microblink/blinkid-android

Everything you need to add AI-driven ID scanning into your native Android app.

BlinkID SDK for Android – What It Is

BlinkID is a commercial Android library that lets app developers add on‑device scanning of identity documents (passports, driver’s licences, ID cards, etc.) and extract the data they contain. The SDK bundles machine‑learning models, a native C++ core, and a ready‑made user interface that can be used either as a Jetpack Compose composable or as a traditional Android activity.

Who Might Use It?

  • Mobile apps that need to verify a user’s identity (KYC, banking, travel, hospitality).
  • Developers who want a quick, out‑of‑the‑box solution rather than building OCR/ML pipelines from scratch.
  • Teams that prefer Kotlin/Compose but also support legacy Java code.

Key Features (as described in the README)

Feature What It Means
Document coverage Supports a wide range of ID types; the exact list is on Microblink’s docs site.
Result model After a scan you receive a BlinkIdScanningResult object containing structured fields (name, DOB, document number, etc.) drawn from the most reliable source (barcode > MRZ > visual).
Two integration styles • BlinkIdCameraScanningScreen – a composable for single‑activity, fully‑customisable UI.
• BlinkIdScanActivity – a ready‑made activity for Java‑only or minimal‑customisation apps.
Customization Colors, typography, strings, redaction, timeout values, camera settings, and even low‑level session parameters can be tweaked via UxSettings, UiSettings, CameraSettings, and BlinkIdSessionSettings.
Resource handling Machine‑learning models are delivered as downloadable resources. You can: * download them at runtime, * bundle them in the APK, or * enable OTA updates that keep models fresh.
Device requirements Android API 24+, ARMv7/ARM64 native binaries, and a camera capable of at least 1080p preview.
License A trial or paid license key (tied to the app’s package name) is required; keys are obtained from the Microblink Developer Hub.
Documentation & samples KDoc API reference, online docs, migration guide, and three sample apps (Compose, direct‑API, Java).

How to Get Started (quick outline)

  1. Add the Maven Central dependency
    implementation "com.microblink:blinkid-ux:8002.0.0"
  2. Obtain a license key from the Microblink developer portal.
  3. Initialize the SDK (a suspend function) with your key:
    val sdk = BlinkIdSdk.initializeSdk(context, BlinkIdSdkSettings(licenseKey = "YOUR_KEY"))
  4. Launch the scanning UI – either the composable or the activity, passing the sdk instance and any custom settings you need.
  5. Handle the result – the callback gives you a BlinkIdScanningResult with all extracted fields.

What the README Does not Mention

  • No on‑device training – the models are pre‑trained and shipped as resources.
  • No open‑source code – the repository contains only the integration wrapper; the core ML engine is proprietary.
  • Pricing details beyond the free trial are not disclosed.

Bottom Line

The blinkid-android repository is a genuine SDK for AI‑powered document scanning on Android. It provides a ready‑made pipeline (camera → ML model → structured data) and a flexible UI layer, aimed at developers who need reliable ID capture without building their own computer‑vision stack.

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