Whether you have an Android smartphone or an iPhone, you are told how to scan a QR Code and what these funny square barcodes are for.
QR Code (or quick response code) has become popular with the advent of mobile phones with cameras. They allow you to display information graphically (the link to a web page most often, but it can also be contact data, your health pass, etc.) and return it by being scanned by our mobile devices. Their very particular format allows to be flashed and interpreted quickly by the devices, while ensuring the validity of the information, thanks to the redundancy of data.
So here’s how to flash a QR Code with a smartphone, whether on Android or on iPhone.
Before scanning a QR Code
Before you start, it is important to remember a basic principle: the QR Code can redirect you anywhere, including to a malicious address. At one time, some clever guys were having fun sticking this kind of code in the cities to download people with little caution. When scanning a QR Code, check that the URL to which you are going to be redirected is trustworthy and reliable.
How to flash a QR Code on Android
There are several ways to scan a QR Code on Android. You will find below a list of applications to download to do so, regardless of your phone, but depending on the brand of your device, it is very likely that you can proceed without even having to download anything.
With Google Lens on Android
Integrates this function into Google Lens, the part dedicated to imaging Google Assistant. All smartphones that integrate Google Lens can therefore access this function, especially those that do not have a manufacturer interface like smartphones under Android One, or smartphones Nokia and Sony.
To scan a QR Code with Google Lens :
- Open Google Lens (the square icon reminiscent of a camera, in Google Assistant)
- Point the camera to the QR Code
- Wait until a blue dot appears in the center of the QR Code
- Press the blue dot to open the content of the QR Code
Here is what it gives in pictures :
If your device does not have Google Lens, or 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 Xiaomi smartphone
On one with the MIUI interface, you have to go through the camera to flash a QR Code. Normally, the option is activated by default, but, if not, check the option “” in the camera settings.
With a Samsung smartphone
To flash a QR Code on one, it became very simple. Whereas previously it was necessary to go through Bixby, the very criticized assistant of the brand, it is now enough to open the camera and point a QR Code. A pop-up then comes to give you the necessary information and it is enough to click to activate the appropriate action, like opening the web page for example.
With an Asus smartphone
On the side of Asus integration is very simple: it is enough to open the camera and point to a QR Code for the telephone to interpret the image and offer to open a link.
With a Huawei or Honor smartphone
In, or Honor, the simplest thing is to slip your finger up, from the phone lock screen, to display a shortcut to the EMUI scan application. She has an icon reminiscent of a QR Code, or an eye, depending on the version. This application also opens QR Code stored on the phone in the image gallery. It can also be accessed from the telephone search engine, by sliding down on the desk.
How to scan a QR Code on iOS with an iPhone
Since iOS 11, the iPhone has natively integrated a QR Code reader. To flash a code, you must :
- open the camera
- update on the QR Code
- press the notification that appears with the decoded information
So it is done quickly and simply, without going through a third-party app from the App Store.
If for any reason the QR Code to scan is on the iPhone itself, for example on a web page you are visiting. It is then necessary :
- open the web page in question with Safari
- provide long support to the QR Code for Safari to interpret it
- move the pop-up that appears upwards to open the link entered in the QR Code with Safari
With these two methods, the QR Code should no longer pose problems on iOS
The best applications for reading a QR Code
If none of the previous methods are available for your device to integrate the function natively, which is particularly the case for the oldest smartphones, then it will be necessary to go through a third-party application available on the application shops.
The most famous, and often recommended by Google, is ZXing Team’s Scanner Barcode. It has the merit of being completely free, light and without any publicity.
“” is the somewhat long name of one of the most complete applications there is. It allows scanning, but also creating, QR-Code or bar codes, and keeping them with a history. It manages all kinds of codes, whether they contain a simple URL to a web page, or geolocation data or the connection parameters to a Wi-Fi access point.
How to read a Health Pass
Long forgotten, the QR Code came back in force with the establishment of the Health Pass in France. If you are wondering what servers and waitresses see on their screen when they scan your QR Code at the entrance to a bar or restaurant, you can download TAC Verif. This is the official application of the government to verify the validity of the Sanitary Passes.