What is Google Stack and how does it work?
Two excellent questions that I’ll be answering in today’s video.
Hey friends!
I’m Tasia Custode and welcome back to my YouTube Channel where I share tech tips, app
reviews, and a metric ton of Google content.
Disclaimer: I’ve never actually weighed the Google content on this Channel.
Obviously.
Today, we are diving into Google Stack.
We’ve got a lot to cover, so, let’s go.
So Google Stack is a free document digitizing and document filing app.
Say that 10 times fast.
Google Stack was actually launched in 2021, but it’s still in what Google considered
an experimental phase.
It’s a product of Google’s Area 120 incubator, and it can kind of be looked at as a productivity
app.
Its sole purpose is to act as one central spot where you can keep and organize digital
PDF versions of all your documents.
So really, Google Stack is a PDF scanner.
So you might be wondering how do you get Google Stack, and who can use it.
Well, currently, it’s only available on Android in the USA, though I suspect in the
future that could change.
It is also only currently able to be installed using a personal Gmail account, which is an
odd little tidbit of information that is helpful for you to know.
Also, when you go to download the app, the full name is Stack: PDF Scanner by Google
Area 120.
So that’s the official stack app we’re talking about.
So here’s how to use Google Stack.
It’s really easy.
Because of course, it is, it’s Google.
When you first open Google Stack, you’ll have a search bar at the top.
To the right of the search bar is your profile.
That’s where you’ll find your settings by the way.
And just underneath a search bar, you’ll have a list of your stacks.
They are circle icons that are organized per document type.
So, if you tap on one of the stacks to open it, it will give you suggestions as to what
type of documents could be labeled under that stack name.
So as an example, if you click on Bills, you’ll have suggestions for things like cable bill,
phone bill, electricity and so on.
I’ll just tap on the back arrow in the top left to get back to the home screen.
If you want to edit or add stacks, tap on the edit button, just below your profile image.
Here, you’ll have your stacks at the top, with little checkmarks indicating that those
are in use, but under those, you’ll have a list of suggested stacks.
These cover things like immigration, pet, taxes, travel, work and so on.
Or, you can tap the blue create option to create your own stack if none of these suggested
ones are quite what you’re looking for.
I wish I had this app when I was immigrating to the US.
Holy moly, the number of documents and scans and digitizing we had to do.
It was a minefield full of papers and tears.
But I digress.
As you tap to add a stack, it will be moved up to the ‘your stacks’ section.
If you want to deselect a stack, just tap on it and it’ll be moved down to suggested
stacks.
Back in the home screen, you’ll notice a little plus icon where you can add a document’
- but we’ll talk about that in a quick second.
Underneath that, you’ll have your tabs.
So we are in the home tab now, as indicated because it’s blue.
But to the right of that you have your documents tab where you can see and search all documents
you’ve scanned.
You’re able to add a document from either tab by the way.
And speaking of adding a document, let’s talk about how to add a document to Google
Stack.
So if you don’t want to add a document from either the home or documents tab, you can
add one directly to a Stack.
You’ll just tap to open the stack and then select ‘add document’.
Here, you’ll have three options.
You can import a pdf file - so if you already have a pdf saved in your Google Drive or on
your device, you can import from gallery - which is great if you’ve already taken a photo
of a document or receipt, or you can take a photo directly.
So, I’ll choose take a photo directly to show you how to scan a document.
By the way, you’ll have to give the app permission to access your camera and take
pictures.
Anyway, with that done, just put the document nicely centered in the white corners and tap
on scan in the bottom.
I like to hold still for this to ensure a good crisp shot.
Your document is scanned and you’ll have the option of adding another page to it, which
is really handy for multi-page docs, or you can adjust the color, or crop and rotate the
image if it’s a bit crooked.
Once you’re happy with your scan, tap on ‘save’.
Here, you can name the scan to keep yourself organized, and underneath that are all your
stack options.
Since we added directly from a stack, that stack is already selected for us, but if you
didn’t add directly from a stack, or you want to add it to a different or additional
stack, you’ll just tap to select the stacks you want it added to.
Once you’re all done, just click on ‘done.’
If you’be never scanned a document before, it’s going to ask you if you want to save
a PDF copy to Drive, and you can toggle on or off if you want this to always happen.
This could depend on how you want to organize your scans, or how much storage you have in
drive, so it’s really your preference.
But I do recommend saving a copy to Drive.
Because the nice thing is if you save a PDF copy to Drive, then you’ll be able to access
that from your Google Drive on mobile or desktop.
You won’t need to access the Stack app.
The other cool thing here is that Google is using some advanced AI when it’s scanning
your documents.
So, if we tap to go back into a scanned document for a second, you can see that it can recognize
certain information in your scan and suggest a stack for it to go into.
It’ll also automatically pull out details.
So this post office receipt, it’s pulling out information on the total amount and the
purchase date.
You can even tap to copy these details if need be.
If you want to edit a scan, you’ll open it up and here to the right of the details,
you’ll tap on edit.
You can also add notes as well.
If you want to rename or delete a scan, just tap on the three dot menu icon in the top
right.
Here, you can rename, delete, or save a copy to your device.
To the left of the three-dot menu icon is the share icon.
If you tap on that, you’ll be able to share your scan via messages, gmail, drive, or via
bluetooth.
But there is something else you can do with Google Stack.
Let’s say you don’t want to always manually add your receipts and such.
You can actually have Stack automatically do that for you whenever you take a photo
of a document.
Ya, really.
So, remember, to access your settings, you’ll tap on your profile in the top right.
Here, tap on settings.
Ensure the first option here the import photos of documents is toggled on.
That way, it’ll automatically upload those for you, without you having to add anything
yourself.
Now let’s talk about privacy and security.
This is important since you could be scanning a lot of sensitive information into this app.
In order to use Google Stack, you’re going to need to agree to Google’s Terms of Service,
which, if you’re watching this and you’re already a Google user, is nothing new to you.
Just like any app, you have to trust they are not sharing your personal data and that
it’s secure enough that it won’t get hacked.
But beyond this, if you are scanning sensitive documents, you can actually add additional
security measures should your phone fall into the wrong hands.
Back in your settings, you can toggle on the fingerprint or face lock option.
This will require a fingerprint or face lock to access the app.
I always think more security is better, so I’d recommend toggling this on for sure,
regardless of the type of documents your scanning.
So the big question then is, with all the other pdf scanning apps out there, should
you use Google Stack?
My short answer is Yes.
But my long, unbiased answer is: Well, that will depend on a few things: your preference,
the digital ecosystem in which you live and work, those you’d be sharing the documents
with, your budget, and so on.
There are a few big wins for me when it comes to Stack over other scanner apps.
One: I love how you can automatically save a copy to your Drive.
This is not only convenient but ensures you won’t lose that pdf scan should Stack cease
to exist or even if you switch apps down the road, your documents will still be available
in Drive.
Two, you can export everything to google drive in one go.
So, let’s say you hadn’t been saving copies to drive, or you are going to get rid of the
app at some point, from your settings, you can just tap the option to ‘export all documents
to drive’ and they’ll be on your drive separate from the Stack app.
Three: it’s really nice to have everything in one connected ecosystem.
So, if you work and play in the Google ecosystem already, Stack is a natural extension of this
and integration is obviously seamless.
Four: there are no in-app ads or purchases or watermarks.
Five: Stack seems more robust in terms of its AI.
So, having the ability to pull out and highlight specific information like due dates, purchase
dates, prices, etc, and then automatically sort them.
is really helpful and not something many other apps can do.
Six: the fact that it can just pull document images from your camera roll and automatically
add them, without you having to lift a finger is a massive time saver and so helpful when
it comes to keeping you organized.
And 7: Google stack is completely FREE.
And speaking of Stack being free, it’s going to be interesting to see what happens with
Stack in the future.
It’s still what Google calls its experimental phase.
So, will it be available outside the US, will it be available for iOS, and will they move
the app and integrate it completely as part of Google Drive, or keep it as a standalone?
Who knows!
But for now, it’s a great free PDF scanner to keep in mind when tax season rolls around.
So now that you know what Google Stack is, I want to hear from you.
Have you tried Google Stack?
What do you think of the app?
Let everyone know in the comments below.
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that comment below.
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Thanks for watching and see ya next time.