.iWare Ltd.  – I’m beginning to use this app more and more in
conjunction with Scanner Pro. I find I like to use this app for reading and storing PDF files rather than using iBooks, and it is especially useful for organizing documents. I love that I can sign PDF files easily and then email them. (Scanner Pro and GoodReader are huge time-savers for me as I prepare documents to e-mail my accountant at tax time.) I can also annotate files, rename them, and sync to the cloud. I especially like it for reading and storing manuals that are then available on any of my devices. GoodReader is a powerful application that can view a variety of file types in addition to PDF – jpegs, TIFFs, HTML, Word, Excel, Pages, Powerpoint, and most audio and video files. It has more tools and uses than I can explain in a single post. It’s definitely a bargain at $0.99. I’d recommend downloading it now before the price goes back to $7. I find I like to use this app for reading and storing personal PDF files rather than using iBooks, and it is especially useful for organizing documents. I love that I can sign PDF files easily and then email them. (Scanner Pro and GoodReader are huge time-savers for me as I prepare documents to e-mail my accountant at tax time.) I can also annotate files, rename them, and sync to the cloud. I especially like it for reading and storing manuals that are then available on any of my devices.

If you would like more information on how I organize and store my digital docs let me know, and I’ll include that in a future post.