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How to scan a QR Code on Android or with an iPhone

 

How to scan a QR Code on Android or with an iPhone



Whether you have an Android smartphone or an iPhone, we explain how to scan a QR Code and what these funny square barcodes are for.

QR Codes ( Quick Response Code ) became popular with the advent of mobile phones equipped with cameras. They make it possible to display information (the link to a web page most often) graphically, which can be scanned by our mobile devices. Their very particular format makes it possible to be flashed and interpreted quickly by the devices, while ensuring the validity of the information, thanks to data redundancy. Here is how to flash a QR Code with a smartphone.

How to flash a QR Code on Android

With Google Lens on Android

Google integrates this function with Google Lens, the part dedicated to the imagery of Google Assistant. All smartphones that integrate Google Lens can therefore access this function, in particular those that do not have a manufacturer interface such as smartphones running Android One , or smartphones Nokia and Sony .

To scan a QR Code with Google Lens:

  1. Open Google Lens (the square icon reminiscent of a camera, in Google Assistant)

  2. Point the camera at the QR Code

  3. Wait until a blue dot appears in the center of the QR Code

  4. Press the blue dot to open the contents of the QR Code

Here is what it gives in pictures:

If your device does not have Google Lens, or if Google Lens cannot interpret the QR Code and as often on Android, the method may be different depending on the interface of the smartphone, developed by its manufacturer.

With a Huawei or Honor smartphone

With Huawei , or Honor , the easiest way is to slide your finger up, from the phone's lock screen, to display a shortcut to the EMUI scan application. It has an icon reminiscent of a QR Code, or an eye, depending on the version. This application also allows you to open QR Codes stored on the phone, in the image gallery. It can also be accessed from the phone's search engine, by swiping down on the desktop.

With a Xiaomi smartphone

On a smartphone Xiaomi with the interface MIUI , you have to go through the camera to flash a QR Code. Normally, the option is enabled by default, but if this is not the case, you must check the option " Scan QR codes " in the camera settings.

With a Samsung smartphone

To flash a QR Code on a smartphone Samsung , you have to go through the assistant of the Korean manufacturer, namely Bixby . Just trigger Bixby Vision by tapping on the eye in the Samsung camera app and choose "QR Code" when the assistant detects the image to scan.

With an Asus smartphone

On the side, Asus integration is very simple: just open the camera and point to a QR Code for the phone to interpret the image and offer to open a link.

On iOS with an iPhone

Since the iOS 11 update launched in 2017, the iPhone natively integrates a QR Code reader. To flash a code, all you have to do is:

  1. open camera

  2. focus on the QR Code

  3. press the notification displayed with the decoded information

This is done quickly and simply, without the need to go through an application from the App Store.

If for some reason the QR Code to be scanned is on the iPhone itself, for example on a web page you are visiting. It is then necessary:

  1. open the web page in question with Safari

  2. use Force Touch on the QR Code for Safari to interpret it

  3. move the pop-up that appears upwards to open the link written in the QR Code with Safari

With these two methods, QR Codes should no longer cause problems on iOS.

The best apps to read a QR Code

If none of the previous methods is available for your device to integrate the function natively, which is particularly the case for older smartphones, then you will have to go through a third-party application available on the application stores .

The most famous, and often recommended by Google, is ZXing Team's Barcode Scanner. It has the merit of being completely free, light and without any advertising.

“QR & Barcode Scanner (Pro)” is the somewhat long title of one of the most comprehensive applications out there. It allows you to scan, but also create, QR-Codes or bar codes, and keep them with a history. It manages all kinds of codes, whether they contain a simple URL to a web page, or geolocation data or even the connection parameters to a Wi-Fi access point.


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