There are tons of ways to transfer data from the real world to your phone, and QR codes are one of them. This nearly 30-year-old technology comes in clutch today, and it’s pretty simple to use. However, according to techradar, Android will make scanning QR codes even easier.
If you use Android, and you don’t know how to scan QR codes, there are a couple of ways to do so. Depending on who made your phone, you might be able to scan codes using your pre-installed camera app. If not, you can use Google Lens; tap on the camera icon on the Google Search bar.
Phones running stock or near-stock Android 13 or newer will have a dedicated QR code reader in their quick settings. If you don’t see it, you will need to edit your quick settings.
Android will make scanning QR codes easier
The act of scanning QR codes isn’t all that hard; you just point and shoot. The reader will display the address for you to follow. Just tap on it and you’ll be taken to the page or app.
However, there are times when the QR code you’re reading just isn’t as accessible as you’d like. Maybe it’s across a store or in some hard-to-reach location. Lining up your camera to scan the code can be a hassle. This is where Google comes in. The company is working on a new API that will allow the QR reader to automatically identify a code and zoom in to read it.
The QR code scanner in Android 13+ uses ML Kit’s Barcode Scanning library, by the way, so it’s possible that it could add support for auto-zoom in the future!https://t.co/9yVPzyC5DB
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) August 3, 2023
So, if you’re trying to scan a QR code from across the room, the QR scanner will lock onto the code and automatically zoom in. We’re not sure if the camera will use some sort of image sharpening or enhancement to make the zoomed-in image easier to read, but that would be nice.
It’s not available to the public. It’s an API that Google is distributing to developers. So, chances are that you’ll see it pop up for third-party QR code scanners. Also, the feature could be available natively on Android 14 when it launches. Speaking of Android 14, it should be making it to the public in a few weeks.
2023-08-08 15:05:54