A new 3.0 version of our Card Scanner is rolling out to iOS today.(Android users, I promise news for you soon…)
In under two years, the TCG community on Rare Candy has scanned 143 million cards. As of April, you all are scanning 15 million cards every month and growing fast. That's not an accident. Rare Candy is the only scanner that's free with unlimited scans, handles both raw cards and graded slabs, supports Pokémon in English and Japanese, and now works across Magic, One Piece, Riftbound, Lorcana, and more too. None of that changes. All of it gets better today.
Here's what's new in 3.0.
Near-instant scans, even more accurate
Faster and more accurate, both at the same time. Point your phone, see the card. That's it. Our software team (we call them Code Mankeys) did some incredible work making magic under the hood.
You can't really feel speed in a blog post. Open the app and scan a card. Trust me, you'll feel it in two seconds.
You can now toggle the scanner to a specific game (Pokémon, Magic, One Piece, Riftbound, or Lorcana) and select Raw vs. Slab mode for maximum accuracy. The defaults work great, but if you're plowing through a stack of slabbed PSAs and want to squeeze out the last bit of precision, lock it to slabs.
Auto-scan, no tapping required
For bulk scanners and dealers. Turn on auto-scan, line a card up in the viewport, and 3.0 captures automatically. No tap. It's especially good with card slingers (the acrylic ramps that drop cards through a fixed scanning position). Drop, scan, drop, scan. We've watched dealers at events run through hundreds of cards in a single sitting without ever touching the phone.
If you're scanning singles, the manual tap is still right there. Auto-scan is a setting, not a takeover.
Simpler, sleeker, & easier to use
We refreshed the entire interface. It works great for single-card scans and just as well when you're burning through a whole pile. Key details (name, set, rarity, market value) sit where you'd expect them, and the scan list is far more readable. Everything else gets out of the way.
What hasn't changed
3.0 is still 100% free with unlimited scans. No scan cap. No paywall. No premium tier. Raw and graded, English and Japanese Pokémon, plus Magic, One Piece, Riftbound, and Lorcana, all in the same app, on the house. And, more exciting updates coming soon.
Scan-a-MAY-nia
To celebrate 3.0, we're running a month long community challenge starting on May 8th. The more we scan together, the more product we give away. Prize tiers scale up as we hit each milestone.
If you're in the Rare Candy community, this is the month to lean in. Keep an eye on your email for more details!
What's next
3.0 is the first of several major releases coming this year. The scanner is the foundation. What we're building on top of it touches every part of how collectors, dealers, and marketplaces interact with their cards. Expect more announcements soon. Stay close.
For now: stop reading. Open the app. Scan a card. Tell us what you think.
Chris Founder & CEO, Rare Candy
