Building a Driver’s License Scanner for iOS/Android Apps

This guide explains how to build a driver’s license scanner for iOS and Android apps by explaining the three implementation paths, providing a tutorial using the Scandit ID Scanner SDK, and listing steps to test your app before deployment.

What is the best way to build a driver’s license scanner for iOS/Android Apps?

There are three types of solutions to choose from when building a driver’s license scanner for iOS and Android apps. Each one is suitable for different use cases and performance requirements:

1. Turnkey ID scanning app for simple ID checks across different jurisdictions. These apps are designed to install and deploy immediately.
2. ID verification SDK that supports the extraction of both sides of the driver’s license, including PDF417, Visual Inspection Zones (VIZ), and Machine Readable Zones (MRZ), with support for multiple jurisdictions around the world. These toolkits are designed for customization and integration into mobile apps and web services. ID scanning SDKs are highly customizable, offering features such as whitelabeling, scanning of any ID format, supplementary checks such as visa or invitation letters, or adding additional liveness or optical document checks if needed.
3. ID verification platform that supplements driver’s license capture with liveness checks, biometric identification, third-party fraud checks, and more. These are typically cloud-based services with minimal customization available.

The following table compares the three methods.

What are the technical considerations for building a driver’s license scanner?

Developers should consider the following technical features when building a driver’s license scanner for iOS and Android:

• Scan speed: The time it takes for the software to capture a driver’s license, process it, and present results to the user. This can vary depending on what is captured, whether both sides of the ID have to be scanned, and external conditions such as lighting, glare, curve, and motion.
• Scan accuracy: The ratio of correct to incorrect data captures over time.
• Data extraction coverage: Depending on the jurisdiction, driver’s license data can be encoded in a PDF417 barcode, a VIZ containing printed human-readable details, and an MRZ. Additionally, some checks require inspecting an identity photo. The SDK should maintain document support as data formats and jurisdictions change.
• Security and privacy: As driver’s license data contains personally identifiable information (PII), the scanner must protect against exposure and comply with standards such as GDPR, CCPA, and ISO 27001. An example of this is on-device processing, where the lack of data transmission decreases exposure risks.
• Authentication logic: Some workflows only need to capture what’s on a driver’s license, while others need to determine whether the license is valid, expired, damaged, real vs. fake, or acceptable for a regulated transaction.
• User experience: A driver’s license scanner should, at a minimum, indicate whether a scan has passed or failed. Ideally, it also allows the developer to fine-tune the interface to make scanning easier, such as on-screen guidance and how the data is shared with another system.
• Offline operation: Driver’s license scanning should continue when a device loses network access. This is especially important for scenarios where internet access isn’t guaranteed, such as last-mile delivery, curbside pickup, warehouse yards, and rental lots.

How the Scandit ID Scanner SDK meets these criteria

The Scandit ID Scanner SDK supports over 2,500 documents worldwide, and gives developers control over scanning workflows, data handling, and user experience. It scans IDs in less than a second, and achieves 100% accuracy for all major document types and 99.9% accuracy for ID authentication.

From a security perspective, all data processing happens on device by default. Scandit is ISO 27001 certified and complies with applicable privacy regulations, including GDPR and CCPA. All Scandit products work offline.

Scandit’s ID Scanner SDK is available for Native iOS, Native Android, Cordova, Xamarin and Xamarin.Forms, React Native, JavaScript, Flutter, and Capacitor. Scandit also offers ID Bolt for pre-built web scanning and the turnkey Scandit Express app, but the SDK is the best fit when developers need full UI and workflow control over driver’s license scanning.

How to start driver license scanning with the Scandit ID Scanner SDK

The Scandit ID Scanner SDK for Android developer documentation includes a simple workflow to get started with driver’s license scanning:

1. Create a Data Capture Context.
2. Access the camera.
3. Configure capture settings.
4. Implement a listener.
5. Set up the capture view and overlay.
6. Start the driver’s license capture process.

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The following sections describe these steps in detail.

Pre-requisites:

1. Ensure you have a valid Scandit Data Capture SDK license key (available through the Scandit Dashboard).
2. Ensure that you have added the necessary dependencies.

1. Create a Data Capture Context

The first step to add driver’s license scanning to your application is to create a new Data Capture Context, which is the main class for running data capture. This context expects a valid Scandit Data Capture SDK license key during construction.

val dataCaptureContext = DataCaptureContext.forLicenseKey("-- ENTER YOUR SCANDIT LICENSE KEY HERE --")

2. Access the camera

To access the camera, you need to create a new instance of the Camera class. This enables streaming previews and capturing images.

val camera = Camera.getDefaultCamera(IdCapture.createRecommendedCameraSettings())

if (camera == null) {
   throw IllegalStateException("Failed to init camera!")
}

dataCaptureContext.setFrameSource(camera)

3. Configure the capture settings

Use IdCaptureSettings to configure the documents to accept and/or reject, whether an image of the driver’s license should be returned, and other properties. The IdCaptureDocumentType enumeration lists the available options.

Note that anonymized data is not returned by default, in accordance with local regulations for specific documents. This setting can be disabled for testing purposes, but be sure to comply with local laws and requirements in production.

val settings = IdCaptureSettings().apply {
   acceptedDocuments = listOf(
       // Driver’s licenses from any region
       DriverLicense(IdCaptureRegion.ANY),
       // Only ID cards issued by a specific country
       IdCard(IdCaptureRegion.GERMANY),
       // Regional documents outside the above categories
RegionSpecific(RegionSpecificSubtype.APEC_BUSINESS_TRAVEL_CARD),
   )
   rejectedDocuments = listOf(
       // Reject driver’s licenses from certain regions:
       DriverLicense(IdCaptureRegion.ANTARCTICA),
   )

   // To scan only one-sided documents and a given zone:
   scanner = IdCaptureScanner(SingleSideScanner(
       barcode = true,
       machineReadableZone = true,
       visualInspectionZone = true,
   ))

   // To scan both sides of the document:
   scanner = IdCaptureScanner(FullDocumentScanner())
}

Create a new ID Capture mode with the chosen settings.

val idCapture = IdCapture.forDataCaptureContext(dataCaptureContext, settings)

4. Implement a Listener

To receive scan results from a driver’s license, implement an IdCaptureListener. This listener provides two callbacks: onIdCaptured and onIdRejected.

idCapture.addListener(object : IdCaptureListener {
   override fun onIdCaptured(idCapture: IdCapture, capturedId: CapturedId) {
       // Success! Handle extracted data here.
   }

   override fun onIdRejected(idCapture: IdCapture, capturedId: CapturedId?, rejectionReason: RejectionReason) {
       // Something went wrong. Inspect the reason to determine the follow-up action.
   }
})

For advanced driver’s license scanning features, such as fake ID detection, full frame image extraction, and data anonymization, see Advanced Configurations.

How do you handle a successful driver’s license scan?

Capture results are delivered as a CapturedId, which contains data common to all document types. For driver’s licenses, this includes first name, last name, sex, date of birth, age, date of expiry, document number, and more.

On a successful scan, read the extracted data from CapturedId:

override fun onIdCaptured(idCapture: IdCapture, capturedId: CapturedId) {
   val fullName = capturedId.fullName
   val dateOfBirth = capturedId.dateOfBirth
   val dateOfExpiry = capturedId.dateOfExpiry
   val documentNumber = capturedId.documentNumber

   // Process data:
   processData(fullName, dateOfBirth, dateOfExpiry, documentNumber)
}

How do you handle an unsuccessful driver’s license scan?

If the ID scanning process fails, inspect RejectionReason to understand the cause.

To implement a follow-up action based on the rejection reason:

override fun onIdRejected(idCapture: IdCapture, capturedId: CapturedId, rejectionReason: RejectionReason) {
   when (rejectionReason) {
       RejectionReason.TIMEOUT -> {
           // Ask the user to retry, or offer an alternative input method.
       }
       RejectionReason.DOCUMENT_EXPIRED -> {
           // Ask the user to provide an alternative document.
       }
       RejectionReason.HOLDER_UNDERAGE -> {
           // Reject the process.
       }
       else -> {
           // Deal with the default case.
       }
   }
}

5. Set up Capture View and Overlay

To display the camera preview on screen alongside UI elements that guide the user through the capture process:

1. Add a DataCaptureView to your view hierarchy:

   val dataCaptureView = DataCaptureView.newInstance(this, dataCaptureContext)
   setContentView(dataCaptureView)

2. Add an instance of IdCaptureOverlay to the view:

   val overlay = IdCaptureOverlay.newInstance(idCapture, dataCaptureView)

The overlay automatically selects the displayed UI based on the selected IdCaptureSettings.

If you want to show a different UI or to temporarily hide it, set the appropriate IdCaptureOverlay.idLayout.

6. Start the driver’s license capture process

To start the driver’s license capture process, turn on the camera:

camera.switchToDesiredState(FrameSourceState.ON)

How do you test a driver’s license scanner for iOS/Android apps?

Before deployment, test your driver’s license scanner against these real-world use cases:

1. Valid, expired, damaged, and voided driver’s licenses.
2. Jurisdictions that match your customer base.
3. Low-end Android devices and older iPhones, if your fleet includes them.
4. BYOD devices.
5. Glare, low light, motion, and scratched driver’s licenses.
6. Offline scanning.
7. Handling of PII.
8. Data retention requirements.

After development testing, it’s critical to run a pilot program with real users to validate technical feasibility and ensure a higher adoption rate when fully rolled out.

Now your app is ready to scan driver’s licenses!