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Bring back menus, QR codes are terrible

(slate.com)
527 points lxm | 5 comments | 29 Jun 21 03:25 UTC | HN request time: 0.436s | source
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_delirium ◴[29 Jun 21 05:10 UTC] No.27672029[source]▶
My biggest surprise in these comments is that people seem to have actually successfully used a QR code! I always assumed they were an iPhone only feature, so I ignore them.

I've read that the Android camera app is supposed to recognize QR codes, but it doesn't seem to on my phone.

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qbasic_forever ◴[29 Jun 21 05:25 UTC] No.27672131[source]▶
It varies on Android, some manufacturers ship custom camera apps that include automatic QR code detection and decoding. Many people don't even realize the Android they're using is really a highly-customized vendor skin and suite of apps. Samsung in particular does this, and its camera app auto recognizes QR codes.
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1. _delirium ◴[29 Jun 21 05:33 UTC] No.27672177[source]▶
I have a Pixel bought directly from the Google Store, so I assumed it'd have the most recent features, whatever they are! The Pixel 3a, though, doesn't seem to do anything special with QR codes, besides photographing them.
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2. ◴[29 Jun 21 05:49 UTC] No.27672261[source]▶
3. meheleventyone ◴[29 Jun 21 08:48 UTC] No.27673414[source]▶
That's super weird because I have the original Pixel and it has no problem scanning QR codes from the camera app. That's a pretty big QoL downgrade two versions later.
4. squiggleblaz ◴[29 Jun 21 10:18 UTC] No.27673944[source]▶
Firefox has a QR code scanner - if you tap the URL bar, it has a "scan" button that lets you scan a QR code and use it as a URL. Perhaps Chrome does as well, i d k because I don't use Chrome.

Till I learnt about that, I used a simple QR code scanner from F-Droid (since Playstore is completely untrustworthy for generic utilities).

5. dagw ◴[29 Jun 21 10:50 UTC] No.27674108[source]▶
I have a Pixel 3a as well. I just point the default camera app at the QR codes and it pops up the relevant link every time.